A recent notification of Thailand’s Capital Market Supervisory Board (CMSB) has extended the scope of previously granted relief measures for securities-issuing companies by relaxing the requirement to hold the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the shareholders before submission of audited financial statements to the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). One of the main purposes of the AGM is to formally appoint an auditor to audit the financial statements.

While we’ve all seen how quickly life has changed during the pandemic, from a business and HR angle the possibility of intellectual property misappropriation and theft occasioned by work-from-home policies may not yet be clear to many. With many employees working outside their company’s normal IT security fence, their increased use of their own computers and devices instead of those in their offices with standard or enhanced security mechanisms has made it more challenging for employers to control access to key business information.

Vietnam has managed to keep the COVID-19 outbreak largely under control, but the impact on the economy however, remains uncertain.Thanks to early and decisive action by the government and a cooperative public, Vietnam has kept the COVID-19 pandemic largely under control, with just 334 cases and zero related deaths reported in the country as of June 16.

Whilst employers who choose to temporarily cease operations are required to continue paying at least 75% of their employees’ wages; the Social Security Office (“SSO”) has put additional measures in place to protect those employees further who are unable to work during this time. On 17 April 2020, Thailand’s Ministry of Labour published two new regulations, the Force Majeure Regulation and the Economic Crisis Regulation respectively.The Force Majeure Regulation

Since the first reported case of COVID-19 on March 23, 2020, the Myanmar Government has published several guidelines for preventing the further spread of COVID-19.

On March 29, 2020 Laos imposed lockdown and confinement measures instructing Lao citizens to stay home, and nonessential businesses to cease operations. Certain temporary measures are now being lifted but the borders and international checkpoints remain closed. The impact on some industries during the pandemic has been severe, but we are also seeing some positives coming out of this which may well continue once the lockdown measures have been lifted:

The Cambodian Government, like many other countries, tightened its border controls and shut down certain businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Whilst many of these businesses are now reopening and more international travelers are now entering Cambodia, the COVID-19 pandemic is still having a significant impact on Cambodia’s economy, which is heavily dependent on international trade and tourism.