In a recent letter to the Netherlands’ House of Representatives, Minister Van Gennip announced a proposed reform of non-compete clauses, including non-solicitation clauses. It is clear through these proposed amendments that the government wants to limit the use of such clauses. Below, we set out what the government is planning. Background to the reform The government commissioned research into the use of non-compete clauses. Some 37% of Dutch employees are bound by such a clause, double the figure in 2015. This is...

Read more

Advertisers need to be cautious about carbon-neutral food claims amid an increasing desire to crackdown on greenwashing. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) has called for the EU to ban the use of carbon-neutral claims, such as "carbon neutral", "CO2 neutral" or "climate neutral", on all food and drink products. The EU consumer protection group is concerned that it is scientifically inaccurate to describe a food as carbon neutral. In a recent report, it has argued that it is impossible to achieve...

Read more

Even though some hospitals and health systems are still recovering financially from the pandemic, they are nonetheless attracting the eye of Congress. From concerns over rising costs to Medicare insolvency, here is our outlook on four key focus areas garnering attention. We know hospitals and health systems will continuing advocating with Congress on these issues, but it’s also important to understand potential impact and use this as an opportunity to take action. Site neutral payments Due to a variety of reasons,...

Read more

This year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce is conducting a mandatory five-year survey on foreign investments in the United States for fiscal years ending in 2022. The survey covers financial and operating data of U.S. affiliates of foreign multinational enterprises. The survey is used to produce statistics on the scale and effects of foreign-owned business activities in the United States. Reporting on BEA’s direct investment surveys is mandatory under the International Investment and...

Read more

The EACC, in partnership with the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI), wants to keep its members up to date with the latest developments in property taxes in the USA and Europe. IPTI has put together below a selection of articles from IPTI Xtracts; more articles can be found on its website (www.ipti.org). UNITED STATES New York: NYC Faces ‘Doom Loop’ as Work from Home and Empty Offices Increase The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the way we work, with...

Read more

On Wednesday earlier this week, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) gathered in Strasbourg for this month’s plenary session, with the AI Act being very high on the agenda. From its initial proposal in April 2021 and following many months of negotiations between the two responsible parliamentary committees – the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) – the European Parliament’s plenary finally passed its version of the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI...

Read more

PHILADELPHIA – Stradley Ronon is pleased to announce that Partner Kenneth C. Wang is the recipient of a 2023 “Emerging Leaders” Award by The M&A Advisor, a leading professional development organization and information service for the mergers and acquisitions industry. Wang was chosen among hundreds of applicants for the award by an independent judging panel of peers. Working from the firm’s New York office, Wang uses his many years of experience in both private practice and in-house tax departments for...

Read more

On 1 June 2023, each of the European Supervisory Authorities (“ESAs”), namely the European Banking Authority (“EBA”), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (“EIOPA”) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”), published a progress report on greenwashing in the financial sector (“Progress Report”). 1. Background The Progress Reports answer the “call for advice to the ESAs on greenwashing risks and the supervision of sustainable finance policies” issued by the European Commission in 2022, which asked the ESAs to provide...

Read more

In May, the average hourly price on the Iberian Electricity Market (Mibel) in Portugal was €76.1 per megawatt hour (MWh). About 67.4% of the 2,926 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of electricity generated in May in mainland Portugal came from renewable sources, according to data from the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN), released on Wednesday. “In mainland Portugal 2,926 GWh of electricity was generated in May 2023, of which 67.4% was of renewable origin,” APREN said in a statement, explaining that the 5.5% increase...

Read more