COVID-19 News, Member News

H&K: New Employer Obligations in the Age of COVID-19: Safety Policies, PPE, and Deep Cleaning

Employment Attorneys David Santeusanio, Howard Sokol and Matthew Sloane co-authored an article in the Employee Relations Law Journal addressing practical considerations and obligations for employers when establishing safety plans to reopen the workplace. COVID-19 has altered the reality of workplace safety and corresponding industry standards. Employers face dramatically different workplace challenges and resulting new obligations regarding safety precautions and worker protections. Throughout the pandemic, federal agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and the Centers for Disease Control and...

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Member News

Loyens&Loeff: EU Parliament adopts Taxonomy Regulation

In recent years the European Union has paid increasing attention to sustainability in its policy- making particularly in the financial sector. In March 2018 the European Commission published its Action Plan on Financing for Sustainable Growth. The Action Plan has three main objectives: to redirect capital flows towards sustainable investment in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth; to manage financial risks arising from climate change, resource depletion, environmental degradation and social issues; and to promote transparency and long-term sustainability in financial and...

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Member News

Houthoff: News Update Financial Regulatory

Recent developments in financial supervision EBA - DISCUSSION PAPER ON FURTHER ENHANCING SUPERVISORY POWERS OF COMPETENT AUTHORITIES On 26 June 2020, the European Banking Authority ("EBA") published a discussion paper exploring ways to enhance the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive ("BRRD") framework on early intervention measures. This seeks to further enhance the crisis management tools available for competent authorities in addition to the supervisory powers laid down in the Capital Requirements Directive ("CRD") and in the Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation ("SSMR"). The BRRD introduced...

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Chapter News

“Climate transition, transformation and convergence: Europe’s path towards robust resilience” – Speech of President Charles Michel

Speech by President Charles Michel | First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to speak at this 20th edition of your economic forum. This year, by way of exception, the forum will be conducted virtually. And it is the exceptional nature of this COVID-19 crisis that I wish to address first, setting the context for the action we are endeavouring to take at EU level. It is a simple yet astonishing fact: leaders throughout the world – regardless...

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Chapter News

ECB welcomes initiative to launch new European payment solution

ECB supportive of banks’ European Payments Initiative Pan-European card and digital wallet to complete European retail payments market The European Central Bank (ECB) welcomes the decision by 16 European banks to launch the European Payments Initiative. This initiative aims to create a unified payment solution for consumers and merchants across Europe, encompassing a payment card and a digital wallet and covering in-store, online and person-to-person payments as well as cash withdrawals. In recent years, significant progress has been made towards...

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Chapter News

Boosting the EU’s green recovery: Commission invests €1 billion in innovative clean technology projects

The Commission is launching today the first call for proposals under the Innovation Fund , one of the world's largest programmes for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies, financed by revenues from the auction of emission allowances from the EU's Emissions Trading System. The Innovation Fund will finance breakthrough technologies for renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use and storage. It will provide a boost to the green recovery by creating local future-proof jobs, paving the way to...

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Brexit News, Member News

Vulcan Insight: Post-Brexit Negotiations: Divergences Remain

With less than 6 months until the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union’s economic remit, “serious divergences” between the two parties remain. Spurred on by the limited progress so far and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official confirmation that the UK would, in fact, not request an extension to the transition period beyond the end of the year, chief negotiators Michel Barnier and David Frost agreed at the beginning of June to “intensify” negotiations, in person, on a...

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Member News

Arendt: The BlackRock VAT case, an impossible combination of artificial intelligence and the VAT exemption?

On 2 July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled in the case of BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd (C-231/19) that a “single supply” of management services, provided by a third-party supplier via a software platform for the benefit of a fund management company managing both special investment funds and other funds, does not fall within the VAT exemption provision. Background BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd (“BlackRock”) was a company responsible for the management of funds: mainly...

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Member News

Worst Economy versus Best Stock Market

Previously published in Medium | The quarter with the worst economy since 1929 and the best-performing markets since 1998. Image courtesy of Medium; Source: IMF The worsening forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, the statements by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell should leave no illusion on the depth of the recession. Wall Street ignores the economy The contrast could not be more striking between Wall Street and Main Street. The real economy succumbs to bankruptcies and unemployment. The United States will probably...

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Member News

MHC: Privacy and Security: The Risks of Working From Home

In a recent article, we discussed the exploitation by hackers of the current COVID-19 crisis by using techniques such as phishing and malware technology, in order to conduct cyber-attacks on businesses and their workers. Only recently, a group of hackers-for-hire called Dark Basin was exposed for targeting thousands of businesses and individuals with a view to obtaining private data. Similarly, the vehicle manufacturing company Honda recently reported a cyber-attack. Honda maintains that the attack did not involve a data breach but affected its...

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