Monday, April 28, 2014

Overview of Insurance Policies in Omani Construction Contracts

Over the past decade, Oman has experienced tremendous economic and infrastructural growth, and the number of construction projects has substantially risen throughout the Sultanate.

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Monday, April 21, 2014

Compliance With Advertising Regulations

Ministerial Decision 143/2000 defines advertisement as “any writing, painting or picture prepared for publicity, propaganda or guidance to the name of a commercial, industrial or professional shop, product, service or any other business. An advertisement may be fixed, mobile, lighted by power or not lighted, hung or one prepared for printing or distribution among citizens.”

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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Whistleblowing Policy in Oman

Whistleblowers play a key role in exposing corruption, fraud, incorrect financial reporting and other wrongdoing in every business and public agency. Usually the first people to suspect unlawful or improper conduct are those who work within or with the organisation. A typical organisation loses five percent of its revenues to fraud each year1 and the longer the misconduct lasts, the more money the company or organisation will stand to lose.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Legal Updates - April 15, 2014

Ministerial Decision issuing Executive Regulations of Al Mazyoona Free Zone

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued Ministerial Decision No. 3/2014 issuing regulations for the operations of Al Mazyoona Free Zone. We are in the process of analyzing the regulations and may have an article in the coming month.

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Friday, April 11, 2014

Leave Entitlement Under Labour Law

The Omani Labour Law (promulgated by Royal Decree 35/2003, as amended) (“OLL”) covers leave entitlements available to employees working in Oman.

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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

UN Convention Against Corruption and Anti-Money Laundering

Last month, we discussed Oman’s ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption (the “UN Convention”) endorsed by Royal Decree 64/2013; the existing legislations in Oman against corruption; and the measures to be adopted by the Government in the public sector, private sector and the judiciary to prevent corruption in accordance with the guidelines specified in the UN Convention. In this article, we summarise certain aspects of Oman’s existing legislation relating to anti-money laundering and discuss the link between provisions of the existing legislation and the UN Convention.

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Thursday, April 3, 2014

Mediation Process: An Overview

Although mediation remains a largely unexplored dispute resolution mechanism throughout much of the GCC, it could certainly be a useful method for disputing parties to reach an amicable and expeditious resolution. This article will provide an overview of the mediation process, the role of the mediator, and will briefly discuss some of the benefits to mediation.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (April 2014)

FATCA stands for The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) which was approved by the US Congress in March 2010. The law was scheduled to become effective from 1st January 2014, but the effective date has been postponed until 1st July 2014. This sweeping new law and its extraterritorial application is already influencing the behavior of Omani and other GCC banks and financial institutions and imposing structural, legal and commercial challenges on them to be compliant.

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