The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the global economy, and employers are increasingly considering which are the most and least employer-friendly places  new offices, distribution centers, and operational locations, both during the pandemic and after emerging from it. The Arizona State University Center for the Study of Economic Liberty recently released Doing Business North America 2020 (DBNA), a report analyzing and comparing data indicative of the regulatory context for business activity in a number of metropolitan areas. The report ranked 130 cities across...

Read more

Capital markets (dys)functioning and regulation  are again at the center of public attention and even congressional investigations. The need to recenter them on their core mission  and purpose has hardly been grater, not only for the marketplace, but for market participants. Even the court of public opinion is starting to believe that their valuation function is questionable. From my experience as a former Group EVP of the New York Stock Exchange, I decided to join forces with former exchange...

Read more

Study makes recommendations for more ambitious 5G investment in Europe European ventures developing 5G-related applications and business models are facing significant public and private sector financing shortfalls Investment in 5G is higher in the United States and Asia than in Europe The accelerating rollout of 5G infrastructure has become a key battleground in a broader struggle for control over the industries of the future. At the same time, the race to build 5G networks and reap the significant benefits...

Read more

On 22 February 2021, the European Union list of “non-cooperative jurisdictions” (the EU List) has been updated by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN). This update is important in Luxembourg following the recent adoption of a law (law of 10 February 2021), which disallows the deduction for income tax purposes of interest and royalties due to related companies established in a country included in the EU List. This denial of the deduction is a new measure and applies...

Read more

Things in the international shipping industry are as hectic as ever, but there are some positive signs with air cargo volume decreasing worldwide, forwarders negotiating rates for UNICEF’s vaccine distribution, video evidence of California’s box-ship traffic jam emerging, and container lines ordering new vessels to keep up with demand. Over in the ocean shipping sector, the U.S. Coast Guard’s latest video footage showing the pileup of container ships anchored across California’s San Pedro Bay revealed just how intense the congestion...

Read more