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Private Client Commission Session, AIJA Annual Congress

“This is your digital death: RIP or Staying Alive”, General Reporter

August 30th, 2017 – Tokyo, Japan

Mr. Wilson is the general reporter for this year’s Private Client Commission at the upcoming AIJA Annual Congress. The session will deal with the much debated and current questions which arise in connection with accessing and safeguarding digital assets on death. The session will address the legal considerations which arise in connection with issues such as ownership of digital assets, value, inheritance tax, access to the digital assets, password storage, and digital wills.

The session will commence with a summary of the general report which will be prepared by the general reporter based on the national reports received from the national reporters.

The session will then proceed as panel discussions/round table discussions during which the speakers will address the key issues in this area from the perspectives of their respective companies, and in the case of external practitioners, their respective jurisdictions and experiences.

On 19.06.2017., a draft new Inland Revenue Act was published in the Government Gazette.

On 19.06.2017., a draft new Inland Revenue Act was published in the Government Gazette. The new Act brings about significant changes in taxation in Sri Lanka including the introduction of capital gains tax and has extensive anti- avoidance provisions and transfer pricing provisions.

It is expected that the Act will be presented to Parliament in the near future – according to newspaper reports, the International Monetary Fund will not disburse to the Government of Sri Lanka the third tranche of the three year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) which was due in April 2017 until the Bill is presented in Parliament.

Once presented, it is possible that there will be amendments to the Bill through the Parliamentary process prior to enactment into law.

Persons who are tax resident in Sri Lanka or even if non-resident, but receiving income arising in or derived from Sri Lanka, will need to have a detailed review and assessment of the impact of the new provisions carried out.

5th Asia Pacific Regional Forum Conference: Resilient Asia – Fighting Global Headwinds, IBA Asia Pacific Regional Forum

“Is rapid growth putting pressure on the rule of law in Asia Pacific and the Middle East?”, Speaker

February 17th, 2017 – Mumbai, India

Mr. Wilson’s presentation dealt with the following areas – the GSP+ Scheme (including a summary of what the scheme is and what the 27 core international conventions in the context of GSP+ are), what are compliance requirements, the history behind Sri Lanka losing the GSP+ status, the reasons for the loss, Sri Lanka’s readmission to the status and what has changed.

His presentation also discussed significant environmental cases and Sri Lankan jurisprudence and employment considerations.

Mr. Wilson shared the panel with speakers from Lexis Nexis, IDIA Charitable Trust and a lawyer from a leading firm in India.

Real Estate and Transaction Law, LAWASIA Annual Conference

“Same song different tunes”, Speaker

August 11th, 2016 – Colombo, Sri Lanka

Mr. Wilson spoke on the booming construction industry and referred to some projects (both private and Government) which are underway and briefly discussed the Oxford Business Group’s chapter on construction and real estate in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Wilson also examined certain aspects of the law in regard to land use and discussed certainpurported amendments and the laws governing use of land/the zoning regulations.

He also spoke about the certain problem areas in the zoning regulations

Mr. Wilson shared the panel with a fellow Sri Lankan lawyer who is a partner of another local law firm, lawyers from Indian law firms, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.

IP and Entertainment Law Committee session, International Bar Association Annual Conference

“Geographical Indications – Champagne from New York? Mon Dieu, quelle horreur”,Moderator

September 21st, 2016 – Washington D.C., U.S.A.

The protection and status of geographical indications (GIs) is a key business issue for marketing and positioning of products, particularly in the food and beverages sector.

The session presented the perspective from the family proprietor of the well-known Castello Banfi vineyard in Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy and co-CEO of Banfi Vintners, a leading US importer of wines into the US, who spoke on the issues with a particular emphasis on the GI Brunello di Montalcino.

Sam Heitner, Director of the Champagne Bureau in the USA, outlined the position of the Comité Champagne and the initiatives the Bureau pursues to ensure that all know that ‘Champagne only comes from Champagne’.

A representative of a major Chilean beverages company, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas, addressed the issues from the perspective of a producer of new world wines and the creation of new GIs.

The panel also comprised an outside counsel from India who addressed the issues from the perspective of emerging economies in the developing world and major issues generally encountered as well as outside counsel from the UK summarising developments in Europe together with a few short case studies.

Real Estate and Transaction Law Committee, LAWASIA Annual Conference

“Cross-border considerations”, Speaker

November 8th, 2015 – Sydney, Australia

During the course of this presentation Mr. Wilson spoke on the law in respect of real estate transactions in Sri Lanka and discussed briefly about the investment procedure and considerations for foreign persons interested in acquiring property in Sri Lanka and investing in Sri Lanka.

He explained the property tenure in Sri Lanka namely the position in the case of foreigners wishing to acquire state land and private land and what rights they have in the context of leasing state and private land and provided a summary of how the law has developed with regard to foreign ownership of land in Sri Lanka.

He also discussed the law which imposed a complete prohibition on foreigners acquiring ownership of land in Sri Lanka and explained that while the new Act introducedthese prohibitions and restrictions, it also contains certain exceptions whereby the prohibition/restriction would not be applicable.

IP and Entertainment Law Committee session, International Bar Association Annual Conference

“Geographical indications; more than the wine you drink”, Moderator

October 5th, 2015 – Vienna, Austria

Mr. Wilson was a co-moderator for the roundtable discussion session hosted by the IP, Communications and Technology Committee of the IBA.

AIJA Half Year Conference

“Welcome to my Crib – Legal Guide to HNWI Homes”, Moderator

May 18th, 2016 – Chicago, U.S.A.

The session addressed how a HNWI purchasing a property should structure an acquisition of property in another country having regard to the tax consequences of investing.

The session discussed 3 scenarios – A direct transfer of property to a HNWI – so the HNWI buys the property direct in his or her name, the scenario of an indirect acquisition – where the HNWI purchases the property though a company incorporated in the country where the property is situated and finally the scenario where the HNWI purchases the property through a company incorporated outside the country where the property is situated.

His panelists were from well known law firms in Canada, Netherlands, Spain and India.

Doing Business in Emerging Markets – a UIA/AIJA joint Seminar

“Red Flags to be aware of when doing business in emerging markets”, Speaker

February 12th,2016 – Cape Town, South Africa.

The conference was a joint seminar organized by the UIA and AIJA.

Mr. Wilson’s presentatiton on this topic dealt with the red flags that arise when doing business in Sri Lanka.

He was requested to speak on the important issue of Bribery and Corruption from the perspective of Sri Lanka.

He made reference to the Transparency International Report during the course of the presentation and later spoke in some depth regarding Bribery and Anti Corruption laws in Sri Lanka.

IP and Entertainment Law Committee session, International Bar Association Annual Conference

“Dueling nannies and bad singing competitions – protecting television formats” – Speaker

October 8th, 2015 – Vienna, Austria

The session presented aglobal analysis of whether televisionformats can be protected and to what extent highly similar shows canexist on competing networks. Issues included the question of, (in a scenario where highly similar showsexist), how different do the showsneed to be and what happens when they expand into other goodsand services, such as games or consumer products.

Mr. Wilson explained the position from the perspective of Sri Lankan law and discussed Sri Lanka’s first ever TV format case which had just been filed at the time of his presentation. He discussed the arguments being made by the Petitioner to the case and the likely defenses the Respondent would have in the said case.

Key in house speakers were from Fremantle Media and Discovery Communications.