A wide range of digital initiatives have an impact on 'financial inclusion', ie, access to banking services both for underbanked and low-income customers. Promoting financial inclusion using virtual platforms in low and middle-income countries enables reaching vulnerable and excluded customers. This article examines the new frontiers of open banking and cryptocurrencies for payment systems from the perspective of inclusive financial development. The possibility for technology-based change in the financial markets is demonstrated in the online delivery of banking services and in the business models and operations of intermediaries that provide them. Enhancing the appropriate public policy_x000D_ on financial data and the availability of 'open data' for use by other firms and investors represent the main challenges for regulators. This article argues that there is a public interest in data access that requires coordination at industry level and may also require regulatory intervention to ensure the governance of data technologies.

In this article, the author sets out the case for punishing a person who unsuccessfully attempts the commission of a criminal act to a lesser extent than one who actually completes the same act. A common objection to such a position is that one who attempts should not escape equal punishment on a mere quirk of fate, for it is this, in essence, that separates the attempter from the perpetrator of the completed crime. This objection is misconceived. The rationale behind laying down a lesser punishment for attempts lies not in surrendering what is really a normative judgment to the vagaries of luck, but in the fundamental reality that harmful consequences-which only manifest upon completion of a crime-form a basic part of the societal response and reaction mechanism that is our criminal justice system.

This article deals with the traditional conception of purchase of a conforming tender of documents under a negotiation letter of credit and the extent to which that understanding has evolved in the courts in recent years to meet the changing needs of bankers involved in credit operations. In particular, it provides a thorough analysis of the conventional view of negotiation as the purchase of complying presentation by a nominated bank. Along the way it tackles thorny problems involving a nominated banks's promise to pay upon receipt of funds from the issuing bank; the legal nature and effect of the banks's discounted payment of the amount of a credit after having been advised by the issuing bank that the documents are complying; the question of ascertaining the conformity of a negotiation with the negotiation period stipulated in a credit; and finally the vexed issue of what amounts to good faith purchase by a nominated bank.

This short article examines the scope and effect of the restrictions imposed under the National Land Code 1965 of Malaysia. The Foreign Investment Committee's guidelines on acquisition of assets by foreigners are also examined in relation to the restrictions imposed under the Code. The restrictions imposed under the Sarawak Land Code are also noted by wat of comparison.

The Singapore government has called the COVID-19 pandemic “the most serious crisis" that Singapore has faced since Independence. However, Singapore did not issue a Proclamation of Emergency. Instead, it adopted a 'legislative model' of emergency powers, addressing COVID-19 through ordinary legislation, including and especially the new COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020. Despite the sweeping nature of the powers thereunder, the government has exercised a calibrated approach in its measures, shaped by communitarian norms and high level of responsiveness towards the needs of members of the Singapore community, albeit not without its weaknesses. This article_x000D_ thus makes the case that Singapore's response to COVID-19 has been characterised by two main features: a legislative emergency in law and 'responsive communitarianism' in practice. It argues that COVID-19 has seen the further concentration of executive power where the law is increasingly instrumentalised as a tool towards social and political priorities.

This article outlines the development of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration. It also examines the measures necessary to foster a conducive environment for arbitration and the steps which have been taken in Malaysia towards this end.

This article argues that judicial control of the prorogation power in Singapore should be confined to enforcing the Constitutional provisions that directly or indirectly regulate the power - the most important being the 6-month limit on the interval between sessions of Parliament. Beyond the Constitutional provisions, the Constitutional principle engaged in an exercise of the prorogation power is responsible government, which is turned on its head when Parliament is prorogued on the advice of a Prime Minister who does not command its confidence. Responsible government is secured not by legal controls but by political controls, ie the reserve power of the President to dismiss a Prime Minister who does not command confidence. This power can be operated to avoid, or to reverse, a prorogation advised by a Prime Minister who does not command the confidence of Parliament. There is no therefore need for judicial control of prorogation beyond enforcing the relevant Constitutional provisions.

This report highlights some of the more important legal developments in Brunei Darussalam covering the period between January 1991 to December 1992. The topics covered in this report include Emergency Orders and case law.

In recent decades, a number of fantastically successful, mainly American, MNEs - led and epitomised by the "Four Horsemen", Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google, but also extending beyond the tech sector - have earned huge profits, while paying very low global taxes, through their use of IP. Since intellectual property, in contrast to tangible property, generally lacks a clear location, it empowers corporate tax avoidance at the expense of both the production countries where the MNEs' high-value owner-employees live, and the market countries where their customers live._x000D_ This two-part article assesses the challenges posed for countries' international tax systems by the rise of mobile intellectual property, including but not limited to the case where it is embodied in a digital platform. Part One in this issue assesses the challenges posed for the traditional income tax concept of source, and for the OECD's proposed focus on the site of "value creation". Part Two in the next issue will focus on proposals to shift taxing rights towards market jurisdictions that may enjoy location-specific rents with regard to the MNEs' access to their consumers, including via the use of DSTs.

Modern conceptions of dramatic entertainment have expanded to include diverse and previously inconceivable forms. The elements of apparent spontaneity in popular television shows like MasterChef, The Amazing Race and The Voice appear to be at odds with the traditional requirements of a predetermined script—which is commonly understood to be necessary for copyright protection of a "dramatic work". Other forms of performances such as improvisation theatre, animal acts, fireworks and synchronised drones only add to a cacophonous collection that do not fit into our current state of copyright law that demands categorical recognition of works. This article explores, through a comparative analysis of developments in a number of Commonwealth common law jurisdictions, what may and should qualify as a dramatic work in Singapore in the 21st century.