Chapter News

President Obama marks a historic moment in our global efforts to combat climate change

"Ten months ago, in Paris, I said before the world that we needed a strong global agreement to reduce carbon pollution and to set the world on a low-carbon course. The result was the Paris Agreement. Last month, the United States and China -- the world’s two largest economies and largest emitters -- formally joined that agreement together. And today, the world has officially crossed the threshold for the Paris Agreement to take effect. "Today, the world meets the moment....

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Chapter News

A Reform Agenda for Post-Brexit Europe

Following Brexit, it is even more important that the European Union focus on further integration. It can do this by completing the Digital Single Market and the Capital Markets Union, concluding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), pursuing a larger European budget, and introducing Eurobonds. Although it is highly uncertain which direction a European Union without the United Kingdom will take, we will lay out two possible scenarios. The first scenario will leverage European citizens’ fears that free movement...

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Member News

Sally Painter on the Crisis Facing Europe: We need a new Vaclav Havel

At a time when European solidarity is facing challenges both internal (e.g., Brexit) and external (e.g. the refugee crisis), the future of the European Union has never appeared so uncertain. While there is no shortage of European leaders who are committed to a strong EU and want to see it succeed, too often this message has failed to connect with Euroskeptic citizens. This October marks the 80th anniversary of the birth of former Czech president Vaclav Havel, a visionary European...

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Member News

Guest view: Where is the IMF on Greece?

William Rhodes, a former senior vice chairman of Citigroup, is president and chief executive officer of William R. Rhodes Global Advisors and author of “Banker to the World: Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines of Global Finance”. He is a guest columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. The opinions expressed are his own.  A new installment of the seemingly endless Greek tragedy in the European Union may erupt soon. Greece’s government was due to be far advanced on a package of 15 distinct...

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Member News

Giving Our Children a Clear Path to Their Future

Each year, I see October as a month of change – fall foliage appears, and families settle into school year routines. October also brings World Sight Day, a day of awareness which serves as a continual reminder to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. But this year, October also signals a change for the Vision Impact Institute (VII) as we recently launched a new U.S. initiative, Kids See: Success. Studies repeatedly emphasize the importance of diagnosing refractive errors...

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Chapter News

EU leaders urged to take a firm stance on Russia, trade deals and Brexit talks

Action to stop massacres in Syria, implement migration policies and border controls, and ensure a balanced approach to trade deals while defending EU industry are the key challenges that EU heads of state or government should tackle at their 20-21 October meeting in Brussels, said Parliament’s political group leaders in a debate with the Slovak Council Presidency and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday. Click on the speakers’ names to view their statements Ivan Korčok, Slovak Secretary of State, outlined...

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Member News

A Watershed Moment for the Automotive Industry

INSIGHT: Automotive In the next 15 years, electric and hybrid cars will capture more than half of the market. Connected and autonomous driving will open up new earnings potential. Digitization will enable double-digit cost reductions. Is the automotive industry facing its biggest challenge of the past hundred years? The global car market continues to grow, with new sales expected to rise at an annual average of 2.8% from 2015 to 2023. Taking advantage of...

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Member News

DOL Moves Forward With Plan to Determine Size of the Gig Economy

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced plans to revive the Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) to the upcoming Current Population Survey, in an effort to capture a more accurate picture of the modern workforce. In a step closer to achieving this end, the DOL's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on September 30, 2016, published a notice and comment request regarding the proposed reintroduction—and expansion—of the CWS. The next Current Population Survey will take place in May...

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Member News

Reputational Risk, Corporate Culture and the Board

Public trust in banks has been severely diminished in recent years coming out of the Great Recession. This poses threats to the financial system and to economic growth. In the United States today, we see this raising not only the risk of increased regulation, but also the threat of mounting political support to break up the biggest banks. A constant series of prominent misdeeds by banks ranging from the Libor scandal to mortgage-backed securities troubles, nepotism and solvency inevitably diminish...

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Member News

October FX outlook – the run up to the US election

Major FX markets remained largely range-bound in September, with EUR/USD trading inside August’s range while initial mild GBP strength faded and initial JPY weakness also proved temporary. The main focuses of the month were the Fed and Bank of Japan meetings on the 20th/21st. The BoJ proved less dovish than expected, failing to cut rates or expand QE, but instead announcing long term yield targeting.  This proved JPY supportive. The Fed decision was largely as expected, leaving rates unchanged but...

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