On 15 July 2020, the European Commission (“EC”) adopted a new Tax Package aimed to “contribute to the economic recovery and long-term growth of Europe”. The Tax Package consists of three elements: (i) a revision of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation “DAC7), (ii) a Communication on Tax Good Governance, and (iii) a Tax Action Plan for a fair and simple taxation supporting the recovery. The Tax Action Plan is a set of legislative and non-legislative initiatives on taxation that the EC plans to deliver between 2020 and 2023. As such, the Tax Action Plan itself is not a legislative proposal.

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For decades California employers have relied on a 1985 decision to enforce contractual provisions prohibiting solicitation of employees after termination; but a lot happened to change this in November 2018 with the California Court of Appeals decision in the AMN case. Since 2018, there have been additional developments all companies should understand.

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Singapore updated its strategic goods control regime on 3 August 2020 to ensure robust administration of controls and effective risk assessments, while ensuring the facilitation of legitimate trade. Key amendments include ensuring individual and bulk permit holders have access to English translations for strategic trade records kept in other languages. For bulk permit holders, expanded document categories under recordkeeping requirements and monthly reporting will apply. A new offence has also been created for failing to amend permits in the event that information submitted under initial permit application processes subsequently change.

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On 28 May, the Ministry of Trade (MOT) issued a more comprehensive regulation on post-border import by enacting MOT Regulation No. 51 of 2020 on Post-Border Import Inspection and Supervision (‘MOT Regulation 51’). When Regulation 51 comes into effect on 28 August, the 2018 post-border import supervision policy[1] will no longer prevail.

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Following the announcement of the Recovery Plan by the European Commission on 27 May 2020, European leaders have now agreed to create a EUR 750 billion (US 858 billion) recovery fund to support the recovery of EU economies affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The Commission is expected to launch a first call for funding submissions in early autumn, and more will follow in 2021 and 2022.

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On 21 July 2020, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, passed in the first reading a Draft Law No. 3760 “On State Support for Investment Projects with Significant Investments” (“Draft Law”). The Draft Law was proposed by the President of Ukraine as part of his investment promotion agenda and is aimed at enabling state support for major investments in Ukraine.

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