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Driss Bererhi Arne Kluewer

The lighter side of the past month in the world of financial law

In the midst of the most ambitious concession programme in Colombian history (4G), the country is suffering a backlash from the most profound corruption scandal in the region.

In November 2016, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) issued circular C166 dated November 4 2016 to the administrative services providers (ASPs) it regulates. The circular informed ASPs of their obligation to notify CySEC of any changes in their circumstances and personnel, under articles 7, 8, 9, 13 and 25 of the Law Regulating Companies Providing Administrative Services and Related Matters of 2012 (Law 196(I)/2012) (the ASP law). Circular 190, issued on February 21 2017, reaffirms that any changes should be reported immediately.

Vietnam has kept distribution services, including retail business, open to foreign investors for years without any restriction. The only exception to this has been certain kinds of goods, such as rice, oil, medicines and cigarettes, which are monopolised by domestic enterprises, and the need for an application for the Economic Need Test (ENT) required for the opening of each individual retail shop by foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs).

On March 7 2017, the Brazilian federal government released the second phase of the Investment Partnership Programme (Programa de Parceria de Investimentos or PPI) – a governmental programme designed to foster infrastructure by expanding and strengthening the relationship between the government and the private sector.

With effect from February 1 2017, new legislation introduced the Public Partners Register (PPR) to replace the existing Beneficial Owners Register.

Another round of consolidation in the Iberian financial sector is expected in 2017. And, if only in terms of the semi-announced and widely discounted merger between Bankia and Banco Mare Nostrum (BMN), this new round does indeed seem likely. More broadly, the present map of institutions, with roughly 15 substantial financial groups (though with remarkable differences in size) is commonly acknowledged as an intermediate stage in the route towards a landscape that will be dominated probably by fewer than 10 groups.

Peter Hsu and Daniel Flühmann of Bär & Karrer survey new Swiss Federal Council proposals to amend rules to facilitate fintech, and look at some of the pros and cons of the current system

Amendments to the Payment Services Act and several related laws concerning virtual currencies are expected to come into effect after April 2017. In response to the amendments, the Financial Service Agency of Japan announced the draft of the Cabinet Office Ordinance concerning virtual currency exchange service providers on December 28 2016. The Ordinance sets forth the details of the rules for virtual currency exchange service providers (VCESP).