Customs and Excise Highlights

This week’s selected highlights in the Customs & Excise environment since our last instalment.

What is meant by 'fit and proper'? The Australian Federal Court sheds some light

The concept of a ‘fit and proper’ person is a fundamental one in many professions, jurisdictions and organisations as it is used to determine a person’s honesty, integrity and reputation in order to confirm that they are fit and proper for the role they are undertaking. There is, however, no single infallible test regarding what constitutes a ‘fit and proper’ person and in some instances, this requirement is not defined in legislation.

Should South Africans have the right to die with dignity?

Should South Africans have the right to die with dignity?

Substantive Rights: Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard under International Investment Agreements

In this instalment, Director Jackwell Feris discusses the fair and equitable treatment guarantee under international investment treaties.

Substantive Rights: Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard under International Investment Agreements

In this instalment, Director Jackwell Feris discusses the fair and equitable treatment guarantee under international investment treaties.

The ambit of section 420 of the Companies Act

In the recent reported judgment of De Villiers v GJN Trust (756/2017) [2018] ZASCA 80, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) considered, among other things, the ambit of s420 of the Act, as well as the effect of a s420 court order, whereby the dissolution of a company is declared void.

Customs & Excise highlights

This week’s selected highlights in the Customs & Excise environment since our last instalment.

A burning issue: National Treasury releases the revised Draft Regulations on the Carbon Offset

On 12 November 2018, National Treasury (NT) published the revised Draft Regulation on the Carbon Offset (Draft Regulations) for a second round of public comment. The Regulations were published with the Explanatory Note for the Draft Regulation on the Carbon Offset (Explanatory Note) and a Media Statement dealing with the publication of the Draft Regulations and Explanatory Note (Media Statement). According to the Media Statement, the Minister of Finance recently announced the implementation of carbon tax effective from 1 June 2019. A key design feature of the carbon tax is the carbon offset allowance, which the Draft Regulations deal with.

Shareholder activism, here to stay

“Shareholder activism is not a privilege – it is a right and a responsibility. When we invest in a company, we own part of the company and we are partly responsible for how that company progresses. If we believe there is something going wrong with the company, then we, as shareholders, must become active and vocal” – renowned emerging markets investor, Mark Mobius, 2014.

Substantive Rights: The guarantee against expropriation without compensation

In our fifth instalment, Director Jackwell Feris briefly discusses the guarantee against expropriation and/or nationalisation without compensation which is one of the substantive grounds under international investment treaties for the protection of investment.

Substantive Rights of investors under International Investment Agreements

In our fourth instalment, Director Jackwell Feris briefly highlights the Substantive Rights that investors of qualifying investments are entitled to rely on under International Investment Agreements (and in some instance foreign investment laws).

Leave your politics at the door: EFF reprimanded for interfering with workplace issues

“Where it comes to the EFF and its functionaries, it should simply not stick in its nose where it does not belong”. These were some of the Labour Court’s words in the judgment of Calgan Lounge v EFF & Others (J2648/18) handed down on 9 October 2018.

Think twice before you tweet

South Africa has walked into a veritable social media storm in the early parts of the year, with employers increasingly being placed in the difficult position of having to decide whether or not to take action against employees for their behaviour online.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr scoops PMR Africa large law firm award for sixth year in a row

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) has been named South Africa’s number one large law firm in the prestigious PMR Africa client research report for the sixth year in a row.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr claims top spot by deal value for SA firms in Mergermarket’s M&A league tables for Africa and the Middle East

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's (CDH) Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) team achieved first place by deal value for South African firms and 12th place internationally in the latest Mergermarket M&A Africa & Middle East 2015 Global League Tables. The team increased its deal value to $18.8 billion from $9.2 billion in 2014.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr announces eight partner appointments in strategy to grow service offering in key client sectors

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) business law firm in South Africa has made eight partner appointments to its finance and banking, employment and tax practices within the last month.

Best Lawyers 2016 in South Africa announced

The seventh edition of Best Lawyers in South Africa has been released and Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s lawyers have once again featured prominently on the list. Most notably, David Thompson is the Best Lawyers’ 2015 Cape Town Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year and Peter Hesseling is Best Lawyers’ 2015 Cape Town Corporate Lawyer of the Year.

Best Lawyers 2016 in South Africa

The seventh edition of Best Lawyers in South Africa has been released and Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s (CDH) lawyers have once again featured prominently on the list. Most notably, David Thompson is the Best Lawyers’ 2015 Cape Town Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer of the Year and Peter Hesseling is Best Lawyers’ 2015 Cape Town Corporate Lawyer of the Year.

Whistle blowing in SA is making South African multinational nervous

Chris Charter on new Competition Commission action against price collusion

Massmart has launched a complaint with the Competition Commission targeting Pick n Pay, Spar and Shoprite in a bid to end lease exclusivity clauses. Chris Charter, Head of our Competition practice comments.

Liquidation of various assets that are owned by former ANCYL leader, Julius Malema

There is a lot of interest in the liquidation of various assets that are owned by former ANCYL leader Julias Malema. Guests in studio are Marc Ashton, Editor of Finweek, Vincent Tadden Lending Product House at FNB Wealth and Julian Jones, National Head of the Business Rescue, Restructuring and Insolvency Sector.

Arbitration - the hearing and determining of disputes

Jonathan Ripley-Evans talks about arbitration, which is the settling of differences between parties by an arbitrator.

Employment tax incentives

Nicole Paulsen, associate in the Tax and Exchange Control practice speaks about employment tax incentives and how it expires.