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ECB extends recommendation not to pay dividends until January 2021 On 28 July 2020, the ECB extended its recommendation that banks suspend the distribution of dividends and share buybacks until 1 January 2021 and, in addition, requested banks to be extremely moderate with regard to variable remuneration. First issued ... Germany takes the next step on the road to dematerialised securities On 11 August 2020, the German Ministries of Finance, and Justice and Consumer Protection, published a draft bill (the 'Law on electronic securities' Bill) that, if enacted, will introduce electronic debt securities into German law and with that see Germa... Break fees and VAT HMRC had for some time taken a somewhat arbitrary position in relation to the VAT liability of payments made by a party terminating a contract, such as a break fee under a lease.  In their view, the treatment depended upon whether the termination provisio... EU-UK trade deal – can we learn from other FTAs between geographic neighbours? What are the comparators for trade agreements between close geographic partners?  This briefing takes stock of the current state of negotiations between the UK and EU and considers how such areas of disagreement have been addressed in other free trade ... New rules on the marketing of revolving credits in Spain following the March 2020 court ruling on usurious interest rates for revolving credit cards On 27 July, the Ministry of Economic and Digital Affairs published Order ETD/699/2020 of 24 July on revolving credit (the 'Order') which sets out new rules for increased transparency in the marketing of revolving credit by financial institutions. This Ord... NIST looks to shine a light on the ‘black box’ with its white paper on explainable AI There has been a growing focus over recent months, at governmental and regulatory levels, on the transparency and trustworthiness of AI solutions (see our previous blog). This is perhaps unsurprising given that AI is now widely used in making high-stake d... Brexit and exhaustion of IP rights: are UK exporters collateral damage? Exhaustion of IP rights has always been a controversial topic, and Brexit has kept the issue on centre stage. The issue? Price differences between different national markets. On the one hand, IP rights holders want to protect national markets, maintain th... Measuring public trust and confidence: the ICO’s Annual Track survey results Whether it’s Zoom calls, online shopping, the government’s test and trace efforts, or the recent exam results controversy, it’s clear that digital services and initiatives – and the data protection challenges they pose – will continue to be a cornerstone ... India's Transparent Taxation initiative: the angel (if any) will be in the detail On 13 August 2020, the Prime Minister of India announced a number of steps to make the Indian tax system "seamless, faceless and painless". For international investors familiar with the Vodafone saga (where the Indian government legislated with retrospect... HMRC's uncertainty principle Yesterday marked the deadline for responses to the HMRC consultation document "Notification of uncertain tax treatment by large business".  This is the proposal that large businesses should be required to notify HMRC of uncertain tax positions in returns ...