Bermuda Law Blog

21 Sep 2018

Brian Holdipp
For a number of years, the international financial services sector has contributed the greatest amount to the Bermuda economy.  According to the National Economic Report published by the Ministry of Finance, international business provided $1.68 billion in total output or 27.3 per cent of total GDP in 2016. It is critical for Bermuda’s economic well-being then, that the Island remains in step with international standards set by supra-national regulatory authorities to protect the jurisdiction’s financial system from abuse.
13:17 / Bermuda Government / Company & Commercial Law / Fraud & Anti Money Laundering
20 Sep 2018

Jane Collis
I am sometimes instructed by a married couple that they want to create “mutual wills”. Generally I shudder at the thought and suggest that really what they might be after are “mirror-image” or reciprocal wills and then I proceed to explain the difference. I have only had one set of clients execute mutual wills after the proffered explanation, so I am led to the conclusion that there is widespread misunderstanding of the term. While there may be occasions for using a mutual will, in my professional opinion, they will be few and far between.
18:41 / Wills, Trusts & Estates
20 Sep 2018

Jane Collis
With a surprising degree of frequency I meet with clients to initiate the probate process many years after the death of a loved one. Often the catalyst is an attempt to sell a piece of real estate, at which time they learn that they have no authority to sell because dad’s estate or grandma’s estate was never probated. As many Bermudian families try hard to keep properties within the family, and as many families have a number of pieces of real estate, it can be years before this discovery is made. Then, the whole sale process comes to a grinding halt.
18:40 / Wills, Trusts & Estates
13 Sep 2018

Jeremy Leese
The Digital Asset Business Act 2018 (the “DAB Act”) became operative on 10th September 2018, creating a legislative framework for digital asset business and services to operate within a regulated environment in or from within Bermuda. Digital assets are defined as anything that exists in binary format and comes with the right to use it and includes a digital representation of value that:
15:47 / Bermuda Case Law & Legislation / Bermuda Government / Company & Commercial Law
27 Jul 2018

Denis de Frias
In a post from 2017, we discussed how it was expected that Land Title Registration would go live in 2018. Since then, several important steps have been taken toward bringing the land title registration regime to Bermuda. The Land Title Registration Amendment Act 2018 has been passed both by Parliament and the Senate and is expected to be given Royal Assent very soon. This will then enable the Land Title Registry Office to begin accepting applications for voluntary registration. In this post, we have taken the opportunity to interview Land Title Registry Officer, Tim Stewart, to ask him all about voluntary registration, what the application procedure is, how long it is expected to take and cost, etc. See below our questions and Tim’s answers.
19:15 / Bermuda Case Law & Legislation / Bermuda Government / Property Law
13 Jul 2018

Jeremy Leese
The Companies and Limited Liability Company (Initial Coin Offering) Amendment Act 2018 (the “ICO Act”) became operative on 9 July 2018 and the underlying Companies and Limited Liability Company (Initial Coin Offering) Regulations 2018 (the “ICO Regulations”, together with the ICO Act, the “ICO Legislation”) were published on 10 July 2018. The ICO Legislation governs all aspects of offering digital assets to the public in or from Bermuda. A digital asset covers anything that exists in binary format, including all forms of cryptocurrencies, digital coins and tokens issued in connection with an Initial Coin Offering (an “ICO”), which themselves are fundraising mechanisms similar to Initial Public Offerings, or IPOs, except that tokens, rather than shares, are issued.
20:02 / Bermuda Case Law & Legislation / Company & Commercial Law
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