Insight type: Legal Alert

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (Amendment) Act 2023 (the Amendment Act) made several changes to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act 2011. A key amendment is the expansion of the definition of Public Interest Entities (PIE). The PIE was previously defined to include governments, government organisations, quoted and unquoted companies, and any organisations required by law to file returns with any regulatory authorities excluding private companies that only file returns with the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

The Republic of Rwanda enacted for the first time a Law governing partnerships (Law N° 008/2021 of 16/02/2021) (the Law). This Law defines partnerships as a relationship between two or more partners carrying on a business in common with a view to making a profit under a partnership. Rwanda has been making significant strides in developing its legal system, enacting several laws, to promote economic growth, including the partnership law. 

Among other things, the derivatives market is essentially about mitigating financial market risk, and derivative contracts are the financial instruments used for that purpose. A derivative contract derives its value or price from an underlying asset such as currency, commodities, stocks, or bonds. Derivative contracts provide opportunities for financial market participants to capture value from anticipated price movements of the underlying assets they may not directly own. In a derivative contract, the parties take positions based on their expectation of future market movements, aiming to take advantage of price fluctuations.

As we start the new year, we highlight some important legal developments in 2023 which impacts on estate and succession planning and emphasises the need for families to do their estate and succession planning effectively noting the changing legal landscape.

In Tanzania, the issue of when withholding tax is due has been a subject of debate and interpretation for businesses, tax practitioners, and regulators alike. The principal issue to this discussion is whether withholding tax on interest is due on “actual payment” or on “accrual” of the same.

On 19 October 2022, former president Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigeria Startup Act (the Act) into law. Prior to this, the country had no specific, encompassing startup legislation. The Act creates a foundational legal and institutional framework for supporting startups in Nigeria.

On 5 December 2023, the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) issued a notice directing all deposit money banks, merchant banks, payment service banks, microfinance banks, mortgage banks, and mobile money operators (MMOs) to delist non-deposit-taking financial institutions (NDFIs) such as switching and processing companies, Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs), and Super Agents (SAs) as beneficiary institutions on their respective NIP funds transfer channels.

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has recently published a Guidance Notice on the filing of Data Protection Compliance Audit Returns (CAR). In view of the new cycle of CAR filing, which will commence in 2024, the guidance notice provides Data Controllers and Data Processors with the opportunity to demonstrate accountability and also comply with one of the compliance metrics required to be included on the National Data Protection Programme (NaDPAP) Whitelist.