Legal changes log
Dated changes to the law in Chile, Ghana, Hong Kong, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan: new tax Acts, company registry systems, stamp duty rules, employment thresholds and data-protection reforms. Each entry gives the jurisdiction, the date the change took effect (or is due to), what changed and a link to the official source it was checked against. Changes seen only in news reports or commentary stay out until the official text can be read.
Scheduled and pending
- ChileScheduled to take effect: Scheduled
New personal data protection regime (Ley 21.719) scheduled to take effect
Ley 21.719, published on 13 December 2024, rewrites Ley 19.628 on the protection of private life and creates the Agencia de Protección de Datos Personales. Under its first transitional article the amendments take effect on the first day of the twenty-fourth month after publication, which is 1 December 2026. A bill passed by the Senate on 28 October 2026 (Boletín 18.623-07) would move that date to 15 October 2027, but only if it is published as law first.
Legal basis: Ley 21.719, artículo primero transitorio
Official source:Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Ley 21.719: cuándo entra en vigencia
- ChileApproved by the Senate: Bill, not yet law
Bill to postpone Ley 21.719 to 15 October 2027 passes the Senate
The Senate approved bill Boletín 18.623-07 in general and in particular on 28 October 2026 and sent it to the Chamber of Deputies the next day, under the urgency of immediate discussion. The bill replaces the original start date of Ley 21.719 with 15 October 2027 and enlarges the council of the Agencia de Protección de Datos Personales from three to five members. Until the bill is passed by the Chamber and published, the start date of 1 December 2026 still applies.
Legal basis: Boletín 18.623-07, amending Ley 21.719
Official source:- Senado de Chile, tramitación del boletín 18.623-07 (tramitacion.senado.cl)
Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Ley 21.719: cuándo entra en vigencia
In force
- KenyaIn force:
Trust Administration Act, 2026 commences
Kenya's Trust Administration Act, 2026 (Act No. 28 of 2026) consolidates the law on the registration, incorporation, management and regulation of trusts and trustees. Assented to on 8 September 2026 and published in the Kenya Gazette on 11 September 2026, the Act commenced on 25 September 2026. Kenya Law records it as repealing the Trustee Act and the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act and as amending the Business Registration Service Act and the Registration of Documents Act. Section 77 creates the office of Registrar of Trusts within the Business Registration Service, responsible for setting up the registry and keeping the Register of Trusts.
Legal basis: Trust Administration Act, 2026 (Act No. 28 of 2026)
Official source:- Trust Administration Act, 2026 (Kenya Law) (kenyalaw.org)
Checked 31 October 2026
- MalaysiaCommenced:
SSM Corporate Registry System (CRS) Phase 1 replaces MyCoID and e-Secretary
Phase 1 of the Corporate Registry System of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) commenced on 14 July 2026, after the launch planned for 30 June 2026 did not go ahead and MyCoID and e-Secretary were reopened. CRS replaces MyCoID, e-Secretary and counter lodgement of statutory company documents, and is reached through SSM4U.
Official source:Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Company registration fees: Malaysia
- ChilePublished:
Ley 21.806 changes how the first data protection council is appointed
Article 54 of Ley 21.806, published on 5 February 2026, amends the fourth transitional article of Ley 21.719. The first council of the Agencia de Protección de Datos Personales is now to be appointed six months before the law takes effect, instead of within the sixty days before it, and a proposal the Senate does not vote on in time is treated as accepted. Until Ley 21.719 takes effect the council may exercise only a limited set of preparatory functions, and its instructions and general rules bind no one before that date.
Legal basis: Ley 21.806, artículo 54
Official source:Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Ley 21.719: cuándo entra en vigencia
- GhanaIn force:
Office of the Registrar of Companies adjusts its service fees
Ghana's Office of the Registrar of Companies adjusted the fees for all its services from Monday 2 February 2026, under the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations, 2025 (L.I. 2512), according to the Information Services Department. Registry fees quoted before that date may be out of date; the current figures are on the Registrar's fee schedule.
Legal basis: Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations, 2025 (L.I. 2512)
Official sources:Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Company registration fees: Ghana
- Hong KongIn force:
Continuous contract: the "418" rule becomes 17 hours a week or 68 hours in four weeks
The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 replaced the "418" continuous-contract requirement from 18 January 2026. An employee who has worked for the same employer for four weeks or more now has a continuous contract if each week had at least 17 hours of work, or, where a week fell below 17 hours, if the four weeks together came to 68 hours or more. The revised requirement does not apply retrospectively.
Legal basis: Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2025; Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57)
Official sources:Checked 31 October 2026
- MalaysiaIn force:
Stamp duty self-assessment (STSDS) Phase 1 covers tenancy agreements
Phase 1 of Malaysia's Stamp Duty Self-Assessment System started on 1 January 2026 for lease and tenancy, security and general stamping instruments. The payer files the Stamp Duty Declaration Form (BNDS), works out the duty and pays within 30 days of submitting the form, through e-Stamp Duty (e-Duti Setem) on MyTax or the e-Stamp Duty portal. Phase 2, from 1 January 2027, covers transfers of real property that need no JPPH valuation, and Phase 3, from 1 January 2028, the remaining instruments.
Legal basis: Stamp Act 1949 s.36(1)(a) and s.36CA
Official sources:- LHDN (HASiL), Stamp Duty Self-Assessment System (STSDS) (hasil.gov.my)
- LHDN, Stamp Duty FAQ (updated 31 December 2025) (hasil.gov.my)
Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Stamp duty on tenancy agreements: STSDS row
- NigeriaIn force:
Nigeria Tax Act 2025 replaces the main federal tax Acts
The Nigeria Tax Act 2025 (Act No. 7 of 2025) came into force on 1 January 2026. The Act repeals the Companies Income Tax Act, the Personal Income Tax Act, the Value Added Tax Act, the Capital Gains Tax Act, the Stamp Duties Act and the Petroleum Profits Tax Act, and brings those rules into one statute: income tax in Chapter Two, duty on instruments in Chapter Five and value added tax in Chapter Six, where the rate stays at 7.5%. Under the Federal Government's transition guidelines, liabilities and transactions for periods before 1 January 2026 are still dealt with under the repealed Acts. The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2025 repeals the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, so the Nigeria Revenue Service is now the federal tax authority.
Legal basis: Nigeria Tax Act 2025 (Act No. 7); Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2025 (Act No. 4)
Official sources:- Nigeria Tax Act 2025, certified text published by the Tax Appeal Tribunal (the file name says Tax Administration Act; the text is the Nigeria Tax Act 2025) (tat.gov.ng)
- Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation: Federal Government Issues Transition Guidelines for Tax Acts 2025 (fmino.gov.ng)
Checked 31 October 2026
- PakistanAnnounced:
SECP moves key company filings exclusively to eZfile
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan announced on 27 March 2025 that key regulatory processes, including registration of foreign companies, registration of charges and change of principal business, are to be started only through its eZfile portal, replacing the earlier eServices system. eZfile launched in February 2024 as the Commission's new corporate registry.
Official sources:Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Company registration fees: Pakistan
- MalaysiaIn force:
Higher stamp duty on tenancy agreements and the end of the RM2,400 exemption
From 1 January 2025 the Finance Act 2024 substituted item 49(a) of the First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949. A tenancy without a premium now pays RM1, RM3, RM5 or RM7 per RM250 of annual rent for a term of up to 1 year, up to 3 years, up to 5 years or longer; terms of one to three years previously paid RM2 and longer terms RM4. The nil-duty threshold for annual rent of RM2,400 or less was abolished, and a minimum duty of RM10 per instrument applies (s.36CB). Late stamping costs RM50 or 10% of the deficient duty, whichever is greater, within three months after the deadline, and RM100 or 20% after that (s.47A).
Legal basis: Stamp Act 1949 First Schedule item 49(a), ss.36CB and 47A, as amended by the Finance Act 2024
Official sources:- LHDN guideline on stamp duty under the First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949 (hasil.gov.my)
- LHDN guideline on penalties for late stamping (hasil.gov.my)
Checked 31 October 2026 · See also: Stamp duty on tenancy agreements: Malaysia
How entries are checked
Every entry links the official text it was read from: the Act or regulation itself, the government gazette or legislation database, or the press release or guidance of the authority that made the change. A date is given only when an official source states it. Fee changes are logged without amounts unless the new amounts could be read at the source; the current figures are in the verified fee tables.
Missing a change, or seen a date move? Report it through the contact page; fixes to published pages are listed on the corrections page.
Reference information, not legal advice. Forms Legal is not a law firm.