The Code of Good Governance: a new toolkit for entrepreneurs and SMEs
On 19 March 2021, UCM and UNIZO published a Code of Good Governance. The Code of Good Governance is presented as a corporate governance “toolkit” for entrepreneurs and SMEs to create awareness on the importance of sound corporate governance to be competitive, effective and resilient. General principles The Code of Good Governance (available here in […]
Privacy rulings in Belgium soon?
A bit of context The world we live in is growing ever more complex and so is the regulatory landscape. Companies and businesses are subject to multiple layers of rules and finding one’s way across these technicalities can be both burdensome and expensive. At the same time, regulatory breaches can lead to harsh consequences. In […]
New support measures for enterprises in difficulty: highlights from the Law of 21 March 2021
In the COVID-19 context and in light of the moratorium on bankruptcies ending on 31 January 2021, a new law has been adopted to further support enterprises facing financial difficulties. The law of 21 March 2021 amending Book XX of the Code of Economic Law (the “CEL”) and the Income Tax Code 1992 (the “ITC […]
Liber Amicorum Paul Alain Foriers | Le monde juridique rend hommage à Paul Alain Foriers
Le Liber Amicorum Paul Alain Foriers honore une carrière exceptionnelle, entre tradition et pragmatisme. Avocat à la Cour de cassation, professeur ordinaire émérite à l’Université libre de Bruxelles, Paul Alain Foriers a inspiré et profondément marqué plusieurs générations de juristes. Collègues, confrères, magistrats, assistants et anciens étudiants ont souhaité exprimer leur reconnaissance, leur estime, et […]
Diminution temporaire de la TVA à 6% pour le secteur de la construction : comment en bénéficier ?
La crise corona a frappé l’économie belge de plein fouet. Le secteur de la construction n’a pas été épargné et connait une baisse substantielle de son chiffre d’affaires. Dans ce contexte, la loi-programme du 20 décembre 2020 permet de temporairement appliquer un taux de TVA réduit à 6% : qui peut en bénéficier, pour quel […]
The thin line between esports and gambling
Video games have been on the rise for a few years now. In particular, esports have been growing rapidly. The industry is now expected to reach 1.1 billion dollars of global revenue in 2020, with esports events gathering an audience of almost half a billion people (Newzoo, 2020 Global Esports Market Report). Initiatives for a regulatory […]
Le très attendu nouveau droit des obligations sort de son hibernation
Le nouveau gouvernement fédéral s’était engagé à en faire une priorité. Chose promise chose due : le texte a été redéposé à la Chambre mercredi sous forme d’une proposition de loi (le texte est disponible ici). Le texte codifie le droit des contrats et le régime général de l’obligation. Il constitue ainsi le complément des […]
The importance of prior rights in domain name disputes
The importance of prior rights in domain name disputes: bpost arrives too late and misses out on the domain name “bpost.com” On 8 February 2021, an arbitration panel of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center dismissed a complaint filed by bpost NV and bpost bank NV concerning the domain name “bpost.com” (case no. D2020-2195, bpost […]
Simont Braun once again recognised in Chambers Global
We are delighted to share that our Dispute Resolution and Corporate M&A teams have maintained superior results in Chambers Global 2021. Dispute Resolution: Band 3 Corporate M&A: Band 4 We are also happy to see Paul Alain Foriers keeping his top position in Dispute Resolution as a Senior Statesperson. Sandrine Hirsch is also very well […]
No Brexit for personal data? EU adequacy decision officially on track
On 19 February 2021, the EU Commission published its draft adequacy decision allowing personal data transfers from the EU to the UK under the GDPR. It is a welcome new development in the Brexit saga. To become final, the decision must receive i) the opinion from the European Data Protection Board (the so-called EDPB) on […]
New law on basic banking services for business in Belgium: what’s in it for the FinTech industry?
On 25 November 2020, the new law on basic banking services for businesses has been published in the Belgian Official Journal. It introduces a right to basic banking services for companies that will enter into force on 1 May 2021 (see our previous news here). Up to now in Belgium, mandatory basic banking services were […]
Can the late discovery of fraud lead to the vacating of an arbitration award?
According to the Constitutional Court judgment of 28 January 2021, fraud discovered more than three months after the notification of an arbitration award can now lead to the vacating of the award. The Constitutional Court judgment On 28 January 2021, the Constitutional Court held as unconstitutional article 1717, § 4, of the Belgian Judicial Code […]