Hogan Lovells

With the extension of the exit tax to (special) investment fund shares for relocations after December 31, 2024, a large number of taxpayers may soon face taxation on previously unrealized hidden reserves when moving out of Germany. In the future, shares in investment funds and special investment funds will also be subject to exit taxation. This could become costly for investors planning to relocate abroad. Taxpayers should review their fund structures in advance and carefully assess the potential tax implications of any planned move.

A recent ruling in the Hawaii Supreme Court has considered – in a first of its kind judgment – insurance policy exclusions in the context of climate...

The shared Safe Software Deployment guidance calls software manufacturers to implement safe software development programs supported by verified...

On 9 October 2024, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published its Opinion 22/2024, clarifying the responsibilities of controllers when...

On 3 July 2024, the Vietnamese Government enacted Decree No. 80/2024/ND-CP (“DPPA Decree”) on direct power sale and purchase agreement (“DPPA”) mechanisms between renewable energy generation companies (“GENCOs”) and large corporate electricity consumers which consume, or register to consume, at least 200,000 kWh per month (“Large Consumers”). Previously, except for the case of corporate PPAs of small-scale rooftop solar power projects with capacity of no more than 1MW, Vietnam Electricity (“EVN”) and its subsidiaries were the sole state-owned offtakers of electricity in Vietnam. The DPPA Decree, which was under discussion and drafting for five years before it was enacted, now permits GENCOs to directly sell electricity to Large Consumers.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its observations on the response by regulated firms to the global IT incident that occurred in July 2024. The incident has been widely reported as one of the most notable incidents in recent history, and had a major impact across the world. For the financial sector, the incident received the particular attention of regulators, who have become increasingly focused on operational resilience and cyber risk in recent years. The timing of the incident was apt, as firms in the UK are in the process of implementing new rules designed to enhance operational resilience, and will need to have completed key activities under those rules by March 2025.

In recent years, there has been a notable lack of new capital investment in greenfield energy projects in Vietnam as the market has been awaiting regulatory reforms. On 16 September 2024, the Government of Vietnam enacted Decree 115 on selection of investors in projects using land (“Decree 115”), which covers, among other things, competitive bidding for the investor selection in power projects. Decree 115 took immediate effect on its issuance date. Decree 115 significantly changes the project development process, and it remains to be seen how its implementation and further anticipated regulatory changes will fit together to complete the puzzle.

Private equity sponsors, with good reason, are very aware of the importance for their portfolio businesses to be able to control the types of lenders...

This month's 5 most relevant publications in the space of digital transformation, ethics and law:

Last week (10/30), Democratic attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia issued a letter to congressional leaders, calling for...