MSMEs; Registration, Financing cooperatives and Investments related

ITALY

• [23 FEB 2021] Small and medium-sized cooperatives, in the Official Gazette the Mise decree: access to subsidized loans by interested financial companies

• The decree of the Ministry of Economic Development which provides for a  new aid scheme to strengthen support for the birth, development and consolidation of cooperatives, through investments by companies, has been published in the Official Gazette ( general series n.44 ) . Beneficiaries of the measure  are production, labor and social cooperatives  that are duly constituted and registered in the register of companies, not qualifying as "companies in difficulty", according to the provisions of the exemption regulation, and that are in full and free exercise of their rights, not in a state of dissolution or liquidation and not subject to bankruptcy proceedings.

• Decree Establishment of a new aid scheme aimed at strengthening public support for the creation, consolidation and development of small and medium-sized cooperatives.

• Notification in Official gazzette

THE PHILIPPINES

• [2020]REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9178

  AN ACT TO PROMOTE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BARANGAY MICRO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (BMBEs), PROVIDING INCENTIVES AND BENEFITS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Select provisions mentioning cooperatives:

  Sec. 10. Technology Transfer, Production and Management Training, and Marketing Assistance. — A BMBE Development Fund shall be set up with an endowment of Three Hundred Million Pesos (P300,000,000.00) from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and shall be administered by the SMED Council.

  The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the University of the Philippines Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP ISSI), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) may avail of the said Fund for technology transfer, production and management training and marketing assistance to BMBEs.

  As much as possible, BMBEs shall be subject to minimal bureaucratic requirements and reasonable fees and charges.

  Sec. 5. Who are Eligible to Register. — Any person, natural or juridical, or cooperative, or association, having the qualifications as defined in Sec. 3(a) hereof may apply for registration as BMBE.

  Sec. 9. Credit Delivery. — Upon the approval of this Act, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation (SBGFC), and the People's Credit and Finance Corporation (PCFC) shall set up a special credit window that will service the financing needs of BMBEs registered under this Act consistent with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) policies, rules and regulations. The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) shall likewise set up a special credit window that will serve the financing needs of their respective members who wish to establish a BMBE. The concerned financial institutions (FIs) are encouraged to wholesale the funds to accredited private financial institutions including community-based organizations such as credit, cooperatives, non-government organizations (NGOs) and people's organizations, which will in turn, directly provide credit support to BMBEs.

• 2021

  Understanding impacts of Internet Transactions Act on Filipino entrepreneurs

  Under ITA, eCommerce applicants must be duly a Filipino individual, a juridical entity, a cooperative or corporation that is duly registered and licensed to transact in the Philippines. They are also required to publish their names, registration documents (including but not limited to business permits, certificate of registration, barangay clearance), geographic address (physical store presence), and merchant's personal details (landline/mobile contact numbers).

CAYMAN ISLANDS

• Application of Anti-Money Laundering Act to cooperatives

INDIA

• 2020 Interest subversion scheme of MSMEs applicable to Co-operative Banks

  In order to provide financial assistance to MSMEs, the Government of India has launched the scheme of Interest Subvention Scheme for MSMEs 2018Initially, the said scheme was formulated only for scheduled commercial banks. But now in order to enable wider access to finance the Government of India has included co-operative banks within the ambit of this scheme. Accordingly, the RBI has introduced the scheme of Interest Subvention vide its notification dated October 7, 2020 . The new modified guidelines are as follows:

  The validity of the Interest subvention scheme has been extended till 31st March 2021 and it now encompasses co-operative banks for the outstanding or fresh or incremental term loan/working capital limit extended to MSMEs.

  Claim by eligible institutions will be accepted in multiple lots for a given half-year.

  The Udyog Aadhaar Number (UAN) may be provided for those enterprises which come under the purview of GST. However, if the entity does not come under the purview of GST, it may either submit Income Tax Permanent Account Number (PAN) or their loan account must be categorized as MSME by the bank.

  Trading activities are also allowed under the interest subvention scheme without UAN.

LUXEMBOURG

• 2021An extract from The International Capital Markets Review, 10th Edition. part concerning covered bonds

  A covered bond is a debt security issued by a covered bond bank and guaranteed by a cover pool specifically allocated to these securities. To date, the issuance of covered bonds is restricted to covered bond banks, which must limit their principal activities to the granting of loans that will be specifically secured and that will be refinanced by way of issuing covered bonds. Other activities may only be performed on an ancillary basis.

  Covered bond banks are subject to the prudential supervision of the ECB or, as applicable, the CSSF, and the specific supervision of an approved special statutory auditor appointed by the CSSF upon recommendation of the covered bond bank that supervises the coverage assets in respect of covered bonds.

  Five types of covered bond may be issued by covered bond banks:

1. public sector bonds, guaranteed by claims against, or guaranteed by, public entities (i.e., Member States of the EU, the EEA, the OECD or non-OECD states that fulfil certain credit rating criteria), the state sector or public local entities;

2. mortgage bonds, guaranteed by rights in or security interests over real estate;

3. movable property bonds, guaranteed by movable property rights or movable property collateral;

4. cooperative covered bonds, guaranteed by claims against or debt securities issued by cooperative banks from the EU, the EEA or the OECD that participate in an institutional protection scheme meeting the requirements of the Banking Act 1993; and

5. since early 2018, green covered bonds. These new green covered bonds, or renewable energy covered bonds, are guaranteed by rights in assets or securities linked to renewable energy, which includes all energy produced from non-fossil renewable sources (i.e., wind energy, solar energy, thermal, geothermal, hydrothermal and marine energy).

NIGERIA

• 2020 Cooperatives for investment purposes (?)

  Cooperative Societies are governed by the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act and are registered by the Director of Cooperatives in each state. In Lagos State, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives oversees the registration and regulation of Cooperative Societies.

  Cooperative Societies are also exempt from the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). Consequently, obligations required of LLCs and LLPs by CAMA such as the filing of annual returns and registration of charges and debentures do not apply to Cooperative Societies. However, returns are expected to be submitted to the Director of Cooperatives at intervals determined by the Director or such agency that regulates Cooperative Societies.

• 2017 Procedure For Registration Of Cooperative Society In Nigeria

AFRICA

• General Landscape for investment in Africa

  There are some initiatives aimed at harmonising codified rules of business law which have had tremendous success. To date, the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (abbreviated to OHADA based on its French name), which brings together 17 African countries, has produced several Uniform Acts which apply equally in all its Member States. Such Uniform Acts deal with general commercial law, securities law, cooperative societies law, contracts of carriage of goods by road, organisation and harmonisation of business accounting, arbitration law, insolvency law, simplified recovery procedures and measures of execution, accounting law and financial information, as well as the law of commercial companies and economic interest groups. Such harmonisation initiatives facilitate business.

CANADA

• 2018 Cooperatives as Charities and Non-profits

  Co-operatives are legal entities owned and run by, and for, their membersThere are over 9,000 co-operatives in Canada, with over 18 million members. Most of them operate businesses. Not all of them are business enterprises – many co-operatives are not-for-profits and some are registered charities. co-operative is one of the oldest forms of social enterprise – it exists to serve its members, who may be workers, producers, consumers or residents. Members have an equal say in what the business does and a share in the profits. Each province and territory has its own legislation governing co-operatives. Those laws vary in detail, but the general principles are the same. Co-operatives adhere to a set of seven principles adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance in 1995.

AUSTRALIA

• Registering a cooperative in Queensland - Explainer and tools by the government in Queensland

• 2020 Australian IPO Review: Regulatory developmentsUpdate to Australian Stock Exchange Guidance Note 3: Co-operatives and Mutuals Listing on ASX

  On 28 August 2020, ASX updated Guidance Note 3 to include the listing of “mutual capital instruments” (MCIs) issued by a mutual entity and “co-operative capital units” (CCUs) issued by a co-operative entity. ASX confirmed that if the MCI or CCU has debt-like features, it will be favourably disposed to declaring the security a “debt security” for the purposes of the ASX Listing Rules and admitting the issuer as an “ASX Debt Listing”.