On November 10, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted the long-awaited "Recommendations 01/2020 on measures that supplement transfer tools to ensure compliance with the EU level of protection of personal data" (the recommendations) - available here. The recommendations should assist organizations in dealing with the consequences of the Schrems II judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (which invalidated the Privacy Shield and imposed additional requirements on organizations for their transfers of personal data). There are...

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Cities are getting creative and exploring changes to draw people back to public transportation and get the economy moving again. Is public transportation as we knew it officially dead? Despite the doomsday scenario seemingly cemented in the media, public transportation was actually already seeing diminished ridership around the world over the past decade — led by a 15% decline in bus riders in both the US and UK. COVID-19 should actually be seen as the long-overdue catalyst for change. Now more than ever, cities...

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Third-quarter M&A activity broke higher from what was an extremely subdued and uncertain second quarter. Retail drove the bulk of transaction activity in a sector which saw demand return and retailers drive significant business via necessary replacement tire and maintenance service spend during the quarter. The highlight of the quarter is Meritage Group’s – an investment advisor with over $12 billion of assets under management – acquisition of Les Schwab Tire Centers in September. Despite delays in the transaction due...

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For the past ten weeks, negotiators from the European Parliament and Council have been embattled over finding a compromise on the EU’s next seven-year budget. On Tuesday, the two institutions’ delegations reached a political agreement, almost sealing the deal on the roll-out of the €1.8 trillion package aimed at financing the COVID-19 economic recovery through additional funding for future jobs and competitiveness, as well as leading the EU’s green and digital transformation. Compared to the momentous agreement reached by the...

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After a long, four-month wait, we finally have recommendations from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on “supplementary measures” in the context of international transfers of personal data – i.e. measures required to ensure that transfers to countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) are permitted under the GDPR. Follow-up on Schrems II Under the GDPR, transfers of personal data from the EEA to a non-EEA recipient are prohibited unless the sender has a certain degree of confidence – thanks to...

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Montpellier, November 09th 2020 | CILcare, a world leading CRO entirely dedicated to ear disorders, announces today the opening of a new subsidiary in Copenhagen, Denmark. Already established in the US, the French company is joining the Medicon Valley Alliance, a leading international life-sciences cluster in Northern Europe. This second subsidiary is another key step in CILcare’s continuing global expansion and will reinforce its presence in the Nordic and Northern European markets. Since its inception in 2014, CILcare has become the...

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Every time you post a job, there is that dreaded field a job board asks you to complete called “salary.” Instinct is to put in the budgeted range and hit submit, but is it that simple? Many employers do not realize the adverse effect that including salary in postings can do. You may be limiting the candidate pool. Many job boards and postings will push the job out to numerous job seekers that request to be notified about positions based...

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Key insights As political uncertainty begins to recede after the U.S. elections, let’s address key investment and tax considerations heading into both year-end and 2021. On the investments front, markets at their highs combined with expensive valuations drive the importance of realizing capital gains or harvesting tax losses. On the tax front, consider whether to harvest income and capital gains before year-end, ahead of any potential tax increases in 2021. Amid potential uncertainty about what may lie ahead, it...

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