Search results for

James Sattin While this summer's grand inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal has rightfully taken centre stage in the conversation on Panama's role in facilitating international trade, other more subtle efforts by the government are also beginning to produce noteworthy results. In particular, in April Panama's legislature passed Law 8 of 2016, which, among other things, restructured the Colon Free Zone. This is a long-standing international free trade zone located in the city of Colon on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. Law 8 replaced the 68 year-old Law 18 of 1948, which was understandably in need of modernisation.

Russel Rodriguez John Christian Joy Regalado The Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act of 2010 (FRIA) provides more transparent, effective and efficient dealings between creditors and financially-struggling debtors. According to FRIA, a debtor or creditor may initiate rehabilitation proceedings to restore an insolvent debtor to solvency when (1) this is economically feasible, and (2) the projected recovery under the rehabilitation plan would be greater if the debtor was allowed to continue its business than if it was constrained to cease operations and liquidate its assets.

Radka Sláviková Geržová Martin Ilavský The new Code of Civil Contentious Procedure entered into force on July 1 2016. It aims to speed up the litigation process. Previously, cases would often drag on for several years because the parties to the dispute had submitted their allegations and offered evidence to the court in small bits at a time. This may have been for tactical reasons, or because the facts and evidence did not arise all at once.

The risk of public defaults is on the rise, boosted by persistently low interest rates and a distinct lack of fiscal policy. However, the preventative measures and restructuring tools that have been used historically need to improve to avoid disaster

John Breslin The Credit Reporting Act 2013 (the 2013 Act) will establish, for the first time in Ireland, a central credit register operating on a statutory basis. The register will be administered by the Central Bank of Ireland (the CBI). The register will replace the Irish Credit Bureau – a scheme currently operated by banks but which has no statutory basis. The new register will establish a mandatory reporting system. The CBI will use it to collect statistical information about consumer and business credit in Ireland. Establishing the register was one of the requirements of the so-called Troika (the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission) when Ireland's bail-out programme began in 2010.

João Nuno Riquito Bruno Almeida The Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff Association recently renewed the debate surrounding the revision of Law 5/2011, which approved the smoking prevention and control bill. The gaming workers' union is pushing for a full smoking ban on casino premises, on the grounds of a lack of sufficient enforcement of the current bill.

Maiko Shimoda On June 3 2016, the Reform Act of the Banking Act, etc (the Reform Act), which includes amendments to the Banking Act, was enacted. Its aim is to respond to the diversification of the form of business management in financial groups and the rapid rate of innovation in information technology (IT). The details of the new regulation will remain unclear until the amendments to the relevant cabinet orders are announced. However, the Reform Act concerning the amendments to the Banking Act has already revealed the new regulatory framework for the banking group.

Brexit could impact bespoke derivatives trading documentation. And the possibility of dual compliance requirements will further add to transaction costs

The M&A mega deal, valued at $10 billion or more, helped make 2015 a record year. But data from Bloomberg Law – for US targets and US and overseas acquirers – suggest mega deals come with an increased risk of not closing. Over 28% of those deals failed from January 1 2012 to June 30 2015.

A Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) report has highlighted risks stemming from post-crisis Basel reforms, suggesting a cost-benefit analysis of existing and proposed bank regulation.