Pursuant to the analysis on the UAE Tax Law and the Qualifying Free Zone Person, on 18 July 2023, the Ministry of Finance published Cabinet Decision No. 81 of 2023 on the ‘Conditions for Qualifying Investment Funds for the Purposes of UAE Tax Law’. In addition to the conditions setout under Article 10 of the UAE Tax Law, the Cabinet imposed additional cumulative conditions to be met by an Investment Fund to become eligible for an exemption from Corporate Tax as a Qualifying Investment Fund.

On 30 March 2023, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (the “FSRA”) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (the “ADGM”) published Consultation Paper No.2 of 2023 on its proposed amendments to the Conduct of Business Rulebook, the General Rulebook and the Glossary Rulebook (the “Old Rules”), concerning client classification, client assets and conduct requirements that eventually came into effect on 15 August 2023 (“Enhanced Rules”).

According to article 398 of the Swiss Code of Obligation of 30 mars 1911 (“CO”), the mandatee generally has the same duty of care as the employee in an employment relationship (paragraph 1). The mandatee is liable to the mandator for the diligent and faithful performance of the business entrusted to him (paragraph 2). He must conduct such business in person unless authorised or compelled by circumstance to delegate it to a third party or where such delegation is deemed admissible by custom (paragraph 3).

Under the Banking Act (“BA”; SR 952.0), persons who do not hold a banking license may not accept deposits from the public in a professional purpose (cf. art. 1 par. 2 BA) or advertise the acceptance of such deposits (art. 49 par. 1 let. c BA).

In Switzerland, a universally accepted description of artificial intelligence remains elusive, as existing definitions often revolve around human intelligence rather than machine-based intelligence. These formulations pose challenges by necessitating the definition of "intelligence," particularly the human variety.

In 2017, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) designated H.E. Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama as the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. Subsequently, in April 2019, the UAE Cabinet sanctioned the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031 to position the UAE as a global leader in artificial intelligence.

In the last couple of months, the UAE Ministry of Finance released Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2023 on ‘Determining Qualifying Income for the Qualifying Free Zone Person for the Purposes of the UAE Tax Law and Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2023 on ‘Qualifying Activities and Excluded Activities for the Purposes of the UAE Tax Law'.

The present newsletter aims at analyzing, with a focus on Swiss regulations, the conditions for protection by the two intellectual property protection that could enter into account for software protection, namely copyright and patent. We will also give a brief overview of the different software licensing systems.

On 11 April 2023, the Registration Authority (“RA”) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market published Consultation Paper No. 3 of 2023 titled “Proposal for a Legislative Framework for Distributed Ledger Technology Foundations”. With this Consultation Paper, the RA aims to address market players' growing interest in using ADGM foundations to facilitate distributed ledger technology projects and issuance of non-regulated utility tokens and provide a comprehensive explanation of the Distributed Ledger Technology Foundations Regulations 2023 proposed to that effect.

Switzerland is at the forefront of financial innovation in FinTech and blockchain. Swiss laws do not specifically regulate cryptoassets as a distinct asset class, but instead apply existing regulatory rules to them for their issuance, trading and holding. The ICO Guidelines of the Swiss financial regulator ("FINMA") provide detailed guidance on the regulatory framework for initial coin offerings ("ICOs") and security token offerings ("STOs") under Swiss law, including a checklist for negative clearance applications. FINMA reviews ICOs and STOs for compliance with anti-money laundering ("AML") regulations, investor rights and technical standards.

The metaverse market encounters a knowledgeable success among investors, because of the new commercial opportunities it offers, especially in e-commerce and gaming. In 2023, revenue in the metaverse market is projected to reach USD 54.95 billion. By the end of the decade, the metaverse is forecasted to reach about 700 million people worldwide.

Since 1st January 2023, the new Anti-Money Laundering Act requires financial intermediaries to comply with strict due diligence duties. The law will now explicitly provide for the verification of the identity of the beneficial owner and a general obligation to update client data. The objective is also to improve the transparency of associations exposed to an increased risk of terrorism financing.

Switzerland adopted a new legislation to protect its citizens' data better. It improves the handling of personal data and grants new rights to Swiss citizens. Several obligations for companies accompany this important legislative change.

The Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority is the competent entity in charge of regulating, supervising and overseeing Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Providers in Dubai. In this article, we will explore the Law and Regulations and explain how marketing VARA-related activities are regulated and enforced by this authority.

On 1 January 2023, the new provisions on limited company law came into force. The foundation and capital provisions are now more flexible, the shareholders' rights have also been amended. The provisions have been adapted to the existing accounting law. There will be a transitional period of two years for the adaptation of the articles of association of existing companies to the new law. The articles of association of companies founded after 1 January 2023 must comply with the provisions of the new law as soon as they are incorporated.

Dominique Lecocq, Pierre-Antoine Keiser and Logaina Omer's publication on Distributed Ledger Technology ("DLT") touches on the technology's relation to the finance industry, its regulatory context and applicable laws in Switzerland and the Abu Dhabi Global Market ("ADGM").

The 9th edition of The Privacy, Data Protection and Cybersecurity Law Review includes a publication by lecocqassociate's Dominique Lecocq and Logaina Omer about the metaverse and the law. They touch on the legal status of the metaverse internationally, its applicable laws, jurisdictions and frameworks.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority announced several legislative changes made to the DFSA Rules with entry into force on 1 June 2022 and aiming to bring regulatory clarity for a new specialist fund in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), namely credit funds.

Mixing personal and professional life is a risk no one wants to take—especially business leaders whose public image carries significant responsibilities for the company—demonstrating a clear image speed up the process of establishing a business, closing deals, and inspiring workers, among others. However, after the boom of social networks, the rise of remote work and the evolution and transparency of search engines, separating these two aspects has become increasingly difficult.

Back in 2010, Online Reputation Management activities focused on basic Search Engine Optimisation techniques and copywriting to help gain positions within the Search Engine Result Pages. The Internet was completely different back at that time. Everything is changing now in the era of smartphones, smart speakers and the beginning of the Metaverse.

The introduction of the Financial Services Act (FinSA) on 1 January 2020 has brought significant changes in the law on collective investment schemes. The rules for the offering and distributing foreign collective investment schemes in Switzerland have been amended. This article aims to show which new regulations apply in the context of Switzerland's marketing of foreign funds.

On 15 September 2017, the Swiss Federal Council adopted a Message related to the global revision of the Federal Act on Data Protections of 19 June 1992 (FF 2017 6565 ff). According to this Message, the current FADP has been overtaken by technological and societal developments.

In Switzerland, the Revised Federal Data Protection Act (Revised FDPA), an update of the Swiss data protection act to align it with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), was approved in 2020 and it will enter into force during 2022 or 2023.

When undergoing an infringement of their intellectual property rights, it is paramount that the injured party can react quickly. Interim measures allow such a fast reaction in Switzerland. Such measures differ from ordinary proceedings in four aspects.

Structured products or otherwise called market-linked investment products are "pre-packaged structured finance investment strategy based on a single security, a basket of securities, options, indices, commodities, debt issuance or foreign currencies, and to a lesser extent, derivatives.

Esports commonly refer to competitive (pro and amateur) video gaming that is often coordinated by different leagues, ladders and tournaments, and where players customarily belong to teams or other “sporting” organisations which are sponsored by various business organisations. During recent years, esports (electronic sports) have become one of the most rapidly growing forms of new media driven by the growing provenance of (online) games and online broadcasting technologies.

The Limited Qualified Investor Fund (L-QIF) is an innovative fund product designed to enhance Switzerland's attractiveness and innovative capacity as a fund centre; lecocqassociate provides a full range of financial regulatory, corporate and commercial advice concerning the structuring and incorporation of entities.

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) issued new rules supplementing the Data Protection Regulations 2021 previously adopted at the beginning of 2021.

The creditor who intends to sequester the assets of a debtor in Switzerland who is not domiciled in that country will have to make sure that he fulfils the conditions set out in this article and that he obtains as much information as possible in this context, in order to convince the judge of the validity of his claim.‍

A comparative legal review to look into the set-up of cryptocurrency exchanges in renowned jurisdictions: Switzerland, Malta and Lithuania. The set-up of cryptocurrency exchanges is not complicated. We advise that in order to have a sustainable and long-lasting cryptocurrency exchange, it is important to consider the establishment of the exchange.

A PFP is an online (electronic) platform that allows private companies, such as start ups and small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”) from early to pre IPO stage, to source financing from private and institutional investors to launch and scale their businesses.

The “Swissness” trademark legislative amendment came into force on 1 January 2017. It strengthens the “Swiss Made” designation and the Swiss stamp of quality. It aims to reinforce the value of Swiss products used for marketing products, and in turn, contributes to preventing any wrongful use of the Swiss indication of the source.

A financial consultancy or advisory firm comprises highly qualified financial advisors and consultants who help individuals and companies make strategic decisions to reach a certain financial goal. In the UAE there are mainly 3 jurisdictions to set up a financial consultancy or advisory, the ADGM, DIFC and Mainland UAE.

On 30 April 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued Cabinet Decision No. 31 of 2019 concerning Economic Substance Requirements (Regulations) in response to the European Union Code of Conduct Group’s assessment of its tax framework...

The Federal Decree-Law No. 26/2020 On the amendment of certain provisions of Federal Law No. 2/2015 on Commercial Companies (the "Federal Decree-Law No. 26/2020") issued on 27 September 2020 now establishes as a default position the possibility of 100% foreign ownership in the United Arab Emirates

The Consultation Paper No. 138 of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”) it's relating to the regulation of security tokens (“Consultation Paper”). For a period of 30 days, the regulator will be collecting feedback from the public on its proposed regulatory framework around security tokens a specific form of crypto-asset/token.