Licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, a small business investment company (SBIC) represents a privately owned and operated investment fund that makes long-term investments in U.S. small businesses. SBICs invest billions of dollars in American small businesses — the drivers of economic growth and jobs in the United States. A fund primarily becomes licensed as an SBIC to obtain access to low-cost, long-term financing (leverage) from SBA to enable...

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The EACC, in partnership with the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI), wants to keep its members up to date with the latest developments in property taxes in the USA and Europe. IPTI has put together below a selection of articles from IPTI Xtracts; more articles can be found on its website (www.ipti.org). United States North Carolina: Post-COVID, revaluation shows malls are worth less in Mecklenburg The assessed value of some of Mecklenburg County’s most high-profile shopping centers and malls declined or was...

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Overview: UBS takeover of Credit Suisse, the sale of Signature bank assets, and the daily dollar swaps could have helped stabilize the budding banking crisis. However, the wipeout of the additional tier 1 capital cushion (16 bln Swiss francs) at Credit Suisse has raised concern about the vulnerability of other such assets, which post-GFC is a $275 bln market in Europe. Asia Pacific equities was a sea of red, led by a 2.65% drop in the Hang Seng and...

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On 14 March, the Commission proposed to reform the EU’s electricity market design as part of the Green Deal Industrial Plan. Throughout the energy crisis, the EU’s electricity market design has shown various shortcomings, including unsustainably high electricity bills for consumers and the EU’s inability to sufficiently support industry. The proposed reform focuses on aspects requiring urgent adjustments to make the market more resilient and to reduce the impact of gas prices on electricity bills. The EU’s Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson marked that the proposal will not alter the...

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Industry 4.0 offers great promise, but with this promise comes risk. A host of cybersecurity vulnerabilities require careful attention. In this series, we have explained the Industry 4.0 transformation and highlighted the opportunity to harness innovative technologies that weave together physical and digital worlds across disciplines, industries, and economies. Those who effectively harness Industry 4.0 have the power to connect to potentially billions of people and endless resources virtually, vastly improving efficiency along the way. There is a clear business case...

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What a week it has been for tech investment. On Thursday 9th March, most of the world had never heard of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). By Friday, the second-largest bank failure in US history was all over the news, everywhere. By Sunday, US regulators were using emergency measures to prevent contagion across the banking system. By Monday HSBC had bought the UK arm of SVB for £1. Now, as the digital frenzy unleashed starts to settle, it seems that the...

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