Last week, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) had concluded the negotiation of the first trade agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade.
Click HERE to read more.…
Member Publications
May 17, 2023
On 16 December 2022, the German Parliament ("Bundestag") passed the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG). After it initially did not receive the required majority in the second Chamber ("Bundesrat"), the Bundesrat now agreed to the Bundestag's agreement proposal on 12 May 2023, so that the law is now to enter into force in mid-June 2023.
The law aims to better protect employees who have become …
May 16, 2023
Minnesota is banning employment non-competes and restricting provisions that require non-Minnesota law or venue for non-compete disputes. The law will become effective on July 1, 2023, and will apply to agreements entered into on or after that date. Minnesota’s changes follow many other states that have statutorily limited restrictive covenants but are separate from the FTC’s proposed ban (which …
May 16, 2023
Weinhold Legal, ALFA International's member firm in the Czech Republic, recently wrote a Cyber Alert discussing Cybersecurity according to NIS2, The NIS2 Directive and its effectiveness, National Cybersecurity, and next steps.
Click HERE to view PDF…
May 12, 2023
In December, 28th 2022 the Law 19/1991, of June 6th, of Wealth Tax was amended by introducing a new paragraph in its article 5. Uno. b) in relation to taxable person subject to a real obligation to contribute.
Until this amendment, such article provided that any non-Spanish resident individual is a taxable person by virtue of real obligation in respect of the assets and rights they hold when thes…
May 11, 2023
ABSTRACT: The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules recently proposed a new rule to create a framework for courts managing multidistrict litigation, also known as MDLs. Historically, there has been no reference to multidistrict litigation in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, creating the impetus for Proposed New Rule 16.1, which is designed to provide a framework for the initial management of…
May 9, 2023
The Finance Bill, 2023, contains various highly investor-friendly amendments. Other than focusing on raising or introducing new taxes, there is an aspect of closing loopholes that were used not to pay tax. This is a suitable tax collection model compared to introducing new or raising taxes, as has always been the usual practice.
The new areas that the Finance Bill, 2023, is focusing on to tax or a…
May 4, 2023
On 28 March 2023, the Finance Ministry sent Bill No. 8186, the provisions of which are aimed at amending and modernizing certain procedural aspects of direct taxation dispute resolution (the “Bill“).
The following amendments merit being emphasized.
1) The complaint procedure before the Direct Tax Administration (Administration des Contributions Directes or “ACD”)
The Bill provides for a partial o…
May 4, 2023
Inventions
Patent law deals with the legal protection of inventions. Traditionally, invention is often thought of technical things, such as the light bulb, the internal combustion engine, the computer, the airplane, solar panels, or the 3-D printer.
But very many different things can be an invention. For example, everyday items are also considered inventions within the meaning of the Dutch Patent…
May 3, 2023
The new Housing Law includes some important changes in order to make easier the access to housing, especially for young people and vulnerable sectors (protection in evictions), and with the aim of controlling the price increases.
The most outstanding measures of this new Housing Law includes, among others:
Regulation of rental prices in the most stressed areas.
Untying the CPI (Consumer Pric…