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MasterCard Fined €570 Million for Breaching Competition Rules Antitrust, Competition and Trade

MasterCard Fined €570 Million for Breaching Competition Rules

This article was written by​ Dr Annalies Muscat and Dr Laura Spiteri.​On 22 January 2019, the European Commission ("the Commission) fined MasterCard for limiting the possibility for retailers to benefit from lower interchange fees in other Member States.This follows the call for feedback on commitments offered by Visa and MasterCard regarding the competition concerns raised by inter-regional interchange fees for payment card transactions (read more here).The fine comes as a response to MasterCard's breach of competition rules, which MasterCard admitted to. Prior to the implementation of the Interchange Fee Regulation, the aim of which was to introduce caps on interchange…
Annalies Muscat
8th February 2019
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Beware of ‘Positive Discriminatory’ Measures Employment and Industrial Relations

Beware of ‘Positive Discriminatory’ Measures

In a judgment delivered recently by the Court of Justice of the European Union, Austrian legislation was in the limelight. A particular law provided that Good Friday was a paid public holiday for members of certain religious congregations only. If a member of such a congregation did work on that day, he was entitled to additional pay. Such an entitlement was not based on any condition that the employee in question had to perform a particular religious duty during that day. Therefore, the employee was free to choose how to spend his time during that day. The Court held that…
Christine Calleja
8th February 2019
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Beware of ‘Positive Discriminatory’ Measures Employment and Industrial Relations

Beware of ‘Positive Discriminatory’ Measures

In a judgment delivered recently by the Court of Justice of the European Union, Austrian legislation was in the limelight. A particular law provided that Good Friday was a paid public holiday for members of certain religious congregations only. If a member of such a congregation did work on that day, he was entitled to additional pay. Such an entitlement was not based on any condition that the employee in question had to perform a particular religious duty during that day. Therefore, the employee was free to choose how to spend his time during that day. The Court held that…
Christine Calleja
8th February 2019
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Regulations to Aid Undertakings Providing Professional Training to Employees Corporate and M&A

Regulations to Aid Undertakings Providing Professional Training to Employees

On the 25th January 2019, the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses published the "Skills Development Regulations, 2019",  which aim to financially assist those undertakings that offer schemes of professional training to their employees. The regulations apply to the period between the 1st September 2018 and the 31st December 2020. They also repeal the "Assistance for Knowledge Transfer Regulations", but such repeal should not affect any aid previously awarded by virtue of their past application. Under the new regulations, Malta Enterprise has been given the power to assist undertakings that provide training to employees "in relation to their employment".…
Mark Soler
5th February 2019
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Regulations to Aid Undertakings Providing Professional Training to Employees Corporate and M&A

Regulations to Aid Undertakings Providing Professional Training to Employees

On the 25th January 2019, the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses published the "Skills Development Regulations, 2019",  which aim to financially assist those undertakings that offer schemes of professional training to their employees. The regulations apply to the period between the 1st September 2018 and the 31st December 2020. They also repeal the "Assistance for Knowledge Transfer Regulations", but such repeal should not affect any aid previously awarded by virtue of their past application. Under the new regulations, Malta Enterprise has been given the power to assist undertakings that provide training to employees "in relation to their employment".…
Mark Soler
5th February 2019
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Amendments to the Family Business Act Come Into Force Corporate and M&A

Amendments to the Family Business Act Come Into Force

Act XLVIII of 2016, entitled the Family Business Act (the "Act"),  creates a legal framework for the registration of family businesses "established in Malta".   The system of registration contained in the Act allows Maltese authorities to supervise the grant offinancial "benefits"   to those businesses that meet any of the criteria set out in Article 3 of the Act, and which have been duly registered with "the Regulator". Indeed, Article 7 of the Act provides that a business shall be a registered family business once it has been accepted for registration by the Regulator in terms of Article 28 of the…
Mark Soler
31st January 2019