Brexit News, Chapter News

Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: EU Commission launches four new infringement procedures against the UK

The European Commission has today launched four new infringement procedures against the United Kingdom for not complying with significant parts of the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland. They come in addition to the infringement procedures launched on 15 June 2022. Despite repeated calls by the European Parliament, the 27 EU Member States and the European Commission to implement the Protocol, the UK government has failed to do so. In a spirit of constructive cooperation, the Commission refrained from launching certain...

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Member News

Vulcan Insight | EU in the midst of extreme heat waves

Europe is currently hit by a heat wave with life-threatening temperatures. It has been raging across the Mediterranean and much of Western Europe, with Portugal, Spain, France, Germany and the UK, seeing extended droughts, devastating forest fires, and public infrastructure damaged. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre warned this week that 46% of the EU’s territory is at high risk of drought, with rivers lacking water and an alert level of 11%. In Belgium, public transport has been limited as it is feared that the heat could cause the rails to expand so much that, in the...

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Member News

FTI Consulting | Implications of the U.S. Government’s Plan to Regulate Cryptocurrencies

Government regulation in the U.S. and elsewhere is expected to actively influence the development of digital asset products and markets over the next decade. As the digital assets industry and consumers await regulatory clarity, recent events have exacerbated longstanding concerns about the potential use of cryptocurrency to facilitate illicit activities and sanctions evasion. Despite the recent market contraction in digital assets, industry market cap still stands at around $1 trillion, up from $14 billion from five years ago.1, 2, 3...

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Chapter News

Save Gas for a Safe Winter: EU Commission proposes gas demand reduction plan to prepare EU for supply cuts

The European Union faces the risk of further gas supply cuts from Russia, due to the Kremlin's weaponisation of gas exports, with almost half of our Member States already affected by reduced deliveries.  Taking action now can reduce both the risk and the costs for Europe in case of further or full disruption, strengthening European energy resilience. The Commission is therefore proposing today a new legislative tool and a European Gas Demand Reduction Plan, to reduce gas use in Europe...

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Member News

Amesto Global | Doing Business in Ireland: Local Knowledge and International Expertise

Amesto Global has a proven track record of assisting clients with their market entry and ongoing operations to ensure that our clients are in full compliance with Irish local laws and regulations. Our hands-on approach is fully embedded in our day-to-day practice and service delivery. As a licensed service provider in Ireland, we can manage and control all accounting, finance, HR administrative and company secretarial aspects of a company’s operations and effectively act as an extension of the head-office. We...

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Member News

Global Taxes LLC | Foreign Accounts Penalty Case Heads to Supreme Court

Tax filing – and penalties – for foreign accounts may soon be the subject of a major legal decision. The U.S. Supreme Court plans this fall to hear Bittner v. U.S. This case presents a conflict over statutes under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The question is whether a “violation” under the BSA is the failure to file an annual FBAR no matter the number of foreign accounts or whether there is a separate violation for each account that isn’t...

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Chapter News

IMF | How a Russian Natural Gas Cutoff Could Weigh on Europe’s Economies

'The partial shutoff of gas deliveries is already affecting European growth, and a full shutdown could be substantially more severe.' Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further darkened the global growth outlook, with the European economy facing a serious setback given trade, investment, and financial links with the warring countries. Now, Europe is enduring a partial cutoff of natural gas exports from Russia, its largest energy supplier. The prospect of an unprecedented total shutoff is fueling concern about gas shortages, still...

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Member News

WSGR | European Regulatory Overhaul for Crypto Firms on the Horizon

The EU and the UK are developing significant changes to their regulatory frameworks to reflect the growing importance of the cryptoasset sector in Europe. We discuss a major EU development—the proposed Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA)—immediately below and significant UK regulatory initiatives in the following section. MiCA On June 30, 2022 the Parliament and Council of the EU reached provisional political agreement in relation to MiCA. MiCA aims to introduce a harmonized legal framework for certain cryptoassets and cryptoasset market participants...

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Chapter News

The sanctions against Russia are working

Blog Post by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission | Many ask whether the sanctions against Russia are effective. I would like to explain in this blog post why the clear answer is yes. Already the sanctions that the EU and like-minded partners have adopted are hitting Vladimir Putin and his accomplices hard - and their effects on the Russian economy will increase further. We need...

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Member News

EIB approves new Transport Lending Policy for a safe, secure, accessible, green and efficient mobility system

The EIB’s new Transport Lending Policy comes after a public consultation involving over 3 500 individuals and organisations. The new policy sets out the EIB’s priorities for supporting the transport sector, in line with the EIB Group Climate Bank Roadmap. Priorities include more investment in public transport; shared and active transport; clean vehicles; alternative fuel infrastructure; intelligent transport systems; inter and multimodal transport; safe system approach to road safety; resilience of transport infrastructure; completion of networks in all...

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