Kavitha Gupta's blog

E-signatures: flexibility in cross-border transactions Newsletters October 11 2016 | Contributed by Harney Westwood & Riegels Introduction Electronic signatures (e-signatures) provide flexibility and efficiency in cross-border transactions, are virtually accessible from anywhere in the world and, given the advancements in digital signature technology, provide arguably greater security than scanning and emailing wet signatures. On July 1 2016 the European Union's legal framework for e-signatures came into effect via the eIDAS Regulation. (1) In comparison, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) passed similar legislation 15 years ago and was one of the first jurisdictions to recognise the validity of e-signatures and electronic records. The BVI Electronic Transactions Act 2001 sets out the requirements for a legally binding e-signature under BVI law. This recognition of e-signatures along with other BVI statutory developments (eg, simplified requirements for th...

Alibaba Looks More Like GE than Google Walter Frick May 14, 2014 Alibaba, the Chinese internet titan that filed for an IPO in the U.S. last week, could be the largest tech IPO in history. But Alibaba doesn’t look much like Facebook, Google, or even Amazon. Instead, it operates more like GE. Spanning e-commerce, payments, messaging, business software, entertainment, and more , Alibaba looks a lot like a conglomerate. And it sets strategy like one, according to a Harvard Business School case study by professor Julie Wulf. Competition trumps cooperation, and distributed decision-making by individual business units trumps universal strategy. With its success, Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma are making the case for a strategy approach that has fallen out of favor in the U.S. As the 2010 case describes: By his own admission, Ma was a fan of Jack Welch, so it was only natural that his organization came to resemble that of GE in some regards. Just as Welch did not ...

Labour law compliances made easier in Bangalore Nishith Desai Associates Preetha S and Vikram Shroff India May 6 2015 Introduction of an online portal for ensuring compliance under the state-specific labour law in Bangalore / State of Karnataka. Mandatory registration for all establishments on the portal from April 1, 2015. Registration certificate to be issued within 15 days after payment of fee and verification of details. Portal to facilitate other compliances such as renewal and amendment of registration certificates, filing of annual returns, etc. Commercial establishments 1  in India’s information technology capital, Bangalore, are required to use an online facility for ensuring compliances under the state-specific labour law, the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 (“ Karnataka S&E Act ”). The online system, known as the ‘ e-karmika ’  portal 2 , which was first introduced in Bangalore (revenue division) in 20...