Today, the European Commission (Commission) announced the opening of a formal investigation into advance tax rulings (ATRs) granted by Luxembourg to companies of the Engie group since 2008. This investigation concerns an individual measure, like most of the recent tax State aid investigations, including those pending into the tax treatment of Amazon and McDonald’s in Luxembourg. As such, it should not directly impact other taxpayers. According to EU State aid rules, the granting of State aid that may distort competition...

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One of the key principles of Luxembourg financial regulation is the obligation of professional secrecy (often referred to as the bank secrecy, the "Professional Secrecy Obligation") laid down in Article 41(1) of the law dated 5 April 1993 on the financial sector, as amended (the "Financial Sector Act"). Outsourcing arrangements and, in particular, IT outsourcing operations which can lead to the disclosure of confidential data and thus to a potential breach of the Professional Secrecy Obligation are subject to...

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NEW YORK, September 19, 2016 — A group of outstanding university women studying technology fields at top universities in China will come together to celebrate their accomplishments on September 22 at the Qualcomm office in Beijing in a celebratory event designed to acknowledge the achievements of the scholars and solidify and strengthen their interest in technology careers. Students will tour the Qualcomm research and development lab in Beijing, learn about Qualcomm’s STEM initiatives, and participate in a workshop where the...

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On September 7, 2016, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) adopted a final regulation setting the conditions by which employers in New York State can pay wages by direct deposit or by debit card. This regulation is effective March 7, 2017, and adopts most of the provisions that the NYDOL initially proposed on June 5, 2016.  The regulation magnifies the scope of New York Labor Law section 192, which prohibits employers from directly depositing the net wages...

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Free shipping. Faster delivery. More options. Online shoppers are stepping up their demands, but satisfying them could drain retailers’ coffers. How retailers and their freight partners respond to the challenges—and opportunities—emerging in this changing landscape will spell the difference between success and failure in the future. E-commerce is exploding in the United States, enjoying a compound annual growth rate of 17% from 2000 through 2015 and reaching $343 billion in revenue for 2015. In that same time frame, e-commerce has...

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Non-compete agreements have long been used by employers as an effective tool to protect their valuable trade secrets and confidential information. However, employers’ overuse of non-compete agreements and employers’ practice of requiring all of their employees to sign non-compete agreements recently has come under significant attack by federal and state governments. In July, Trade Secrets Watch discussed some of those recent attacks. Since July, there have been a number of additional efforts by government to prohibit the overuse of...

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