What Is Greenwashing? Broadly speaking, “greenwashing” is an umbrella term that describes companies marketing their products or practices as being sustainable or environmentally friendly in ways that may be unsupported by data or perceived as misleading or even false. The term greenwashing was originally coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986, when he criticized the hotel industry’s “save the towel” movement as misleading. Westerveld argued that the industry’s true goal was not to reduce waste and help protect the environment,...

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In a move that will strengthen EU-UK defence cooperation, the European Council this week adopted its decision to allow the participation of the UK in PESCO project, Military Mobility. A key NATO ally, the UK is now the fourth non-EU Member State to join the initiative after Canada, Norway and the US. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has demonstrated how fundamentally important it is that the EU and its partners are able to move troops and military equipment swiftly...

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Initially published in the South China Morning Post | The unfolding trade, tech and cold wars between the US, China and their allies risk eroding the international rules-based architecture Without a system for connection and exchange, economies will shrink, cooperation will wither and global crises will mount When world powers and their economies clash, driven by national ideological differences and geopolitical goals, cooperation and coordination withers and trade – reliant on common norms, openness and engagement – shrinks. Economies shrink too, as...

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Part one of a two-part series Since the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was enacted in January 2021, there have been many questions about what kinds of companies will have to report under the law and how beneficial ownership will be defined. On September 30, 2022, after months of development, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued the final rule for beneficial ownership reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act. The final rule, which will ease compliance burdens on companies,...

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Editor's Note: The California Privacy Protection Agency released amendments to its draft regulations, and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau contemplates rulemaking on sharing financial data. In U.S. litigation, the first Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act jury trial took place, and the Third Circuit provided further guidance on data breach litigation. In international news, the French Data Protection Authority fined Clearview AI for personal information collection violations. US Laws and Regulation CPPA Publishes Updates to Draft Regulations. On November 3, the...

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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: Real Estate Makes Up Larger Share Of NYC's Tax Revenue Even Amid Value Reset Real estate taxes have steadily become a larger and larger part of...

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In this week’s Roar: changing tide for US import volumes, pessimism from retailers, hope for a turnaround in air freight, the ongoing impact of the Ukraine war, and the latest on autonomous trucks. How low can we go? Things have been looking bad over the last several months in terms of US imports. Volumes took a hit in September, with their deepest decline since lockdowns went into effect in 2020. At the rate they were dropping, October would have seen...

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The EU Court's ruling of 7 November 2022 is a major victory for Fiat and the fiscal autonomy of the EU Member States. It rejects the European Commission's ("Commission") assessment of the application of the arm's length principle ("ALP") under Luxembourg law that had previously been upheld by the General Court ("GC"). More importantly, it dismisses the Commission's plea for an autonomous interpretation and application of the ALP under the EU State aid rules, and as such the judgment...

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EU capitals all let out a sigh of relief this week as the results of the US midterm elections began to roll in. Many were quick to celebrate the fact that the US Democrats seemed to have managed to prevent the “red wave” US polls had predicted would sweep across the country. Although the results are still rolling in, and it seems the Democrats will not have a majority in either house, President Biden’s party did much better than...

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Waiting on financial reports is frustrating. It’s even more frustrating when reports are issued late AND they are hard to read. To make informed financial decisions and react quickly to changing economic and other conditions, it is critical for nonprofits to master closing the books on a timely basis while also providing understandable and accurate reporting of financial information. At CLA, we prepare monthly financial reporting packages for hundreds of clients each month and are familiar with the challenges...

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