Legal Bulletin October 2019

30 October 2019

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Capital Markets

SGX RegCo and Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers enter into MOU to enhance real estate and land valuation standards

Competition

CCCS consults on proposed guidelines on price transparency

CCCS clears proposed acquisition involving food court operators

Indonesian Competition Commission imposes new notification requirement for asset acquisitions, expands jurisdiction over foreign transactions

Corporate / M&A

Singapore High Court in winding up proceedings orders parties to file submissions on whether buyout order should be made pursuant to section 254(2A) of Companies Act

Dispute Resolution

First steps in proposed restructuring of Singapore Supreme Court underway with introduction of amendment Bills

Reciprocal Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act amended with effect from 3 October 2019

Employment

MOM and TADM release inaugural Employment Standards Report

UK Supreme Court considers test for severance in relation to restrictive covenants imposed on employees

Medico-Legal

Provisions in Human Biomedical Research Act 2015 relating to human tissue regulatory framework in force from 1 November 2019

Public Policy

Q3 2019 Review: Five key public policy developments in Singapore

Singapore government announces advertising ban and mandatory labelling for highly sweetened beverages

Tax

Bill to amend Income Tax Act to implement Budget 2019 changes passed

Bill introduced to amend Goods and Services Tax Act 

General

China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Upgrade Protocol enters into force and key financial initiatives concluded at Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 effective from 2 October 2019

Regional News

Malaysia

Bursa Malaysia conducts public consultation on proposed amendments to listing rules relating to anti-corruption, whistleblowing and digitisation of corporate exercises

Supply Bill (Budget) 2020 tabled in Malaysian Parliament

Protection of trademarks in Malaysia to be made easier as Madrid Protocol comes into effect from 27 December 2019

Myanmar

Singapore investors to enjoy greater protection in Myanmar under new bilateral investment treaty

Myanmar Union Tax Law 2019 amended to provide conditional tax amnesty

Publications

Capital Markets Law Journal: Dual-class share structures

The Asset Tracing and Recovery Review (7th Ed, 2019)

The Real Estate M&A and Private Equity Review (4th Ed, 2019)

The Restructuring Review (12th Ed, 2019)

The Merger Control Review (10th Ed, 2019)

The Virtual Currency Regulation Review (2nd Ed, 2019)

Getting the Deal Through: Private Banking & Wealth Management 2020

Practical Law Lending and Taking Security Global Guide

The International Comparative Legal Guide to Construction & Engineering Law 2019 (6th Ed, 2019)

Deals

Establishment of S$1.5 billion multicurrency debt issuance programme and issue of S$225 million notes by STT GDC Pte. Ltd.

S$1.2 billion proposed combination of Ascott Residence Trust and Ascendas Hospitality Trust to form Asia-Pacific’s largest hospitality trust

Issue of US$500 million notes by Agricultural Bank of China Limited, Singapore Branch

Issue of A$700 million notes by DBS Bank Ltd.

Awards & Rankings

Allen & Gledhill ranked in Asia IP Patent Survey 2019 Rankings