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On June 8 2017, the Brazilian Federal Government issued Provisional Measure 784/2017 (PM 784), which establishes new rules applicable to punitive administrative proceedings taking place at Bacen (the Brazilian Central Bank) and the CVM (the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission).

As mentioned in the first part of this article (published in the July/August 2017 issue), stakeholders in Colombian project financings are taking certain measures to mitigate risks derived from potential corruption cases. As part of those measures, lenders are giving special attention to improving contractual structures through more sophisticated anti-corruption clauses. This course of action is affecting not only financing documents in negotiation stages, but also some agreements already executed.

The Irish High Court recently ruled on the test for determining whether the transfer of a debt is a 'true sale' or is by way of a charge. It has adopted the market analysis based on English cases which emphasise that the legal form of the transaction adopted by the parties will determine its nature, provided the contract is not a 'sham'. The decision in the Eteams (International) Limited case concerned invoice discounting, but its ramifications are important in the context of 'true sale' opinions in structured and asset finance transactions.

Handling bad debts has been emerging as an issue in Vietnam's banking system over recent years. A high ratio of bad debts, which amounts to approximately 5.85% of the system's total outstanding loans, has caused an adverse effect on overall economic development.

A brief summary of changes in legislation relevant to companies wishing to do business in Thailand.

The OECD has established policies to support cooperation between jurisdictions in order to solve common problems. Among these is the exchange of financial information to reduce problems such as tax evasion and avoidance, and money laundering. This situation has been a challenge for central American jurisdictions when it comes to the approval of new regulations. As a result, several international treaties have been signed and local regulations have been enacted, and several other initiatives and bills are currently being discussed from a political and technical perspective.

The Cyprus Companies Law Cap 113 has been amended to transpose the EU Accounting Directive (2013/34/EU) into domestic law with effect from September 23 2016.

On June 12 2017, a new regime for the exchange of information with foreign entities on tax matters was published in the Macau Official Gazette – Law 5/2017. Subsequently, on June 28 2017, the Executive Order 211-2017 was gazetted, approving the Common Reporting Standard and Due Diligence Procedures. These rules will now govern the exchange of information by Macau SAR in the carrying out of international agreements and conventions to which it is a party on double taxation and/or on prevention of tax evasion.

A draft bill on palm oil business is being circulated for discussion in the House of Representatives of Indonesia. The draft bill, if passed, is intended to replace the existing laws and regulations on palm oil business, including Law 39 of 2014.

Effective May 25 2018, the existing Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and the Slovak data protection act will be replaced by the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Although the GDPR will be directly applicable in all EU member states, certain national particularities will remain even after the GDPR comes into force. A new version of the data protection act in Slovakia that accounts for the GDPR is in the process of inter-ministerial consultation and will replace the existing data protection act.