Member News

Faegre Drinker | UK’s Data Protection Reform Proposals Show Distinct Divergence from EU Rules

The UK government has recently published proposals to amend UK data protection legislation with moves towards divergence from EU rules and regulation following the UK’s decision to leave the EU (“Brexit”). The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (“DPDI Bill”) proposes to make significant changes to existing UK data protection legislation, including the UK General Data protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA”). The proposals include some measures that will result in a significant divergence,...

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Member News

Houthoff | Competition Law Developments in the Netherlands Q1 and Q2 2022

In this News Update, we provide a high-level overview of the most notable competition law developments in the Netherlands during the first half of 2022. Abuse of dominance In the past six months, there have been considerable developments in the area of abuse of economic dominance. Apple dating apps: In the ongoing dispute between Apple and the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets ("ACM"), ACM imposed several orders subject to penalty payments. Apple had initially refused to adjust its allegedly unfair...

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Chapter News

IMF | Soaring Inflation Puts Central Banks on a Difficult Journey

Upside risks to the inflation outlook remain large, and more aggressive tightening may be needed if these risks materialize. Central banks in major economies expected as recently as a few months ago that they could tighten monetary policy very gradually. Inflation seemed to be driven by an unusual mix of supply shocks associated with the pandemic and later Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it was expected to decline rapidly once these pressures eased. Now, with inflation climbing to multi-decade highs and...

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Member News

Arendt | ESG in the banking and insurance sectors – Update on sustainability-related disclosures

On 25 July 2022, Commission Delegated Regulation on the sustainability-related disclosures imposed on financial market participants and financial advisers was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. On 25 July 2022, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1288 of 6 April 2022 (“CR 2022/1288”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. CR 2022/1288 supplements Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 (“SFDR”) with regard to regulatory technical standards (“RTS”) providing...

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Member News

Tradewind Finance provides USD 2.25 million to a Dutch agricultural trading company seeking to expand sales and protect farming communities

Economic realities in the food industry today include shortages and price hikes. A growing interest in sustainability and other ESG measures is helping offset these challenges, and ensuring crops and farmers alike are protected. To reduce the impact of supply chain issues, and to support the client in their quest to nurture farming communities, Tradewind Finance provided USD 2.25 million in funding for an agricultural commodities trader based in the Netherlands that exports to Europe and India. It sources ethically-harvested agricultural...

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Chapter News

IMF | Global Current Account Balances Widen Amid War and Pandemic

'The war in Ukraine and resulting increase in commodity prices are expected to contribute to a further widening this year.' The lingering pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are dealing a setback to the global economy. This is affecting trade, commodity prices, and financial flows, all of which are changing current account deficits and surpluses. Global current account balances—the overall size of deficits and surpluses across countries—are widening for a second straight year, according to our latest External Sector Report. After...

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Member News

Stibbe | Gotta catch ‘em all? Upward referral of ‘killer acquisitions’ upheld

Companies involved in intended or completed M&A transactions falling below EU and national merger notification thresholds should beware that their deals may still catch the European Commission’s eye. The General Court has upheld the Commission’s decision to accept a national referral request regarding Illumina’s acquisition of Grail: a transaction not triggering any of the notification thresholds within the EEA. Until it is clear whether the European Court of Justice shares the General Court’s view, the Commission will continue its quest...

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Member News

Ogletree | Canada’s Federal Government Proposes Changes to Privacy Act

On June 16, 2022, the government of Canada tabled a bill that would make significant changes to privacy laws impacting employers in the federal jurisdiction. The new legislation, the Digital Charter Implementation Act (Bill C-27) would replace Part 1 of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and would create three pieces of legislation in its place, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act (PIDPTA), and the Artificial Intelligence and...

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Chapter News

IMF | How Europe Can Protect the Poor from Surging Energy Prices

"With fossil fuels likely to remain expensive for some time, governments should let retail prices rise to promote energy conservation while protecting poorer households." Soaring energy prices have sharply increased living costs for Europeans. Since early last year, global oil prices doubled, coal prices nearly quadrupled and European natural gas prices increased almost seven-fold. With energy prices likely to remain above pre-crisis levels for some time, Europe must adapt to higher import bills for fossil fuels. Governments cannot prevent the loss...

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Chapter News

Digital Economy and Society Index 2022: overall progress but digital skills, SMEs and 5G networks lag behind

Today the European Commission published the results of the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which tracks the progress made in EU Member States in digital. During the Covid pandemic, Member States have been advancing in their digitalisation efforts but still struggle to close the gaps in digital skills, the digital transformation of SMEs, and the roll-out of advanced 5G networks. The Recovery and Resilience Facility, with about €127 billion dedicated to reforms and investments in the area of digital,...

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