Earlier this year, we published a news update that discussed the Minister of Economic Affairs' plans to implement a new ex-ante screening mechanism for investments in companies involved in vital processes or working with sensitive technologies in the Netherlands. On 8 September 2020, the bill setting up this ex-ante screening mechanism, the Economy and National Security Bill (the "ENSB"), was published for consultation. In this update, we provide an overview of the new rules, which are expected to enter into force in early 2021. The timing...

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On Wednesday, the G20 Finance Ministers agreed to prolonged talks within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop an international digital tax on large digital companies until the summer of 2021 – dashing hopes of an agreement by the end of the year. The lack of progress from the 140 OECD countries, including European states, the U.S. and China was met with frustration by some. France’s Digital Minister Cedric O, who has long since publicly supported unilateral...

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Competition Commissioner Vestager presented a sneak peak of her plans for the future of EU merger control on the 30th anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation. The proposed plans include a simplification of the notification procedure and a new approach towards the system of referral to ensure that significant transactions, particularly in the digital and pharmaceutical industries, no longer escape Commission scrutiny. The Commission calls upon national competition authorities to refer transactions to it that remain below notification thresholds, but potentially have...

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This article is part of Portolano’s quarterly “INFORM@ Corporate” Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. | 1. The Schrems II judgment in a nutshell On July 16, 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU” or the “Court”) upheld a cornerstone judgment in the Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximilian Schrems case (Case C-311/18—or the “Schrems II judgment”), concerning data transfers under EU Regulation 679/2016 (“GDPR”) and in particular transfers from Europe to the United States. In the judgment, the Court struck...

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Partners Emily Jones and Steve Wilson provide a joint letter on Osborne Clarke's 20th anniversary in the US market | OCUS | 20 years’ young October 2000 seems a very long time ago…honestly, January 2020 seems a lifetime ago, but that’s a different story! Back in the late 90s, the "relics" at Osborne Clarke had been considering how best to support our US client base from afar without disrupting the relationships we had with so many amazing law firms in the...

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COVID-19 Is There Insurance Coverage for Business Interruption Losses Related to COVID-19? Thomas H. Bentz Jr. More than six months into the pandemic, there is still no easy or definitive answer to the question many retailers are asking about whether there is coverage for their business interruption losses related to COVID-19. Insureds have filed more than 1,000 business interruption claims against insurance carriers to date. Federal suits are pending in at least 37 states. This is more than three times as many...

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On 12 October 2020, the OECD released for public consultation updated reports on its two-pillar proposal to address the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy. The Pillar One proposal focuses on new nexus and profit allocation rules for certain business models, whereas the Pillar Two proposal pursues more broadly a global minimum effective taxation. The reports identify key issues, both political and technical, where divergences remain to be solved. The goal is to reach consensus amongst the 137 participating jurisdictions by mid-2021....

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