Catégorie : Updates

Company Law

• Starting 8 July 2019, the negative certificate necessary for the incorporation of a company becomes valid for 90 days instead of 360 days.
• Law n° 20-19 amending and completing Law n° 17-95 relating to joint stock companies:
  • the number of non-executive-directors should be superior to the number of executive-directors in the board of directors
  • prior approval of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders for disposals of more than 50% of the assets of the company within a period of 12 months
  • expansion of the liability of the directors, the CEO, the members of the supervisory board to errors committed or acts conducted which are not within the framework of the interest of the company, with the possibility for the court to condemn them to return to the company the profits generated by those acts, and to forbid them the management, administration, representation or control of any company for 12 months
  • obligation for publicly-traded companies to appoint one or more independent directors to their board of directors
  • granting a one-year period to publicly-traded companies to comply with the provisions of this law regarding independent directors.

Labor
Law

• Decree n°2-19-424 raising the minimum legal wage by 10% as follows:
  • to MAD 14.13 starting 1^st July 2019 5 and
  • to MAD 14.81 starting 1^st July 2020

• Decision No. 1356-19 establishing a new model employment contract for foreigners and providing that the provisions of the Moroccan Labor Code apply to foreign employees.

• Decree No. 2-18-686 determining the conditions of registration of domestic workers with the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale.

Real
Estate / Commercial Lease Agreements

• Decision 1803-19 establishing the list of industries allowed to be established in  the new free zone of Souss-Massa (city of Agadir)
• Decree n°2-19-345  for the creation of the free zone of Tanger Tech.

Cabinet Lachguar today announced it has joined Nextlaw Referral Network, enabling it to connect its clients to high quality lawyers around the world. Nextlaw Referral Network is the largest legal referral network in the world, with more than 650 member firms, 30,000 lawyers covering 200+ countries.

Nawal Lachguar said, “By joining Nextlaw
Referral Network, we will be able to direct our clients to top tier lawyers in
other jurisdictions where they need legal counsel and business advice.  We can build on our trusted relationships
with our clients by putting the full resources of the global, legal powerhouse
at their disposal.”

Jeff Modisett, Nextlaw Referral Network CEO
said, “We’re proud to have Cabinet Lachguar as part of our network. We’re only
as good as the quality of our member firms and Cabinet Lachguar makes us
stronger and better able to meet the needs of our other members’ clients in business
law.”

Nextlaw Referral Network was created by
Dentons, the largest law firm in the world. The network, which is free to join,
employs a detailed screening system to guarantee the quality of its member
firms and has developed proprietary technology to allow members to identify
lawyers at other member firms with the appropriate experience where clients
need legal counsel.

About Cabinet
Lachguar

Cabinet Lachguar has a well-established
experience advising companies and investors in business law, capital markets
transactions and labor law and representing clients in disputes covering
various sectors and all areas of law including labor law, public law and
criminal law.

Cabinet Lachguar’s experience continues to
grow with the needs of its clients, and it is constantly adapting to their new
challenges. www.cabinetlachguar.com.

About Nextlaw
Referral Network

Nextlaw Referral Network is the client
focused legal referral network created by Dentons, the world’s largest law
firm. Nextlaw Referral Network is the largest legal network in the world. It’s
free to join, open to all high-quality law firms regardless of size and does not
grant geographic exclusivity to its members. 
This enables the network to connect clients of member firms to the best
lawyers with the appropriate experience in the locations where clients need
legal counsel. The network utilizes a proprietary technology platform to help
member firms research, contact and rate the performance of network members in
order to guarantee that clients receive the highest quality legal advice and
business solutions. www.nextlawnetwork.com

About Dentons

Dentons is the world’s first polycentric global law firm. A top 10 firm
on the Acritas 2018 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to
challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality
and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive
edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business,
Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully
completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the
world’s largest law firm, Dentons’ global team builds agile, tailored solutions
to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of
any size in more than 165 locations serving 60-plus countries. www.dentons.com.

Regulatory/Environmental

• Draft law n°49-17 relating to environment was adopted by the government. The draft law amends and replaces the current law n°12-03 relating to environmental impact studies. The draft provides for:

-an environmental impact study obligation for public sector strategies and projects

-a simplified environmental impact study process for small projects

-an environmental audit for existing industrial units

-a list of sanctions: ranging from the shutdown of the unit pending the compliance with the law, to fines between MAR 5,000 to MAD 200,000

• Draft decree n°2.17.746 relating to mandatory energy audit was submitted by the minister of energy to the government. The draft provides for, regarding industrial companies with an energy consumption of more than 1,500 tones oil equivalent,

-a mandatory energy audit, unless they are certified by the relevant Moroccan norms

-a mandatory annual notification of their energy data to the Moroccan agency for energy efficiency

Criminal

• Law n°103-13 addressing violence against women will come into force on 13 September:

– New sanctions in case of harassment, sexist insults, violation of privacy through the recording of private videos without the prior consent of the person

 

Contract / Commercial law

Draft law n°17-89 amending the commercial law, providing for the creation of an electronic register of companies, managed at a national level by OMPIC and at a local level by the courts’ registers of companies. The draft law also includes new provisions regarding domiciliation of companies.

Draft law n°17-73 amending the section of the commercial law relating to companies going through difficulties. The draft law introduces the proceeding of safeguarding for companies facing difficulties but not yet in a situation of cessation of payments, creates a representation for creditors and includes specific provisions relating to international bankruptcy proceedings

Company law

Draft law n° 88-17 relating to the electronic incorporation of companies, providing for a simplification of the procedures and a reduction of delays of the various steps necessary for the incorporation of a company

Labor law

Draft law providing for the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on disability or health status adopted by the house of representatives

Draft law n°84-17 relating to social security contributions providing for electronic declaration of employees and wages, the reduction of costs and delays of processing of applications, the increase of controls and sanctions -Draft law n°60-17 relating to continuous training of employees in the private sector

Compliance

Draft decree relating to implementation of FATCA by the banks in Morocco, authorizing such banks to disclose the relevant information to the authorities in the USA

Intellectual Property

Draft law n°87-17 relating to the Moroccan office of intellectual property (OMPIC), providing for the management by OMPIC of the electronic platform for the incorporation of companies; the payments relating to intellectual property fillings and other fillings relating to companies, and the storage of such registers

Regulatory/Environmental

Draft decree for the creation of a strategic committee for sustainable development which will be responsible for the monitoring of the national strategy for sustainable development

Real
Estate / Commercial Lease

-Draft law n° 39-08 against the spoliation of lands:

• Status of limitation period starting the date of the finding of the fraudulent act instead of the date of registration with the land registry
• Powers of attorney for the transfer of a property should be made by authentic act.