Originally published on gulfnews.com John Peacock explains how the law treats a practice made infamous by speculators Property flipping is a term widely used in the US to describe the process of buying property and reselling it at a higher price, usually after making minor alterations or refurbishments. Technically the first buyer or the…
By Lujain Al Yousef, Associate, and Abdullah Alanezi, Partner. Over the years the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has become a place of interest for many investors around the world. For businesses wishing to expand into international markets, KSA is the perfect choice. It is an economically stable country with a constant increase in the domestic…
We are happy to announce the collaboration between BSA and International Comparative Legal Guides (ICLG) on the ICLG Insurance & Reinsurance Legal Guide for the year 2018. Michael Kortbawi, Partner at BSA’s Dubai office, a prominent Middle Eastern Insurance lawyer, has been a longtime contributor to regional Insurance legal guides for a number of publishers. In…
Owners’ associations (OA) have been in a somewhat tricky position since the introduction of value added tax (VAT) in the UAE in January. The exact rules and regulations remain unclear and at the heart of this confusion lies the simple question of whether OAs are tax exempt or not. The catch 22 position revolves…
By Catherine Jaskiewicz A. Setting-up a presence in Oman The Sultanate’s political stability and modern trading system, makes Oman one of the most attractive hubs in the Middle East for international businesses. Setting up a business in Oman can be a cumbersome procedure and it is advisable to involve a locally practicing attorney in…
By Munir Suboh With the increased usage of social media, companies and employers find themselves obliged to establish policies for employees to provide acceptable, reasonable, safe and common-sense guidelines and recommendations for using social media responsibly. Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat and other social media platforms are always viewed as public activities and regardless…
What legal avenues do owners have when their complaints are not addressed? Published in Gulf News on March 7, 2018 By Robert Mitchley, Senior Associate Unit owners in a one-year-old building have been wrangling over maintenance and service fee issues with the developer. The owners complain that the owners’ association (OA) is not prompt…
By Munir Suboh, Partner and Head of IP The regional trademark offices in the Middle East, including the local UAE trademark office, receive thousands of trademark applications annually. The number of approved and registered trademarks has increased significantly over the last few years due to a less conservative approach being taken towards examination. Effectively, this increase…
As part of a string of legislative reforms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”), the Saudi Arabia Royal Decree No M/05/2018 dated 13/02/2018) (the “KSA Bankruptcy Law”) comes as a boost to the continued growth of the KSA economy and the increase of foreign direct investment. Before the issuance of the KSA Bankruptcy Law, the general…
Throughout the UAE, a common frustration exists with insolvencies due to its time-consuming nature and significantly low recovery rates, which stemmed from the outdated governance of insolvency that made it an offence for a company to fail to petition for bankruptcy within 30 days of the date of suspension of payment of its debts, and…