By Maria Luisa Mendoza, Scott E. Diamond, David M. Schwartz | Thompson Hine On November 30, 2018, the United States, Mexico and Canada officially signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a proposed free trade agreement that, if approved by Congress and ratified by the governments of Canada and Mexico, would revise and modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Known as “NAFTA 2.0” during the trilateral negotiations, the USMCA is expected to be debated by the 116th Congress in the coming months as it...

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France is Europe’s largest country and its location at the centre of the continent makes it a desirable destination for business. A skilled workforce and strong industrial base add to its attraction. Paris ranks second after Tokyo for hosting the greatest number of multinational company headquarters, with around 500 businesses making it their home city. Paris features alongside London, Hong Kong and New York as one of HSBC’s trading hubs. With over 10,000 employees, HSBC France offers banking services to...

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High-Impact Vulnerabilities should not require High-Cost protections When companies experience significant change such as M&A, Reorganization or Litigation, they become attractive targets for cyberattacks from domestic and nation-state adversaries. Moreover, management often finds itself under new scrutiny from their Boards, Shareholders, Regulators and Strategic Partners. When international elements are in play, multiple jurisdictions’ privacy and security concerns may exacerbate oversight. At such times, management should take special care to observe prudent Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) protocols to assure stakeholders that financial...

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By Philip Nolan | Mason Hayes & Curran On 28 February 2019, Ireland’s data protection supervisory authority, the Data Protection Commission (DPC), published its first annual report under GDPR (Report). The Report follows on from the DPC’s final pre-GDPR annual report and covers the period 25 May to 31 December 2018. We take a look at some of the highlights and key issues in the Report. The Report in numbers The report contains some interesting statistics and year-on-year comparisons, in particular: 2,864 - the number of complaints were made...

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The White House is extending the March 1 deadline to increase tariffs on Chinese imports, citing “substantial progress” in trade talks with China. While the news is positive, The Toy Association will continue to be actively engaged in the fight against tariffs through advocacy efforts with the Administration and Congress, and its involvement with the Tariffs Hurt the Heartland coalition. On Sunday, President Trump said in a series of tweets: “I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial...

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By Tommasso Foco & Ginevra Sforza On 14 February 2019 the new Italian law on business crisis and insolvency (“Codice della crisi di impresa e dell’insolvenza”) has been published on the official gazette. While the bulk of the sections of the Code on business crisis and insolvency will become effective on 15 August 2020 (18 months from the publication), few sections will enter into force on 16 March 2019 (30 days from the publication). Among these are the provisions amending certain sections of...

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One of the most attractive business destinations in the world and Europe’s top FDI country, Germany is known for being a secure and rewarding investment location. But doing business in Germany can still be a challenge for those unfamiliar with the local requirements. Germany is the biggest economy in Europe and the fourth-largest in the world. Built on research, innovation and its ability to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), around 80,000 foreign companies are doing business in the country, employing...

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