by Juan Manuel González | Aug 14, 2024 | Noticias-en
On August 4, Legislative Decree No. 1623 was published, through which the IGV Law was modified, establishing in turn the tax on the provision of streaming services (among other operations) by subjects not domiciled in the country, such as Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Disney+, etc.
Among its main provisions, the standard has provided for the following:
VAT (18%) on transactions carried out by natural persons who consume streaming platform services, intermediation services in the supply and demand of goods and services (AirBNB, Uber), storage services, among others, regardless of whether they carry out business activity or not.
VAT (18%) on transactions carried out with natural persons who “import” an intangible through the Internet, regardless of whether they carry out business activity or not.
Designation as withholding and collection agents of non-domiciled subjects and payment facilitators (banks, financial institutions, telecommunications companies) with respect to digital services and the importation of intangible goods via the Internet.
The obligation of providers of such services to register in the RUC and comply with certain formalities.
The collection of VAT on such operations would be carried out from October 1, 2024.
By Supreme Decree, the publication of which must be made within the next 30 days, the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 1623 will be regulated.
by Juan Manuel González | Aug 13, 2024 | Noticias-en
On January 10, 2023, the Organic Law to Promote the Violet Economy was issued and published in the Official Registry Supplement No. 234 of January 20, 2023. Article 18 of the law establishes that “(…) Company Equality Plans are a set of measures, adopted after carrying out a diagnosis of the situation, created with the aim of achieving equal treatment of opportunities between women and men in the company, eliminating discrimination of any type of gender and multiculturalism. Equality Plans will include the strategies and practices to be adopted to achieve them, as well as the establishment of effective systems for monitoring and evaluating the objectives set. Equality plans will include all departments of a company, without prejudice to the establishment of appropriate special actions with respect to certain work centers.”
Subsequently, through Ministerial Agreement No. MDT-2024-013 of January 19, 2024, published in the Official Registry Supplement No. 492 of February 5, 2024, the Ministry of Labor issued the Guidelines for the Registration of Equality Plans.
On July 29, 2024, Ministerial Agreement No. MDT-2024-099 was signed by the Minister of Labor Ivonne Elizabeth Núñez Figueroa with the purpose of updating the procedures and requirements for the registration of Equality Plans in companies with 50 or more workers.
In said ministerial agreement, the second paragraph of the First Transitional Provision of Ministerial Agreement No. MDT-2024-013 is amended, mentioning the following:
“Those employers who have a payroll of 50 or more workers must register the “Equality Plans” with the Ministry of Labor by July 31, 2025; and, once this period has concluded, the Ministry of Labor will proceed with the corresponding control and sanction process in case of evidence of failure to comply with the “Equality Plan”
In addition, it was indicated that the Ministry of Labor will proceed with control and sanction processes in case of non-compliance after this deadline.
If you require additional information, please contact the email laboral@bustamantefabara.com
by Juan Manuel González | Jul 30, 2024 | Noticias-en
On July 29, 2024, Resolution No. 710/2024 of the Ministry of Security was published in the Official Gazette of the Nation, creating the Artificial Intelligence Unit Applied to Security (“UIAAS”).
This new unit will operate within the scope of the Cybercrime and Cyber Affairs Directorate, which reports to the Cabinet of Advisors Unit of the Ministry of Security. The UIAAS will be headed by the Director of Cybercrime and Cyber Affairs and will include the participation of representatives of the Federal Police and Security Forces.
The mission of the UIAAS is the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crime through the use of artificial intelligence. Its main functions include:
– Patrol social networks, applications and websites, as well as the “deep Internet” or “dark web”, to investigate crimes and detect security risks.
– Identify and compare images in physical or virtual format.
– Analyze security camera images in real time using facial recognition.
– Use machine learning algorithms to predict and prevent future crimes.
– Detect cyber threats before attacks occur, including malware and phishing.
– Process large volumes of data to create suspect profiles and establish links between different cases.
– Use drones for aerial surveillance and emergency response.
– Performing dangerous tasks, such as deactivating explosives, using robots.
– Improve communication and coordination between the Federal Police and Security Forces.
– Analyze social media activities to detect potential threats and anticipate unrest.
– Detect suspicious financial transactions that could indicate illegal activities.
The implementation of the UIAAS will be in accordance with the guidelines and directives established by the Ministry of Security Resolution No. 428/24.
It should be noted that, according to the Ministry of Security Resolution No. 428/24, during preventive work, police personnel must comply with the Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326. Likewise, said resolution ignores that (i) it is strictly prohibited to handle sensitive data without judicial authorization, as well as to use publications by minors without due permission, and that (ii) if it is detected that the preventive activity involves a minor, it will be immediately suspended and the corresponding authorities will be notified, unless there is a risk to the life of the minor.
The scope and limits of the new UIASS’s actions, particularly when using technological tools to prevent criminal conduct, will have to be carefully analysed, taking into account potential problems regarding the right to privacy and the validity or legality of the actions of the security forces.
For more information and to access the full details of the regulation, please consult the following link: Resolution No. 710/2024.
by Juan Manuel González | Jul 30, 2024 | Noticias-en
The new Economic Crimes Law not only reconfigured the modifications of liability and incorporated a special system for determining punishment and alternative punishments in light of economic crime, but also added new criminal figures, whose limits and practical application have filled the business world with resentment.
One of them is that contained in article 134 bis of the Law on Public Limited Companies (LSA) which penalizes the illegality of abusive agreements that may occur in the boards of directors.
It is important to note that this crime, in its typical structure, punishes those who, taking advantage of their majority position on the board of directors of a corporation, adopt an abusive agreement to benefit or financially benefit another, to the detriment of the other partners and without the agreement bringing benefit to the company.
Next, we proceed to limit its scope of application to provide the following considerations:
First, the criminal type incorporated into article 134 bis was drawn up based on the text contained in article 291 of the Spanish Penal Code. Thus, the consideration of the latter, when resolving problems of interpretation and application of our criminal type, is essential for our dogmatics and jurisprudence.
In this sense, and to delimit the typical scope of the Chilean crime, it is necessary to keep in mind that, in light of Spanish dogma, the criminal type of abusive agreement has quite specific characteristics that we must consider.
As a reference, the offence only penalises, without prejudice to the other typical elements of the offence, those agreements that do not benefit society or do not respond to a rational need of the latter. In other words, it does not penalise the adoption of agreements that, even if they harm minority shareholders, benefit or respond to a rational need of society.
It is therefore essential for the configuration of the crime to have in view the “social balance” associated with the adopted agreement. For these purposes, the mere occurrence of damage to the minority is not sufficient.
Thus, agreements that are beneficial to society, despite harming minority partners, and neutral agreements, which respond to a rational need of society, even when harming minority partners, would be atypical.
Secondly, it must be considered that the benefit, harm or specific effect that an agreement has on the social interest must be determined in light of criteria of economic rationality that exceed the sole consideration of the immediate effects associated with a particular agreement.
Let us consider an agreement that initially generates an economic advantage for society, but which, in the long term, is detrimental to its interests. In this case, this initial advantage is completely irrelevant in terms of the definition of the criminal type of abusive agreement. The conduct may also be criminal. And the same applies in reverse.
Finally, we must mention that the typical conduct sanctioned must be limited to the adoption of those agreements that are suitable to cause harm to the other partners. In other words, if a certain agreement does not have the possibility of causing harm to the other partners, then it cannot be sanctioned as a result of the crime of abusive agreement.
However, these clarifications are merely indicative. There are other clarifications that must be considered in order to delimit the typical scope of application of Article 134 bis.
The Chilean criminal type, a mirror of the Spanish one, cannot be applied in a way that goes beyond its superficial meaning or contradicts its origin. There is already a guide, there are already substantive delimitations that can guide the application of this new crime in our law. And this cannot be ignored by our doctrine and jurisprudence.
To discuss these issues, you can contact our Criminal Litigation team:
Gabriel Zaliasnik | Partner | gzaliasnik@az.cl
Loreto Hoyos | Director of the Criminal Group | lhoyos@az.cl
David Segall | Senior Associate | dsegall@az.cl
by Juan Manuel González | Jul 29, 2024 | Noticias-en
On July 24, the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) approved, through resolution No. 12, the “Regulation of the QR Generation Standard for Electronic Payments in Paraguay”. This regulation establishes the requirements for the generation and use of QR codes in electronic payments within the country.
Key aspects of the new regulation
QR Code: A two-dimensional quick response barcode containing information necessary for payment services, which can be scanned, processed and transmitted securely by a device.
Dynamic QR Code : Code presented by the merchant that includes your data to complete the payment and the amount to be paid.
Static QR Code : Code presented by the merchant that includes your details to complete the payment, but not the amount to be paid.
EMV® QRCPS : QR codes developed according to Europay, Mastercard and Visa Common QR standards and guidelines.
Standardization requirements
Dynamic and static QR codes must be based on EMV® QRCPS standards.
QR code generation must follow the guidelines of the PY-QR Code Implementation Guide.
QR codes must include the PY-QR logo.
Requirements for payment service providers (PSPs)
PSPs that use electronic payments with QR code must register with the BCP, in accordance with the instructions and requirements established by the Sub-General Management of Financial Operations (SGGOF). The deadline to comply with these requirements and complete the corresponding registration is June 30, 2025.
The SGGOF will issue the PY-QR code implementation guide, which will cover all transactions related to the generation of QR codes for electronic payments in the country.
For more information
For additional questions or more details on how this Regulation may affect your business, you can contact consultas@ferrere.com.