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The fintech ecosystem in Guatemala has seen a steady rise in the number of fintech startups and operational companies that provide alternative financial services in country. According to the Inter-American Development Bank in its 2018 report entitled 'Fintech Latin America 2018 – growth and consolidation', as of December 2017 there were four operational fintech companies in Guatemala. However, according to the Asociación Fintech de Guatemala, which was recently formed by various fintech companies, as of the second quarter of 2019 there were 16 fintech companies in Guatemala.

The transfer of agricultural land in Slovakia was long subject to special restrictions. The Act on Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land of 2014 provided for a special procedure for the transfer of title to agricultural land.

Chinese investment into France grew in 2018 even as it dropped across the rest of Europe, and investor-friendly changes may give it a further boost. Raphaël Chantelot, Fanny Nguyen, Hubert Bazin and Nicolas Vanderchmitt of LPA – CGR Avocats take a look at the environment

Beijing-based Norton Rose Fulbright partner Barbara Li explains what China’s new foreign direct investment rules mean for foreign companies entering one of the world’s biggest marketplaces

In a referendum held on May 19 2019, the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing (TRAF) was adopted by the Swiss people and the cantons. The reform includes several measures directed at corporate income taxation, such as the abolition of tax privileges for certain types of companies (status companies) and the implementation of internationally accepted replacement measures such as a patent box or the ability to super-deduct R&D costs (up to 150% of actual costs). The reform also contains tax measures at the shareholder level. The majority of the measures will be in force as of January 1 2020.

Marcus Peter and Yi Wang of GSK Stockmann look at how Luxembourg has positioned itself as a platform for Chinese investments into the EU and the recent trend of Chinese investors building permanent foundations in the country

Public apostilled documents executed outside the Philippines no longer need to be authenticated by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in order for those documents to be considered authentic in the Philippines. This is because on May 14 2019, the Philippines became a party to the 1961 Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, or the Apostille Convention.

Subject to a vote this month at the Macau Legislative Council (LegCo) is the Cybersecurity Bill. This Bill aims to bring Macau up to speed as regards the protection of the institutions and citizens of Macau against the malfunctioning of the computer systems of the public and private entities that operate critical infrastructures, in particular against unauthorised actions such as hacking.

Ümit Hergüner, Senem Denktaş and Deniz Tuncel of Hergüner Bilgen Özeke examine the environment for Chinese investment into Turkey and the efforts the two countries have been making to develop cooperation, most recently in nuclear energy and dispute resolution