Chapter News

Message from the President of the European Commission following the attacks in Brussels

Brussels, 22 March 2016 I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the people of Brussels, to the many wounded, to the families and loved ones of those cruelly hit by the explosions this morning at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek Metro Station. I would also like to express my full support for and solidarity with the Belgian authorities. I commend the security forces, emergency services and all those who have helped victims and are still doing so now. I would like...

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Member News

Stripe Atlas rocks, but European founders should learn to drive before jumping into a sports car

Daniel Glazer of Fried Frank LLP, weighs in on Stripe’s Atlas program and the considerations European startup founders need to make before deciding to tackle the US market. Many emerging companies considering expanding to the US have asked us about Stripe Atlas, Stripe’s new offering that cost-effectively combines Delaware incorporation, a taxpayer identification number (EIN), a Silicon Valley Bank account and integration with the Stripe payments network. The concept is clever: the eased access it provides to a US bank account and to Stripe is welcome,...

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Member News

E.U. Data Protection: Transatlantic Data Flows and the New “Privacy Shield”

Following the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in Schrems v Data Protection Commissioner and the subsequent statement of the Article 29 Working Party, transfers of personal data from the European Union (“E.U.”) to the United States (“U.S.”) under the Safe Harbor scheme are regarded as potentially unlawful. The European Commission has recently published a draft adequacy decision and detailed provisions for a proposed new data protection framework for the transfer of personal data known...

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Member News

Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance Survey

AlixPartners is pleased to invite you to participate in our 2016 Global Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance Survey. Changing regulatory standards and more stringent expectations regarding anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance have shaped a decade of global adjustments for financial institutions. This survey is focused on understanding how financial institutions are dealing with this shifting environment, particularly in light of budgetary constraints. We value your views and appreciate your willingness to take a few minutes to fill out this survey. This...

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Member News

Eighth Edition of Pan-European M&A Study by CMS

The allocation of risk in the design of contracts for mergers and acquisitions continues to favour sellers in Europe. The selling side is in a much stronger negotiating position – that is the conclusion of the eighth CMS European M&A Study. Last year, sellers were more often able to incorporate lower liability caps and shorter warranty periods into agreements, in addition to negotiating other advantageous risk allocation arrangements. "The ongoing terrorist threat, interest rate rises in the US, the...

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Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

The Commission publishes further TTIP documents in ongoing transparency commitment

The European Commission today publishes further documents from the ongoing negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), in line with its commitment to enhanced transparency in the ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. The documents made public today include the recent EU proposal on regulatory cooperation which the Commission submitted to the United States during the last round of talks in February. Regulatory cooperation is an innovative part and a key pillar of TTIP. Regulatory cooperation with the...

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Chapter News

Decisions taken by the Governing Council of the ECB (in addition to decisions setting interest rates)

March 2016 Monetary policy Non-standard monetary policy measures On 10 March 2016 the Governing Council decided on a number of measures in the pursuit of its price stability objective. This set of measures encompasses, inter alia, the launch of a corporate sector purchase programme as an additional component of the asset purchase programme (APP), an increase in the combined monthly purchases under the APP to €80 billion, starting in April 2016 and the launch of a new series of four targeted longer-term...

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Chapter News

Antitrust: e-commerce sector inquiry finds geo-blocking is widespread throughout EU

Initial findings from the Commission's e-commerce sector inquiry show that geo-blocking is widespread in the EU. This is partly due to unilateral decisions by companies not to sell abroad but also contractual barriers set up by companies preventing consumers from shopping online across EU borders. The European Commission has published initial findings on the prevalence of geo-blocking which prevents consumers from purchasing consumer goods and accessing digital content online in the European Union. The information was gathered by the Commission...

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Chapter News

EU Commission releases 200 million euros for cross-border energy networks

Today the Commission is opening a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to help finance key EU energy infrastructure projects. €200 million will be made available for projects aiming to eliminate bottlenecks that prevent the free flow of energy across EU countries. Once finalised, these projects will contribute towards the completion of an EU internal energy market and the creation of a resilient Energy Union. This EU money is expected to act as a catalyst to speed...

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