Nick is joined by Omar El-Khattabi, who works in our Corporate practice and is a member of our Middle East Practice. He discusses some of the legal issues which he has come across for employers taking on staff in Saudi Arabia and UAE.

The Class Licence for Offer of Telecommunications Services (CLOTS) regime was introduced in 2007. Its main purpose was to regulate the offer of telecommunications services to the public without operation or establishment or maintenance of means of telecommunications equipment, such as for example, the provision of public WiFi services, in-building telecommunications systems, etc. Over the last decade, major changes have occurred in the Hong Kong telecommunications market (e.g. increased use of online platforms or smartphone apps and increased number of consumer complaints regarding CLOTS licensees).

On September 23, 2018, the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. (“NASAA”) released a proposed model rule for state-registered investment advisers that would impose new information security and privacy requirements (the “Cyber Proposal”). This Legal Update (i) describes the relevant scope of the Cyber Proposal, (ii) explains its substantive requirements and (iii) highlights some takeaways for the investment adviser industry.

The ultimate form of the UK's exit from the European Union remains a hotly debated topic. Unless some form of extension of the period of notice served by the UK is agreed in the next few weeks or the notice is withdrawn, the UK will leave the European Union on 29 March 2019.

With preparations shifting into high gear for calendar-year companies that file annual reports on Form 10-K and proxy statements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, this Legal Update provides tips to consider when drafting these documents.

With 2018 now in the rearview mirror, we summarize several of the encouraging regulatory developments for business development companies (“BDCs”) that occurred during 2018.

Please see the latest issue of The Pensions Brief.

Hong Kong’s District Court (the "Court") in 庄裕安 v 关淑馨及另二人 [2018] HKDC 1589 struck out the Applicant's discrimination claim against the Respondents, who were the judges who dismissed the Applicant's appeal in a Court of Appeal case CACV 185/2017. The Court also gave a Restricted Proceedings Order against the Applicant.

The US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 added new sections 245A(e) and 267A to the Code. Section 245A(e) denies the section 245A dividends-received deduction for “hybrid” dividends.

Effective January 1, 2019, California Senate Bill No. 954 will require California lawyers representing clients in connection with mediation to (1) provide written disclosures to their clients about confidentiality restrictions applicable to statements made during or in connection with mediation and (2) obtain written acknowledgments from clients indicating that they have read and understand the confidentiality restrictions before theyagree to participate in mediation.

2018 was an active year for the California legislature in enacting laws that will impact the financial services industry—both directly and indirectly. In this Legal Update, we summarize the most pertinent, many of which become effective on January 1, 2019.

A manufacturing company was recently served with a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

On December 18, 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a final rule requiring companies to disclose their hedging policies and practices for employees, officers and directors. This Legal Update discusses details of the requirements as well as related practical considerations for companies.

This update covers the key differences between the current 2004 Law on Competition and the 2018 Law on Competition, and highlights the key abuse of dominance enforcement trends from the past decade.

On December 20, 2018, the staff (Staff) of the Division of Investment Management of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted conditional no-action relief to Madison Capital under Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (Advisers Act), and Rule 206(4)-2 (Custody Rule) thereunder for administrative agents (Administrative Agents) under syndicated loans that also act (or that have affiliates that also act) as investment advisers for pooled investment vehicles or separately managed accounts that are also lenders under such syndicated loans.

On December 19, the EU Commission ("Commission") published its report to the European Parliament and the Council on the second review of the functioning of the EU-US Privacy Shield (the "Report").