Many companies have already introduced internal whistleblowing policies. The EU Whistleblower Directive (EU Directive 2019/1937) will be soon transposed into German law by the Whistleblower Protection Act . The German government has just presented a corresponding draft bill. The legal implications of the Whistleblower Protection Act are profound: Mandatory introduction of whistleblowing hotline The Whistleblower Protection Act obliges all companies with 50 or more employees (including freelancers) and companies with an annual turnover of 10 million euros or more to set up an internal "whistleblowing hotline" for...

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We examine accounting and valuation issues for the financial instruments that fuel the booming special purpose acquisition company market. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) market experienced breakneck growth over the last 15 months. More than 300 SPAC IPOs were completed in the first quarter of 2021 representing $100 billion in capital raised (compared with $83 billion raised during 2020). SPACs are investment products that provide a mechanism for private companies to access the public capital markets. In the simplest terms,...

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Pool Safety This Summer With the warm weather of summer upon us and your activities around the house being more focused outside and by your pool, it is a good idea to properly maintained the area to reduce the risk of a loss. If you don't currently have a pool and are thinking of adding one, this will increase your liability risk so you may want to consider purchasing additional insurance to make sure you are covered in the event of...

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This Tuesday (15 June), the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that national data protection authorities in the European Union could, under certain conditions, launch General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) infringement proceedings against companies based in another EU country. This decision could have a significant impact on the future enforcement of the GDPR and provide national data protection authorities with new ground for taking legal actions against big tech companies. The background of this ruling is a lawsuit of Belgium’s data protection authority...

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Previously published in Reuters Breakingviews as Guest view: Warning signs of a "Volcker Moment" | Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who was my longtime friend and officemate, died at the end of 2019 before Covid-19 swept the planet. But as the world has struggled to cope with the economic and human damage inflicted by the pandemic, I am often reminded of Paul’s concerns that policymakers would forget the important lessons imparted during his years as the central banker...

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Holistic approaches to managing risk, engaging stakeholders, adapting to change and taking on new opportunities are keys to leveraging this business and societal imperative. Public scrutiny of the way in which corporations incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices into their business strategies has been rising over the past decade. That scrutiny reached an inflection point in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic focused a spotlight on many social aspects of ESG management. Investors responded by pouring nearly $1.7 trillion into funds that...

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When the Presidents of the EU’s two main institutions welcomed US President Joe Biden in the Council’s egg-shaped Europa building, it was immediately clear to observers that, while the difficulties of the past four years had not been forgotten, all signs pointed to a softening of the transatlantic relationship.  Following the rocky and often openly acrimonious relationship between the Trump Administration and the European Union, President Biden’s overarching objective for his trip to Brussels was to reconfirm his commitment to...

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As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continue, there is optimism that the airline industry has left last year’s turbulence behind. But unanswered questions remain. For carriers in the northern hemisphere, the summer travel season should offer some indication of challenges that lie ahead. While leisure travel, especially in the U.S., may return quickly, it still seems unlikely that the international business segment will come back to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon. Full-service carriers (FSCs) that get most of their profits...

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The Court of Justice of the European Union ('CJEU') confirmed in decision C-931/19 of 3 June 2021 that the letting of immovable property abroad, where the property owner does not have its own staff to perform letting-related services, does not give rise to a fixed establishment for VAT purposes in the country where the property is located. The case concerned a Jersey-based company, Titanium Ltd (‘Titanium’), involved in real estate and asset management activities. In the context of those activities, Titanium...

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In early June 2021, the European Commission adopted a new set of Standard Contractual Clauses for organizations to use to ensure compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements for transfers of personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA). Background Under the GDPR, transfers of personal data from the EEA are not permitted unless certain safeguards are met to ensure that a similar level of protection is afforded to data subjects as that granted under EU law. Among...

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