Blakes lawyers across Canada keep a close watch on the latest trends at the intersection of business and law. Below are highlights of significant trends by business sector and area of practice for 2008. |
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China |
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Identifying trends in the dynamic legal and business environment that characterizes China is a challenge. Nonetheless, the following six significant trends will have an impact on how foreign investors conduct their business in China. |
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Class Actions and Litigation |
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Four litigation developments that will be of interest to public and private companies carrying on business in Canada include the increasing use of the “waiver of tort” doctrine in the courts, a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling on prospectus disclosure obligations, and other rulings on e-commerce and certification in class actions. |
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Commercial Real Estate |
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Eleven trends are having a significant impact on commercial real estate and development, including globalization of investment portfolios, elimination of Canada’s withholding tax on interest payments, infrastructure opportunities, and bright prospects for balance sheet lenders and buyers. |
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Communications |
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Eight trends could affect Canada’s telecommunications and media sectors, including continuing industry consolidation, declining investment in Internet backbone capacity, cybercrime concerns, and the rise of untapped media markets in emerging economies. |
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Environmental Law |
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Five developments in environmental law are having a significant impact on businesses in Canada, including the federal Climate Change Action Plan, a recent Federal Court decision on greenhouse gas emissions and environmental assessments, the growing influence of Aboriginal interests, new civil penalties in Ontario, and new environmental disclosure requirements for public companies. |
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Income Tax |
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Nine developments are affecting the tax landscape, including elimination of Canada’s withholding tax on interest paid to arm’s-length persons, changes arising from the Protocol amending the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty, new SIFT rules, and a renewed federal “anti-tax haven” initiative. |
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Information Technology |
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Eight trends could significantly affect the IT sector, including Canada’s federal privacy law review, Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty changes affecting cross-border software licenses, IP legislative reforms, and the impending national Do-Not-Call list. |
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International Trade & Investment |
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Six noteworthy trends will have an impact on Canadian international trade in 2008, including increased momentum on trade agreements around the world, concern over Canada's intellectual property laws, enforcement of WTO rules and sovereign wealth funds. |
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Labour and Employment |
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Four trends will likely impact employers and collective bargaining, including the rise of overtime class actions, drug testing and safety concerns, complaints based on psychological harassment and the rising number of workforce reductions. |
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Mergers and Acquisitions |
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Ten noteworthy trends will have an impact on Canadian merger and acquisition activity, including the ongoing impact of the credit crunch, increasing focus on deal terms and timely disclosure, new timing and standards for merger reviews, a new focus on Alberta, and interest in Canada from BRIC plus entities. |
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Pension and Employee Benefits |
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Eight trends could affect stakeholders in Canadian and cross-border pension and employee benefits plans, including pension legislation reviews in four provinces, non-resident trust tax legislation, and key rulings dealing with funding of defined contribution benefits, surplus utilization and insolvencies. |
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