Recent Articles

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  03.10.2023

  South Africa

  An economy in a crisis: Job cuts, cost cutting and restructuring

  The convergence of a number of global issues including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on economies around the world.  South Africa, as with many other countries across the developing and developed world, has had to focus on recovery, while also dealing with global market volatility.  It is a time of crisis, and no country in the world has been immune to the numerous crises. In fact, South Africa had already experienced two consecutive quarters of recession before the pandemic reached our shores. Since then, market conditions have worsened,...

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  03.10.2023

  United Kingdom

  Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion Consultation

  The Government Consultation into Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion closed on 28 September.The Consultation, which was launched in the 2023 Spring Budget, aimed to explore the causes of and solutions to the perceived exploitation of the business rates system. The Local Government Association estimated in 2020 that £250m in business rates income is lost to avoidance each year.  The Consultation sought input on four proposals for clamping down on Empty Property Relief (EPR) and establishing a call for evidence on other business rates avoidance measures.Empty Property Relief (EPR) is...

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  03.10.2023

  United Kingdom

  DCMS Select Committee Final Report on Draft Media Bill: Public Service Television Reforms

  On 22 September 2023, the DCMS Select Committee (the “Committee”) published its final report on the draft Media Bill (the “draft Bill”), having published its interim report on the draft Bill’s radio measures in July.In our previous articles, we looked at the proposed changes to the regulation of public service broadcasters (which we will refer to as public service media owners or “PSMOs”) set out in Part 1 of the draft Bill (see here) and the impact assessment in relation to those proposed changes (see here).In this article, we explore the Committee’s...

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  03.10.2023

  Turkiye

  Exploration of Pre-Pack Insolvency Procedures in Türkiye

  On 7 December 2022, the European Commission published a draft directive aimed at harmonizing certain aspects of insolvency law. The intention behind this directive is to mandate the inclusion of "pre-pack proceedings" in national insolvency laws across the European Union ("EU"). Although Türkiye is not a member of the EU and does not have specific rules for governing pre-pack insolvency sales, it does have procedures that are similar, if not an identical, to pre-pack proceedings.In this article we will take a closer look at Türkiye's pre-pack-like institution.Understanding Pre-Pack Like...

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  03.10.2023

  United Arab Emirates

  VARA issues further rules governing staking and stablecoin regulation in Dubai

  Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (“VARA”) has recently introduced two significant updates to its virtual assets regulatory framework, which is relevant for all entities providing services to or from Dubai, other than entities conducting business in the Dubai International Financial Centre ( “DIFC”).  For an overview of VARA’s virtual assets framework, please refer to our previous articles here and here.These two updates involve changes to VARA’s Custody Services Rulebook and Virtual Asset Issuance Rulebook respectively, and represent key...

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  02.10.2023

  Bulgaria

  Race for Leadership: Energy Efficiency and Renewables Fund Seeks New Manager

  The Bulgarian Energy Efficiency and Renewable Sources Fund (EERSF) is currently in search of a new manager for a 5-year term, in compliance with local laws. Only legal entities or associations thereof are eligible to participate.EERSF administers the financial resources received by the Republic of Bulgaria in accordance with the current legislative framework and agreements with major donors.EERSF is structured as a self-sustaining commercial entity that focuses on facilitating investments in energy efficiency and promoting the development of a functioning energy efficiency market in Bulgaria. The...

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