Publication
Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Australia | Publication | May 2021
This article was co-authored with Ann Matthias.
The extension to construction working hours implemented by the NSW Government last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be revoked on 7 June 2021. The extension, which was enacted via the Environmental Planning and Assessment (COVID-19 Development – Construction Work Days) Order 2020 (NSW), permitted all building work and demolition work subject to a development consent to be carried out on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday without the need for approval (subject to conditions). The revocation of the extension means that construction working hours will return to their pre-pandemic settings; contractors will need to comply with conditions on the development consent that restrict the hours of work on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, or seek approval under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) for any change to those hours.
This reverses the previous extension up to 31 March 2022 that was introduced via the COVID-19 Recovery Act 2021 (NSW) (see our update on this here).
We note that the revocation does not apply to the Environmental Planning and Assessment (COVID-19 Development—Infrastructure Construction Work Days No. 2) Order 2020 (NSW) which applies to infrastructure work that is subject to:
Subject to any further changes by the NSW Government, the extended infrastructure working hours will continue to apply until 31 March 2022.
Publication
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Publication
On February 2, 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union confirmed that the Committee of Permanent Representatives had signed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation, referred to as the AI Act. Approval by the EU Parliament followed on 13 March 2024, and the AI Act is likely to appear in the EU’s Official Journal around May 2024. The AI Act aims to establish a stringent legal framework governing the development, marketing, and utilisation of artificial intelligence within the region, thereby marking a significant advancement in the regulation of this burgeoning domain.
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The private credit market and direct lending have grown and diversified immensely in the past decade, offering alternative sources and terms of debt compared to those historically provided by the syndicated leveraged loan and public issuance markets. Consequently, they are fast becoming pivotal components in the capital ecosystem, so much so that the Bank of England consider that the private credit market is currently responsible for approximately $1.8 trillion of debt issuance, which is four times its size in 2015. This growth has been particularly pronounced in Europe and the US but there has also been significant activity in Asia.
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