Search results for

In 2014 the Irish parliament passed the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014 (the Act) to update the regime for the registration of Irish ships and the regime for registering mortgages over ships. It is intended that the new regime will provide a more efficient, user friendly and accessible regime for commercial ship owners and those involved in financing the construction and purchase of vessels. Among other things the Act provides for the establishment of an electronic ship ownership and mortgage register. It preserves all of the basic protections under the existing regime for banks which have a mortgage over commercial ships. With the exception of one provision, however, the Act has not yet been commenced. Given the potential for the further development of shipping finance in Ireland, it is hoped that the government will soon implement it.

There has been a continuing shift in the Philippine intellectual property (IP) landscape, beginning with the passage of the Intellectual Property Code (IP Code) in 1997. Coming into effect in 1998, the IP Code resulted in the harmonisation of Philippine IP laws with international standards. In 2014, due to the strengthening of IP enforcement activities, the Philippines was removed from the USTR Special 301 Report, a yearly report released by the US which assesses the level of IP rights protection and enforcement provided by countries with which it has commercial activity. The fact that the Philippines has remained outside the watch list for four years now proves its commitment to sustaining its intellectual property reform. Now, the government's objective is to develop IP as a catalyst for economic development.

This is a continuation of the update in last month's briefing. The exchange of information by the Macau SAR under Law 5/2017 can finally occur at the authorities' own initiative, irrespective of any request received from a foreign country that is a contracting party to an international agreement or convention on double taxation or on prevention of tax evasion.

On September 20 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) issued decision 3610A/QD-BCT announcing a plan to remove 675 business and investment conditions from the 1,216 existing conditions under its management for the 2017 to 2018 period. This is the MOIT's first move in response to the government's recent call for a comprehensive review and removal of unnecessary business conditions which restrain foreign investment and reduce national competitiveness. Since its issuance, decision 3610A has made headlines due to its unprecedented reduction of business conditions in the history of the MOIT.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are now the focus of both the public's and the regulator's attention. ICOs are a digitalised method of raising capital in which an organisation issues tradable digital units (tokens) to finance a specific project or to develop it further. They are exclusively used to fund early stage projects of startups, often without a clear track record and with unclear success probability. In the course of the offering, the investor receives a token from the issuing organisation in exchange for cryptocurrencies (for example, bitcoin) or standard currencies (also referred to as fiat money). Tokens are created on a blockchain and exist as tradable digital units on distributed ledgers as a part of a protocol. For example, the Ethereum blockchain provides not only the cryptocurrency Ether, but also a platform to write smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, which makes it possible for market participants to easily generate and issue their own tokens, mostly on the basis of the ERC-20 token standard.

Increased tax transparency obligations on private companies may actually make it easier to be IPO ready

China is burying itself under a mountain of debt

The Mexico City Airport Trust (Nafin) has issued a $4 billion green bond to finance a new international airport in Mexico City. The largest green bond ever to be issued worldwide, it is backed by a securitisation drawing from passenger charges at the existing Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez and the planned replacement airport once it becomes operative.

Hew Kian Heong Michelle Li In China, Herbert Smith Freehills hired three new projects partners from Pinsent Masons. This closely followed the ending of the alliance between Pinsents and Chinese firm Hesen Law Firm.

The global economy is moving away from fossil fuels. But markets could be in for a shock when the well runs dry