Egypt’s parliament gives early nod to Economic Court Act amendments

LEGISLATION WATCH- House gives preliminary nod to Economic Court Act amendments: The House of Representatives’ general assembly gave its preliminary approval yesterday to proposed amendments to the Economic Courts Act, which aim to expand the scope of the nation’s economic courts to cover new business and finance activity, according to Youm7. If passed in a final vote, the changes would expedite court proceedings, allowing cases to be filed electronically and certain procedures to be completed online. The changes would also expand the courts’ jurisdiction to cover more cases — including those arising from new non-banking financial services (namely transferable guarantees, microfinance, and sukuk), and from money laundry and bankruptcy. Al Shorouk has a leaked draft of the changes.