The Legal 500

Legal Developments worldwide

• Korea strengthens taxation on multi-national enterprises in 2017

  On July 28, 2016, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (“MOSF”) announced the annual proposal to amend the tax law for 2017 (the “Proposal”). The Proposal was submitted to the National Assembly on 2 September 2016.
  - Lee & Ko

• Protecting the ‘Little-Guy’ in Distributorship Arrangements in Korea

  - Enforcement Decree to the Fair Retail Agency Transactions Act
  - Lee & Ko

• Single Continuous Infringement Concept and the Practice of the Turkish Competition Authority

  The concept of a single continuous infringement (" SCI ") enables competition authorities to consider a series of agreements or conducts that have the same objective to distort competition in the market as one single continuous infringement. Similar to the approach in the European Union, the Turkish Competition Authority ( Authority ) also considers this concept while assessing a case under Article 4 of Law No 4054 on the Protection of Competition of 13 December 1994 ( Law No 4054 ), which is akin to-if not the same as-Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ( TFEU ).
  - ELIG, Attorneys-at-Law

• Broader Interpretation Boosts Anti-Avoidance Rules

  Businesses seeking to structure cross-border transactions in ways that help them avoid paying tax are finding it more difficult as authorities worldwide step up information sharing. One such example is the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, which is driven by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and has 135 members. The cabinet recently approved Thailand's membership in the forum.
  - LawAlliance Limited

• Austria: Amendments to Gas Market Model Ordinance

  The Gas Market Model Ordinance plays a major role in the Austrian gas market, as it regulates network access and the capacity management and balancing system in Austria's three market areas: the east, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. read more...
  - Schönherr

• [South Korea] Data Privacy Legal Update

  Proposed Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of PIPA
  - Bae, Kim & Lee LLC

• Applications under the Overseas Investment Act 2005 - a practical update

  New Zealand’s overseas investment regime has been in the media spotlight in recent times. While lobbying organisations and political parties closely scrutinise the decisions of the Overseas Investment Office ( OIO ), those in the investment community have raised concerns that the regime is overly burdensome and time consuming. Against this background, there have been a number of changes in process and regulation, with further changes in the pipeline, aimed at ensuring the regime is fit for purpose. This article provides a brief overview of the regime and then looks at some of the recent and impending developments.  
  - Bell Gully

• Arbitrators’ Liability: Austrian Supreme Court Reconfirms Strict Standards

  One of the main advantages of arbitration vis-à-vis state court litigation, is that the parties are free to choose independent and highly specialised experts to decide their cases. Yet, if these experts negligently (or even deliberately) violate the duties that come with the acceptance of the appointment, the issue of liability arises. read more...
  - Schönherr

• On Gifts, Courtesies and Other Business Amenities

  Nurlan Sholanov Partner, AEQUITAS Law Firm
  - AEQUITAS

• Promissory Note Holders Not Bound by Arbitration Clause in Underlying Contract

  This update discusses the recent case of  Rals International Pte Ltd v Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza SpA  [2016] SGCA 53 where the Singapore Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the High Court that the assignee’s claim based on a number of promissory notes did not fall within the scope of the arbitration agreement in the underlying Supply Agreement. The assignee of such notes was therefore free to litigate in the courts.
  - Drew & Napier LLC