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A warning to Barcelona about the displacement of communities
Spain – Property
One recently published article in the press had the thought-provoking title “ Super millionaires drive millionaires out of the best neighbourhoods ”.
It described the phenomenon affecting certain districts in London , such as Chelsea or Mayfair , where the ‘ traditional ’ elite are being replaced by a ‘ new ’ elite , made up of foreign millionaires who have moved to the British capital .
Although the phenomenon of gentrification has been discussed at length by town planners and social psychologists , this additional step towards what we might call ‘ cool gentrification ’ is surprising . The traditional model of gentrification is generally characterised by a dual effect .
Roger Pla Madrid is a lawyer at Roca Junyent . He can be contacted at r . pla @ rocajunyent . com
A new era for foreign investment in Angola
Angola - Corporate
Being an economy heavily dependent on its oil resources , Angola has been struggling to mitigate the effects of the current oil crisis and continue to be one of the most promising emerging economies in the world .
The diversification of the economy is definitely one of the top priorities of the Angolan Government , which is also strongly committed to making the local business environment more attractive and acceptable to private investors .
One of the most important steps in this respect was the enactment of the New Angolan Private Investment Law (“ NPIL ”) – through the approval of Law 14 / 15 , of 11 August – and subsequently the Procedural Regulation for Implementation of Private Investments (“ Investment Regulation ”) with the publication of Presidential Decree 182 / 15 , of 30 September .
João Robles is a partner at FCB Sociedade de Advogados . He can be contacted at jmr @ fcblegal . com
The regulation of interchange fees
Spain – Tax
After a long and troubled process , in April 2015 the EU Regulation no . 2015 / 751 of the European Parliament and Council ( Regulation on the Interchange Fees ) was approved . The most striking feature of this regulation was the setting of maximum limits for the interchange fees applicable to debit cardbased payment transactions ( 0.2 per cent of the value of the transaction ) and credit card-based payment transactions ( 0.3 per cent of the value of the transaction ).
The interchange fees are applicable to acquirers ( entities responsible for the terminals through which the card-based payment operations are made ) and issuers ( entities that issue the cards with which these operations are made , that is commercial banks ), constituting an important part of the so-called merchant fees ( fees charged to the merchants by the acquirers for every card-based payment transaction ).
António Moura Portugal is a partner at ABBC . He can be contacted at a . portugal @ abbc . pt
New measures aimed at improving healthcare
Portugal - Healthcare
The Portuguese Government has approved several measures and taken a number of legislative initiatives aimed at improving the National Healthcare Service , notably focusing on access , fairness , quality and efficiency issues . Among the areas addressed , advertising and promotion regulations applicable to medicines and medical devices were the subject of legislative amendments .
The Government ’ s website reports the approval of general principles governing the promotion and advertising of medicinal products and medical devices by manufacturers , distributors and sellers in line with best international practices .
Although the legal statute relating to these measures has not yet been published , the Portuguese medicines agency , Infarmed , has released some information on its contents .
Rita Roque de Pinho is of counsel at pbbr . She can be reached at rita . pinho @ pbbr . pt
www . iberianlawyer . com September / October 2016 • IBERIAN LAWYER • 27