On Thursday, the leaders of the 27 member states gathered in Brussels for the European Council summit where the most high-profile topic undoubtedly was the potential candidate status to the large, war-torn Ukraine and its small neighbor Moldova. As expected, history was indeed made at the summit when EU leaders granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status in the late evening of Thursday, leaving Western Balkan leaders in an intense fury and disappointment. The rapid decisions on Ukraine and Moldova have consequently increased...

Read more

The week of June 12, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released two important guidance documents to prepare the public for the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) on June 21, 2022. (For more information, see our previous client alert on the UFLPA.) In brief, the UFLPA requires CBP to apply a rebuttable presumption that any imported goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in China’s...

Read more

In this News Update, we discuss the European Commission's consultations on the PSD2 review, open finance and data sharing; the bill amending the Trust Offices Supervision Act 2018 concerning measures to prohibit trust services in cases involving high integrity risks; and the consultation on the Recovery and Resolution Insurers Amendment Act. We further highlight some other financial regulatory publications issued since our last News Update was published. European Commission | Consultations on the PSD2 review, open finance and data sharing On...

Read more

Summer Business Activities That May Require Liability Coverage The summer is a wonderful time to be outside enjoying the weather and possibly taking some well deserved time off.  Many businesses open their doors and engage in fun activities that include water sports, barbeques and more. Accidents happen anytime, anywhere, and no matter what type of business you’re running. With that, we’d like to emphasize the need and importance of having liability insurance for summertime business and activities.  You should consider having, or at...

Read more

On 10 May 2022, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an ambitious Guarantee Agreement through which the European Commission will support up to €26.7 billion of EIB financial operations to enable crucial public investments in sectors like clean energy, digital and transport infrastructure, health and education over the next seven years, rolling out Global Gateway worldwide. Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said: “Today’s landmark guarantee agreement with the European Investment Bank will enable to finance the...

Read more

On June 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), bipartisan legislation aimed at providing relief to U.S. importers, exporters, freight carriers, port operators and other companies experiencing sharp spikes in shipping costs and supply chain disruptions since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A focal point of the legislation is to curb rising demurrage and detention (D&D) charges imposed on importers and exporters, which have soared, globally, at unprecedented rates over the last year,...

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 Texas: Property value protests set new record Property owners left dazed and confused after getting their Notices of Appraised Values in the mail this year reacted predictably. They...

Read more

With a focus on climate, the just transition is an opportunity to create clean, green jobs and halt global warming Just transition is a commonly used concept in today’s climate discussions. But what does it mean? And can it be accomplished? There is no single definition of just transition. Broadly speaking, it encompasses the wide range of activities we must carry out to make sure workers and societies can prosper in the transition to a net-zero carbon economy. In this shift,...

Read more