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Thomas A Humphreys Remmelt A Reigersman Late last year, House Ways and Means Committee chairman David Camp sent a letter to the House Committee on Financial Services (HFSC) outlining amendments to the Covered Bond Act (CBA) that significantly alter the tax treatment of covered bond pools segregated from the issuer's estate after an event of default. Covered bonds are debt obligations that are recourse either to the issuing entity or to an affiliated group to which the issuing entity belongs, or both. Upon an issuer default, covered bond holders also have recourse to a pool of collateral (known as the cover pool), separate from the issuer's other assets.

On average the payment of claims of companies and individuals against the Italian public sector – central government, regions, municipalities, public entities, and so on – arising from public contracts is characterised by huge delays compared to other EU countries. This has led to a considerable increase in the amount of overdue debts owed by the public sector, depriving struggling companies and individuals of much-needed liquidity.

Mian Muhammad Nazir Transfer of ownership and possession under certain Shariah nominate contracts and structures are the cornerstone for the validity of the sale and purchase transactions. Principles of Shariah provide for specific requirements that must be satisfied to ensure validity and enforceability of the underlying sale contract. It has been observed that there may be certain instances where a sale, which is perfectly valid and enforceable under the principles of Shariah, may need to comply with additional requirements under the local laws of the relevant jurisdiction in order to qualify as a valid and enforceable transaction. The question is whether a sale transaction strictly entered into in accordance with the principles of Shariah will still be required to comply with the local laws for its validity under Shariah principles. The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) seems to suggest that compliance with local laws in relation to transfer of ownership and possession is an integral part of a Shariah sale in respect of certain Shariah-compliant contracts and structures. To this extent, it is encouraging to note that for the modern application of Shariah nominate contracts and structures, compliance with local laws, in relation to transfer of ownership, possession and legal effects of the sale and purchase contract, is well recognised by Shariah scholars and the AAOIFI (which is a standard setting organisation). However, the more important question is what are the effects of non-compliance with the local law requirements on the Shariah compliance of underlying transactions in view of the AAOIFI's resolution, which obligates transfer of ownership in the sukuk assets to be in accordance with local law requirements.

Turkey’s drive to align with international business standards has not discounted the importance of a customised regulatory framework that reflects market realities and medium-term projects. Ahmet Kerem Özsahin, director of the department of legal counselling at the Capital Markets Board of Turkey, explains how

Özge Okat of Pekin & Pekin examines new challenges for acquisition financing in Turkey following the introduction of the new commercial code

Cristina E Thayer In early 1995, a non-profit organisation called The City of Knowledge Foundation was created to manage some areas to be reverted to Panamanian control located at a former military facility (Fort Clayton). The aim was to create a new cluster for research, knowledge exchange, innovation and sustainable development not only for the country, but for the region as well. In 1998, Executive Order number 6 brought the idea into fruition, providing for the assignment of the Fort Clayton land and infrastructure to the Foundation, and describing the terms, obligations and incentives for the execution of The City of Knowledge (TCK). By eliminating the quantitative limitations established by the Labor Code and establishing special visas for researchers, professors and technical personnel, entities affiliated to TCK were allowed to hire foreign professionals as needed. Furthermore, tax incentives were granted to the Foundation and its affiliates whereby import and sales taxes were exempted for equipment, machinery, furniture or materials if necessary for the development of the project; and international transfers of funds were exempted from taxes when those transfers are made for the furtherance of the project's objectives.

Daniel Futej Rudolf Sivak As of January 1 2013, an amendment to the Slovak Act on energy efficiency of buildings came into force introducing several changes with respect to energy efficiency and certification of buildings. According to new legislation, provisions of the Act will not apply to buildings which are used for only a limited time during the year (during weekends or in summer, for example). The non-application is subject to the condition that the expected energy consumption of the building does not exceed 25% of the yearly expected energy consumption.

Noyan Turunç of TURUNÇ provides an overview of the new Turkish law on work health and safety

The Turkish PPP mechanism is mainly based on collaboration between public and private sectors. This allows the public and private sectors to share the investment cost, risk and profit related to such investment and services. Throughout the last decade the number of PPP projects in Turkey has significantly increased, especially, most recently, in the healthcare sector. Accordingly, the new PPP law on healthcare sector No 6428 was recently enacted. It entered into force on March 9 2013.

It has been less than a year since IFLR published its 2012 Guide to Turkey, and in that time the country has taken strides towards its goal of becoming an international financial centre.