The Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Act 2022 received royal assent on 9 November and is now in force. Maximum penalties for contraventions of the CCA and ACL have significantly increased, effective immediately, exposing business to very substantial risk. The need for robust policies, systems and training to ensure compliance with the legislation has never been more important.
With the enactment of the new Cinema Law 2022, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MOCST) is developing a draft decree guiding the Cinema Law. After a one-month public consultation period, the MOCST made substantial updates to the Draft Decree and submitted the latest version to the Ministry of Justice for appraisal. The content of the latest version reflects the majority of the comments and recommendations suggested by industry stakeholders, evidencing how effective and influential policy advocacy can be.
The Digital Markets Act (EU Regulation 2022/1925) came into force on 1 November 2022, with the aim of promoting fair business practices in the digital industry in Europe. While the DMA itself may have no direct implication for Indonesia, the KPPU – Indonesia’s competition authority – often refers to developments and thought-leadership on enforcement from other prominent jurisdictions, including the EU. Digital businesses operating in Indonesia may use the DMA as a navigation tool, and clients may find the practical risk mitigation tips useful.
On 28 October 2022, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security issued a first round of FAQs regarding the advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing Interim Final Rule, published on 13 October 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 62,186) and amending the Export Administration Regulations. The FAQs clarify that that the new restrictions on exports and reexports to China also apply to Hong Kong.
On 7 November 2022, the Energy Commission issued an information guide for the Corporate Green Power Programme. The CGPP aims to promote the adoption of green energy amongst corporate companies in Malaysia through the use of virtual power purchase agreements which is also known as the Corporate Green Power Agreement. The CGPP is open for application starting from 7 November 2022 until 6 February 2023.
Directors of Australian companies face significant personal monetary – and potential criminal and adverse professional – consequences if they allow the company to trade whilst insolvent.
Australian insolvent trading laws are harsher, and more frequently utilized to prosecute directors personally, than in many other jurisdictions including in the US and the UK.
On 19 October 2022, the Health Sciences Authority issued an alert on fake HSA accounts on the TikTok platform. The HSA stated that it does not have a TikTok account and advised members of the public not to click on any links or respond to these fake accounts.
The Ministry of Communications and Information tabled the Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill for its first reading in Parliament on 3 October 2022, setting out proposed regulations of providers of online communication services with significant reach or impact accessible by any Singapore end-user, as well as measures to prevent access to egregious content. The aim of the Bill is to enhance online user safety, particularly for children, and to curb the spread of harmful content on OCS. Designated providers of such OCS will have to comply with Codes of Practice issued by the Info-communications Media Development Authority to enhance online safety for Singapore end-users and curb the spread of harmful content on their service.
Regulators and courts in common law jurisdictions around the world are being given significant and increasing powers to impose financial penalties without traditional criminal law safeguards. Competition law has been particularly susceptible to arguments that traditional safeguards should be discarded to aid regulators in securing convictions. In the first competition case to go to trial in Hong Kong, the Competition Tribunal held in 2019 that in competition proceedings seeking financial penalties, the authority had the burden to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. This article considers the approach taken in other common law jurisdictions and scope to argue for increased safeguards and human rights protections for clients facing financial penalties.
As part of the multi-pronged effort by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and other stakeholders to combat scams and safeguard SMS messaging as a communications channel, the IMDA will implement two measures following a public consultation: (i) mandatory registration with the Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry: Registration with the SSIR will be mandatory for all organizations that use SMS Sender IDs, and (ii) telecommunications operators to implement SMS anti-scam filtering solutions: Anti-scam filtering solutions will be implemented by telecommunications operators within their mobile networks to automatically filter potential scam messages before they reach consumers.