Dentons (JD Supra Singapore)
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Working from home – some legal considerations
Introduction - Just over a year ago, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a “circuit breaker” which closed most work places except for essential services and key economic sectors such as food establishments, markets and supermarkets, clinics, hospitals, utilities, transport and key banking services.
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Service of a Writ of Summons on companies during the “new normal” - A case comment on Genuine Pte Ltd v HSBC Bank Middle East Ltd Dubai [2021] SGHC 104
Introduction - Service of a Writ of Summons (Writ) on a company is typically effected by leaving the Writ at or sending the Writ by registered post to the registered office of the company. Corporate defendants need to be vigilant when a Writ has been served, lest a default judgment is entered against them when they do not respond.
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E-Waste law under the new Resource Sustainability Act, 2019 (Singapore)
What is the new law? In order to reduce waste being sent to the Semakau landfill, Singapore introduced the Zero Waste Masterplan in 2019. The masterplan, along with the Resource Sustainability Act (RSA), 2019 provide the strategy and the legal framework to position Singapore as a sustainable, resource-efficient nation. These new developments apply to three waste-generating sectors –...
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Plastic Packaging law under the new Resource Sustainability Act, 2019 (Singapore)
What is the new law? In order to reduce waste being sent to the Semakau landfill, Singapore introduced the Zero Waste Masterplan in 2019. The masterplan, along with the Resource Sustainability Act (RSA), 2019 provide the strategy and the legal framework to position Singapore as a sustainable, resource-efficient nation. These new developments apply to three waste-generating sectors – electronic
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Food Waste law under the new Resource Sustainability Act, 2019 (Singapore)
What is the new law? In order to reduce waste being sent to the Semakau landfill, Singapore introduced the Zero Waste Masterplan in 2019. The masterplan, along with the Resource Sustainability Act (RSA), 2019 provide the strategy and the legal framework to position Singapore as a sustainable, resource-efficient nation. These new developments apply to three waste-generating sectors –...
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Scammed or hacked? Overview of common fraud techniques and the corporate response playbook
Nobody is immune to scams and cyber-attacks. With the increase in scammers’ levels of sophistication, their targets have also increased in scale. Scammers even routinely target multinational corporates and banks which have far more robust defences and highly trained personnel than the average SME.
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Introduction of actuarial tables for determining the multiplier in personal injury and death claims in Singapore: Is this a prelude to larger claims against doctors and healthcare providers?
In personal injury and death claims, damages for future losses will typically form a substantial portion of a claimant’s quantum of damages. Quantifying future damages is a difficult task, which “involves a double exercise in the art of prophesying not only what the future holds for the injured plaintiff but also what the future would have held for him if he had not been injured” (Paul v Rendell (
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適切なバランス? シンガポール証券取引所がSPACに関して規則改定案を提案
Introduction - On April 13, 2021, Grab Holdings, Inc. announced that it is considering listing on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange by merging with Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Altimeter Growth for his US $ 396 billion. It was widely reported. This is the largest merger by SPAC at this time. The deal is in line with the great interest in listing and merging SPACs, with this year's SPAC-rela
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Copyright reform in Singapore continues release of draft Bill for public consultation
In February 2021, Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) released a draft Copyright Bill (the draft Bill) for public consultation. The draft Bill is significant because it is the first time the existing Copyright Act (the Act) is being restructured and rewritten as a whole.
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The right balance? The SGX’s proposed regulatory framework for SPACs
Introduction - On 13 April 2021, Grab Holdings Inc. made headlines when it announced its intention to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market through its US$39.6 billion merger with Altimeter Growth Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in what is the largest SPAC merger to date.
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Harmonising of work pass policies: New changes to work pass requirements for Dependant’s Pass holders
In a move to align the requirements with other foreigners working in Singapore, Dependant's Pass (DP) holders working in Singapore will soon have to secure a work pass if they want to work in Singapore. The change was announced by Minister for Manpower Mrs Josephine Teo on 3 March 2021 during the debate on the Ministry of Manpower’s budget. It is set to become effective from 1 May 2021.
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“I got fired without any reasons!” – Guarding against wrongful dismissal claims by employees
Who is protected from Wrongful Dismissal - Following amendments to the Employment Act in 1 April 2019, all employees, regardless of salary, now receive protection against wrongful dismissal by the employer.
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2021 Budget tax developments
Introduction - As Singapore continues the fight against COVID-19, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat delivered the 2021 Budget Statement in Parliament on 16 February 2021, building on measures implemented in the 2020 Budget and reaffirming Singapore’s expansionary fiscal policy in tackling the widespread impact of the pandemic.
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Whose money is it? A look at garnishee proceedings and joint-bank accounts in Timing Ltd v Tay Toh Hin and anor [2021] SGHC 5
Introduction - Garnishee proceedings are one of the many options available to a judgment creditor to enforce a judgment debt. These proceedings are typically used to obtain monies in a judgment debtor’s bank account – such that the bank in question would have to transfer the monies in the account directly to the judgment creditor to satisfy the judgment debt owed.
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Who can decide to put a company into a creditors’ voluntary liquidation: the members, the creditors and/or someone else? A case comment on Superpark Oy v Super Park Asia Group Pte Ltd and ors [2021] SGCA 8
Introduction - The Court of Appeal (SGCA) had the opportunity to examine an insolvency mechanism that, while long-standing, has in recent years been seeing increased utilisation – creditors’ voluntary winding up of companies, or CVLs as we in the insolvency space fondly call it.
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Starboard: Alternative Procedure for Ship Arrests – A Welcome Change
Introduction - Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been serious concerns about the risks of transmission to those required to board the ship for the purposes of ship arrests.
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Collision and change of ownership: Who is the defendant in an action in rem?
A collision occurs between two ships, A and B. The owner of ship A wishes to make a claim against the owner of ship B and to attach ship B as security for the claim. It can make its claim in Singapore under legal proceedings known as an action in rem and, within the action in rem, apply to arrest or attach ship B as security for its claim.
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The perils and promise of a voluntary notification regime: Learning points from the Uber-Grab transaction
Merger control is one of the key pillars in Singapore’s antitrust framework. Its main objective is to preserve the competitive landscape of markets despite mergers, takeovers or the formation of long-lasting joint ventures.
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Mediating joint venture disputes
India has been on an unabated growth trajectory - supported by a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of nearly US$11.5 trillion (S$15.9 trillion). India is also the world’s third largest economy after China and the United States, according to 2019 International Monetary Fund estimates. Rising affluence and growing urbanisation in India has attracted investors who are keen to tap on India’s elite and...
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Extension of the deadline to deliver vacant possession – the Nuts and Bolts of new Part 8C of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020
On 3 November 2020, Parliament passed the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 (Amendment No. 3) Bill, which among other things, inserts a new Part 8C to the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 (the Act), relating to the developers’ deadline to deliver possession of units to purchasers and the liability for failure to comply with the said deadline.
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Sigh of Relief for the Construction Industry: New Temporary Measures to Tackle COVID-19 Disruptions
8 months on since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, the pandemic continues to pose serious challenges for the building and construction industry in Singapore, not least because thousands of foreign workers in the construction industry had to be quarantined as a result of the outbreak of the virus in the foreign workers’ dormitories.
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5 Further Things You Need to Know About the Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill
In our last update, we highlighted five (5) amendments that were proposed to be made to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) (Act 26 of 2012). Parliament has since passed the Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2020 (Bill No. 37/2020) on 2 November 2020. We do not know when the Amendments will come into force but we expect it to be before the end of the year or in the first quarter of 202
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Changes to the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) disciplinary process
On 29 November 2019, the Ministry of Health (MOH) Workgroup to Review The Taking of Informed Consent and the SMC Disciplinary Process (Workgroup) issued its Report detailing various recommendations on the taking of informed consent and on the SMC disciplinary process.
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Dentons Rodyk Dialogue 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted our social norms and daily lives in unprecedented ways. However, cities and communities around the world have risen to the challenges in ways that are unsurprising, given that the development of smart cities has seen an uptick in recent years. More than ever, cities around the globe are learning to embrace the opportunities presented by technology to tackle...
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Myanmar's trade mark registry to start receiving applications on 1 October 2020
Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce has recently announced that, from 1 October 2020, it will start to accept trade mark applications from proprietors of trademarks which have been registered at Office of the Registration of Deeds, or which have actually been used in in Myanmar.
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5 Things You Need to Know About the Draft Amendments to the PDPA
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) issued the draft Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2020 which seeks to amend the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) (Act 26 of 2012). If passed, this would be the first amendment to the PDPA since it was passed in 2012. Further amendments may be sought to included in the...
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The Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 – A New Chapter in Singapore’s Insolvency Laws
The Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA), together with its 48 related pieces of subsidiary legislation, came into force on 30 July 2020. It draws together the previously discrete individual and corporate bankruptcy laws into a single, consolidated piece of legislation, aimed at maintaining Singapore’s competitive edge as a restructuring hub.
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Proposed Amendments to the Companies Act of Singapore (July 2020) (Japanese)
In response to the ever-changing business environment, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) established the Corporate Law Working Group (CAWG) in January 2018 to carry out a comprehensive review of Singapore Corporate Law and related regulations. Has published recommendations in six key areas.
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Off the Beaten Track - The URDG 758 Bypass
Like Count Dracula emerging from his lair and draining his victims, the COVID-19 virus manifested itself in early 2020, with the world left in the tight, cold, and unyielding grip of the ensuing pandemic. Millions were infected, too many lost their lives, and in the midst of it all, many business bled out, and ended up ceasing their operations. (See: Coronavirus pandemic deals fatal blow to...
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Proposed Amendments to the Companies Act of Singapore (July 2020)
In light of the evolving business environment, the Companies Act Working Group (CAWG) set up by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) in January 2018 conducted an extensive review of Singapore’s corporate laws and regulatory framework and made recommendations in six key areas: Facilitating digitalisation; Refining financial reporting criteria; Matters relating to directors and...