MIFID II – The final countdown has started until 3 January 2018
On 9 November 2017, the Chamber of Representatives approved the draft law implementing MiFID II into Belgian law. The draft law is now available on the Chamber’s website. For more information on this major subject, please do not hesitate to contact our team.
Will insurance professionnals avoid MiFID II? Yes and no
Introduction A few years ago and in a rather controversial manner, the Belgian government decided to extend the scope of MiFID I rules of conduct to the insurance sector via two royal decrees of 21 February 2014: the royal decree on the modalities of application to the insurance sector of Articles 27 to 28bis of […]
Paul Alain Foriers participates in the reform of the Belgian Companies Code
A new Belgian Companies’ Code is under preparation. It aims at modernising the regime applicable to companies and associations. One of the four legal scholars chosen as experts by the Minister of Justice Koen Geens to work on this project is Paul Alain Foriers. Hence, Simont Braun is well aware of what is to expect […]
The Belgian tax treatment of income stemming from the assigment of license of copyrights
Simont Braun recently assisted one of its clients in obtaining a ruling from the Ruling Commission in which an extensive and refined application was made of the interesting Belgian tax treatment with respect to personal income received from the assignment or license of copyrights. The distinction between the compensation received by an individual in exchange […]
Belgium has implemented the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive
A RISK-BASED APPROACH, YOU SAID? Introduction The new Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) N° 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, […]
The new legal framework applicable to medical devices
Introduction A few years ago, many were shocked by the news that thousands of women across the world suffered harm caused by wrongly manufactured breast implants. For several years a French manufacturer had used industrial silicone instead of medical grade silicone to produce breast implants, in violation of the approval that had been issued by […]
The new Law on Public Procurement – Spotlight on the major changes
On 30 June 2017, the new law of 17 June 2016 on public procurement, published in the Belgian State Gazette of 14 July 2016, will enter into force for traditional sectors (Royal Decree of 18 April 2017, published in the Belgian State Gazette of 9 May 2017). Spotlight on the major changes brought by the […]
RegTech in Belgium
It is often said that RegTech is the new FinTech. That does not seem entirely correct. While FinTech companies are offering financial services to customers (often in competition with traditional financial service providers), RegTech companies are more to be seen as technical support service providers. They are at the service of both disrupting and traditional financial […]
PSD2: Licensed payment service institutions, do you comply with the new authorisation requirements?
Introduction Much has already been said and written about important new features of the PSD2 such as the introduction of new payment services, increased security measures, negative scope precision, incident reporting, improved home-host cooperation for agents/branches, etc. For existing payment service institutions (“PSI”) (i.e. payment institutions which obtained their license prior to 13 January 2018 […]
Simont Braun’s main practices highly recommended by Legal 500
Simont Braun has again achieved great results in the last edition of Legal 500, which recognizes and ranks the best law firms in more than 100 jurisdictions. We are also delighted to see more than 10 partners recommended: – Intellectual Property: Tier 2 – Fernand de Visscher – Dispute Resolution: Tier 2 – Sandrine Hirsch, […]
The new Belgian Security Act amended and postponed
The Belgian act of 11 July 2013 with regard to security rights on movable assets (the “Security Act”) is not yet in force. Implementing regulations were expected to organize the pledges register and to correct some inaccuracies and loopholes. The Belgian Law of 25 December 2016 (the “Law”) amends the Security Act to ensure its effective […]
Simont Braun achieves superior results in Chambers Global and Europe 2017
Simont Braun has again received very good results in Chambers 2017 both Europe and Global, improving all its rankings in the Global edition, with its main practice areas being recommended and no less than 8 lawyers being praised for their work. Our Intellectual Property department, “noted for its depth of expertise”, continues to occupy a very […]
