Law passed to regulate Significant Investments in Singapore Entities
The Significant Investments Review Bill (the "Bill") was recently passed by Parliament on 9 January 2024, and is expected to take effect in the first half of the year.
Upcoming changes to data protection legislation in Asia
The data privacy landscape in Asia is varied, complex and evolving. We are already seeing the wheels of change in motion as the data privacy laws of several Asian jurisdictions are being updated to reflect more closely the European data protection regime. This article summarises some of those changes.
Authors Jonathan Crompton, Summer Montague, Stephanie Northcott,Sumyutha Sivamani and Sakshi Buttoo
In Asia, the data privacy landscape is varied, complex and evolving. Many, but not all, jurisdictions have some form of data protection regime, comprising of data protection and/ or data security laws (or a combination of both).
To add to these differing approaches, many Asian jurisdictions are in the process of substantially updating their data protection regimes. For example, in 2019 Thailand introduced its Personal Data Protection Act which imposes data use restrictions, civil liability for misuse and sanctions. The Act was due to come into effect in May 2019, but full implementation has been postponed until May 2020.
The tables in the article below provide a brief overview of some of the key changes which companies can expect to see coming into force in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan in the near future.
Since these upcoming changes are increasing the level of protection afforded to data subjects, organisations operating in Asia markets will need to assess the impact of the changes on their business and take steps to ensure compliance. In the same way that data protection regulation is stringent in the EU market, the Asia market is fast becoming an environment in which data is protected with greater care, and mandatory breach notification obligations. Failure to follow the updated requirements could result in substantial penalties and reputational damage.
To access full PDF, click here.
Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises to take effect from 1 February 2024
Following from the passing of the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Bill which mandates compliance with the Code of Conduct for Leasing of Retail Premises in Singapore ("Code") for qualifying leases of retail premises earlier this year, the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Act ("Act') is expected to take effect from 1 February 2024.
![Confidentiality of arbitration proceedings may not always be protected - The Republic of India v Deutsche Telkom AG [2023] SGCA(I) 4](/media/0ymfpldt/dispute_resolution-gi-882372772-cropped.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=10&height=7&rnd=132880988268300000)
Confidentiality of arbitration proceedings may not always be protected - The Republic of India v Deutsche Telkom AG [2023] SGCA(I) 4
In general, arbitration proceedings are confidential. Arbitration-related cases which end up in the courts often are reported only after the names of parties have been anonymised, and it is quite common for a sealing order to be issued on the court file, so as to preserve the confidential nature of the arbitration. In the recent case of The Republic of India v Deutsche Telkom AG [2023] SGCA(I) 4, the Singapore Court of Appeal ("CA") considered an application for a sealing order.