Recent News

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), a single regulator in the field of financial services in Malta, has published a consultation document which assumes official start of the process for the regulation of collective investment schemes in virtual currencies. The launch of the consultation document provides for the adoption of the regulatory approach by the MFSA in relation to this sector of the digital economy and, simultaneously, provides market participants with a possibility to design a platform for certain categories of investors willing to invest in virtual currencies. As for the draft rulebook, which is a part of the consultation document, such schemes should be initially developed in accordance with the laws of Malta or as SICAV (open-ended investment company with variable share capital) or INVCO (closed-ended investment company with fixed share capital). Although the former structure, as a rule, serves as a legal means of choice for promoters desirous of creating a fund structure within the jurisdiction. Another significant nuance emerging from the consultation document is the MFSA’s position, initially directed to allow collective investment schemes,...

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is constantly monitoring the tendencies in the field of Blockchain and cryptocurrencies, including their application in various industries related to innovative technologies. Remaining at the forefront of innovations and keeping up with new developments within the gaming industry, the Authority is considering the possibility of allowing its licensees to use cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology. The MGA is fully aware of the existing risks and the need to eliminate them for: consumer protection; prevention of crime and money laundering or funding of terrorism (in accordance with the 4th Anti Money Laundering Directive); maintenance of the reputation of the Maltese jurisdiction. At this point, the Regulator is in the process of creating the “sandboxed environment” (test and learn) for the use of digital currency in the remote gambling. At the same time, the development of guiding principles for the use of distributed ledger technology and methods of its implementation in various industries is being carried out. Taking into account the fact that a significant degree of expertise within the industry lies within the innovative...

On December 6, Elena Tkachuk, the CMO of Finance Business Service, performed at the V International Forum on Promotion of Legal Services PLS with a master class on the topic “Law Firm on the Internet: Where and How to Catch a Client.” The event, which organizer, according to the tradition, was the newspaper of Ukrainian lawyers, “Legal Practice”, took place in the conference hall of the Premier Palace Hotel (Kyiv, Shevchenko Blvd./ Pushkinskaya Str., 5-7/29). The presentation of Elena Tkachuk was intended for everyone who wants to know what promotion tools on the Internet would help to raise brand awareness, create an image of a company of professionals of international level, attract new customers and increase the number of sales. Judging by the fullness of the hall, there were enough such people among the Forum participants. What kind of promotion to use - paid traffic or SEO optimization, where to invest more resources and what to start with, what is the marketing role of social networks and messengers, what the chatbots can do in a law firm - these and other issues were discussed in detail during the master class. The speaker made a special emphasis on the importance...

The European Commission has announced new measures to improve the protection of the EU’s Value Added Tax system against fraud. The EU plans to close all the loopholes in the existing legislation for large-scale frauds. According to the EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici, VAT fraud may be a source of funding of criminal activities, including terrorism. “Combating this phenomenon requires much more effective information exchange between competent state bodies, and the mechanisms proposed by us will help this,” the official said at the presentation of introductions. “For example, the experts from the Eurofisk anti-fraud office will be given the access to information on registration of cars from Member States, that will help eliminate one of the main sources of VAT fraud associated with the sale of new and used cars.” Although the tax services of the EU states are still exchanging data on cross-border sales today, manual processing of information plays a significant role in this process. In addition, the data from national union law enforcement authorities regarding criminal groups in ​​VAT frauds are not received...

The Dutch Government plans to strengthen the regulatory regime for representative offices of Dutch trusts, preventing tax evasion and fraud. Recently the Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra has announced the key provisions of the new supervisory mechanism approved by the Council of Ministers. In accordance with the introductions, the trust management scheme should be organized as a private or state company (BV or NV) and fulfill certain requirements within the framework of the test for physical presence in the country. Passing the test involves conducting day-to-day management of the trust in the territory of the Netherlands by at least two of its managers. Another significant change is the ban on the provision of trust management services and tax planning to the same person, as well as on the transfer of their competencies with respect to observing the compliance requirements for external management. The obligation to exchange information with each other within the framework of a due diligence mechanism is also introduced for the trusts, so the client who does not meet the verification requirements in one company will not be accepted into another. The reformed legislation...

On October 12, 2017, the Draft Law on Personal Data Processing was announced at the meeting of state secretaries of Latvia, developed by the Ministry of Justice. The purpose of the bill is to establish legal prerequisites for the application of the EU Regulation on General Data Protection with new requirements for the personal data protection. The Regulation will come into effect on May 25, 2018 and will ensure the harmonization of the existing principles for the personal data protection in the Member States of the EU, creating uniform rules that will operate throughout the EU. At the moment, this sphere is regulated by the Law “On Personal Data Protection”, which will lapse from the moment of the application of the Regulation. The Regulation provides for a number of key innovations designed to improve the work of the single market: unified conditions for the personal data protection at the level of the European Union, which relate to the processing, storage, transfer to other enterprises and archiving; application of the principle of agency of one stop to entrepreneurs: companies will have to cooperate only with one supervising agency for the data protection in order to...

On December 6, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Finance Business Service Elena Tkachuk will hold a master class on the topic “Law Firm on the Internet: where and how to catch a client” within the framework of the V International Forum on Promotion of Legal Services PLS. The event will take place on December 5-6 in the conference hall of the Premier Palace Hotel (Kyiv, T. Shevchenko Blvd./ Pushkinskaya Street, 5-7/29), and according to tradition, the organizer will be the newspaper of the Ukrainian lawyers “Legal practice”. The Forum program will be divided into several thematic sessions on topical issues in the development and promotion of legal business, including: Global trends. Challenges-2017. Forecasts-2018. Attraction and maintenance of clients. Investments in development. Innovations. What technological solutions do companies invest in? Legal Tech. Work with an internal client. Digital Marketing. The above topics will be covered not only in the reports of the lawyers and experts in the field of promotion of legal services, but also in live discussions, as well as useful and fascinating master classes, one of which will be held by the CMO of our company....