Experts' contributions

While Vietnam remains a predominantly cash-based economy, its legal framework on anti-money laundering, according to the Asian Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG)’s assessment in its Mutual Evaluation Report dated January 2022, is still incomprehensive and limited, which makes the country itself vulnerable to risks of money laundering.

Pursuant to the report on national risk assessment on money laundering and terrorism financing conducted by the Vietnamese authority for the period of 2012-2017, the risk of money laundering in Vietnam is assessed at “medium high” (trung bình cao).

Faster permit-granting processes for the installation of renewable energy and a curb on the price of gas on the TTF gas exchange are some of the measures adopted by the EU ministers of energy at the extraordinary Energy Council meeting on 19 December 2022.

The top item on the agenda at the Energy Council meeting on 19 December was to reach a compromise on a gas price cap (a price correction mechanism). The Council managed to reach agreement, and with that item resolved, the Council was able to also formally adopt two new emergency regulations; a regulation designed to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and a regulation on joint purchasing of gas in the EU.

This contribution highlights some of the key changes in UK employment law in 2022, including COVID19-related legislation, employment status and reporting obligations, in particular with respect to ethnicity pay gap, and what is to be expected in 2023, including potentially far-reaching legislative changes regarding the Retained EU Law and the New Employment Bill, family rights and enhanced scrutiny of the so-called “Fire and rehire” policy.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented businesses with unprecedented challenges. It was inevitable that litigation would follow, and that the courts would be required to interpret familiar contract terms in light of these decidedly unfamiliar circumstances. Whether parties to a contract could invoke a force majeure clause (sometimes called an “act of God” clause) in response to COVID-19 was the focus of much speculation when the pandemic first hit.

In Porter Airlines Inc. v. Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure Partners GP, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently considered inter alia whether a force majeure clause relieved Porter from certain contractual obligations.

Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) is driving innovation across industries and is playing an increasing role in everyday life. AI (and, more broadly, algorithms) is being used in diagnostics, enabled medical devices, device manufacturing, drug discovery and manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, smart home and wearable devices, and vehicles. AI has the potential to benefit society in a number of ways, including by boosting efficiency, providing invaluable insights, and informing decisions.
But to borrow from the likes of Winston Churchill (or Spider-man), with great AI capabilities comes great responsibility.

The Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has proposed changes in the Norwegian Electronic Communications Act and the Norwegian Electronic Communications Regulations to implement legal requirements for data centres.

The Ministry proposes, inter alia, that data centres will be required to register and comply with a set of security requirements.
This proposal has been submitted for consultation, and the deadline for contributions is 9 September 2022. The proposal is expected to be presented to Parliament during the autumn.