Directors' Issues

Recent Articles

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  02/04/2025

  United Kingdom

  Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023: Launch of the Identity Verification Regime

  The Government’s new identity verification (IDV) regime for directors and controllers of UK companies launches on 8 April 2025. The regime will also apply to members and controllers of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and, more narrowly, to limited partnerships and overseas companies with an establishment in the UK. The IDV regime is part of the package of reforms contained in the Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) aimed at tackling economic crime and preventing the abuse of corporate structures by enhancing the transparency of corporations and those that control them.Until...

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  13/03/2025

  Belgium

  New rules apply to employee in­vest­ig­a­tions – employers must act now

  Belgium’s Private Investigations Act (PIA) has been in force since 16 December 2024, replacing the 1991 Private Detectives Act with stricter compliance rules and enhanced privacy protections. Employers must immediately comply with new licensing requirements, investigative procedures, and employee privacy safeguards.Scope and applicationPrivate investigation activities are defined as those:Performed by a natural personRequested by an employer from the private or public sectorInvolving the collection and processing of information about individualsAiming to protect the employer's interests in...

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  11/02/2025

  Netherlands

  EU’s DORA regulation: is it a basis for director liability in the Netherlands?

  On 17 January 2025, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) went into force, introducing ongoing obligations for financial entities, such as maintaining registers of information, which the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) will actively supervise.DORA is an EU regulation that applies to financial entities such as investment firms, funds, credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, crypto-asset service providers, insurance undertakings, insurance intermediaries, and their ICT third-party service providers. Applicable to all EU member states, DORA’s...

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  15/01/2025

  China

  2025 – Topics that may Concern You

  Companies doing business in China constantly have to deal with changes in regulations and new laws. This will also continue in 2025.Topics such as the new PRC Company Law, new PRC Tariff Law, PRC Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items, network data security management, data transfer, opening up capital markets to foreign investment, and raise of statutory retirement age of employees etc. will continue to be a concern for many companies in China in 2025.Complying with regulatory requirements is one of the key challenges for foreign companies and investors in China, not only in terms of...

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  28/10/2024

  United Kingdom

  The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023: Companies House publishes timetable for im­ple­ment­a­tion

  Companies House has published its much awaited plan (Transition Plan) for implementation of some of the key provisions of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) not yet in force. Delivering the Transition Plan still requires significant investment in terms of Companies House systems and processes, as well as Parliamentary time to enact further secondary legislation. As a result, the new provisions are to be implemented in phases with Companies House anticipating that it will take until 2027 to complete.BackgroundThe ECCTA was enacted as part of Government efforts to combat...

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  10/09/2024

  APAC region

  No room for ignorance: Singapore High Court clarifies directors’ duties

  Inter-Pacific Petroleum Pte Ltd (in liquidation) v Goh Jin Hian [2024] SGHC 178 In what could be seen as a wake-up call, the High Court of Singapore clarified the scope of director’s duties in Singapore, emphasizing the minimum standard of care required.BackgroundInter-Pacific Petroleum Pte Ltd (“IPP”), a petrochemical and ship bunkering company, was placed under judicial management in September 2019, and later liquidated in March 2021. IPP had borrowed over US$150 million to fund its cargo trading and bunkering transactions. These sums were never repaid to the banks. IPP’s...

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