What to expect in 2022: Key legal issues for companies

Key points

• Constitutional Process - 2022 will be crucial for the constitutional process currently underway in Chile. A constitutional referendum will take place in August or September to ratify or reject the proposed rewrite. 
• Taxation - We highlight (i) the bill reducing or eliminating tax exemptions; (ii) the bill providing tax benefits for donations to non-profit organizations; (iii) the announcement of the main lines of the tax reform; (iv) the bill establishing compensation for the State, i.e., a mining royalty, for the exploitation of copper and lithium mining; (v) the ratification process of Double Taxation Agreements between Chile and the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and India; and (vi) the draft circular on the tax treatment of life insurance with savings or insurance with a single investment account.
• Data Protection - We highlight (i) the personal data protection bill, which raises Chilean regulations to OECD standards and creates the Personal Data Protection Agency; and (ii) the new powers of the National Consumer Service regarding data protection and consumer relations.
• Finance - The bill known as the “Fintech Law” is expected to move forward. It promotes competition and financial inclusion through innovation and technology in the provision of financial services.
• Competition - We highlight (i) the new Merger Notification Regulation and (ii) the first subpoenas by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office for infringements of the horizontal interlocking prohibition.
• Consumer Protection - The following legal developments are relevant to consumer protection: (i) the Electronic Commerce Regulation published on September 23, 2021, and (ii) Law No. 21,398 published on December 24, 2021, known as the Pro-Consumer Law.
• Cybercrime - The draft legislation includes rules on cybercrime and amends other legal instruments to bring them into line with the Budapest Convention.
• Corporate - Companies will have to take into account General Rule No. 461 issued by the Financial Market Commission on November 12, 2021, requiring that annual reports include ESG criteria, and the draft regulations currently under consultation by the FMC.
• Paid Passenger Transportation - The following bills are currently being processed: (i) the bill on paid passenger transportation applications and related services and (ii) the bill amending the Labor Code by regulating employment contracts of digital platform companies.
• Intellectual and Industrial Property - We highlight (i) the bill amending Law No. 17,336, on Intellectual Property, to regulate technological protection measures, and (ii) Law No. 21,355, amending the Industrial Property Law and conferring new powers on the National Industrial Property Institute.
• Alcohol Marketing and Advertising - Law No. 21,363 lays down rules on the commercialization and advertising of alcoholic beverages.
• Energy - We highlight (i) the bill promoting power storage and electric mobility; (ii) the National Electric Mobility Strategy and Public-Private Electric Mobility Agreement published in October 2021; (iii) the bill amending Decree with force of law No. 4/20,018 of 2006, consolidating the General Law on Electric Services, to establish the right to electric portability; (iv) the bill prohibiting the installation and operation of coal-fired power plants across the country; (v) Law No. 21,305 on Energy Efficiency, published on February 13, 2021; (vi) the Technical Standard on Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas of October 14, 2021; (vii) Ordinary Official Letter No. 828/2021 issued by the National Energy Commission on November 18, 2021, regulating extraordinary considerations for the process of Declaration of Works regarding generation and transmission projects; (viii) the bill regulating the construction of wind turbine complexes and amending the Environmental Framework Law; and (ix) the bill promoting renewable energy.
• Hydrocarbons - A bill to optimize the gas market is currently being processed.
• Water - The bill amending the Water Code is expected to be approved soon.
• Extended Product Responsibility and the Promotion of Recycling - The following are expected: (i) presentation of end-of-life tire (ELT) management plans within the framework of Law No. 20.920 on Extended Producer Responsibility and the Promotion of Recycling and (ii) the beginning of the drafting process for a Supreme Decree establishing environmental labelling obligations in Chile.