Exposure of fraud can often be an outcome of erratic stock market behavior. Looking at precedent downturns, economic fraud activity was exposed shortly after the stock market's low points. Once you have addressed the critical efforts to safeguard your family and your people, you must turn to the health and safety of your business. Experience tells us that the risk of economic fraud is high. Regardless of the current scenario, our recommendations remain the same: • Move quickly: Take immediate action to understand the...

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May 7, 2020 | Looking back at the past year’s activity offers a glimpse of the future thanks to stories of financed projects, statistics, financial and sustainability reporting While the EIB Group is focused on the response to COVID-19, it is important to remember what it did last year. The projects it financed and the pledges it made shine a light on the institution’s capacity to respond to the pandemic and to contribute to a sustainable recovery in Europe and beyond. As...

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May 11, 2020 | • By executive order, the secretary of energy is now authorized to review and block any acquisition, importation, transfer or installation of any bulk-power system electric equipment in which a foreign country or foreign person has an interest. • A list of prohibited suppliers of electric equipment may be forthcoming. • In addition, a Section 232 investigation has been initiated into transformers and certain components, which may result in increased tariffs on these items. Two recent federal government actions...

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May 8, 2020 | • The IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury have issued proposed regulations providing guidance on how a tax-exempt organization with unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) determines whether it has more than one unrelated trade or business, and, if so, how the exempt organization should calculate unrelated business taxable income under the "siloing" rules. • The proposed regulations establish the use of only the first two digits of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, describing...

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May 2020 | This article illustrates key considerations on whether a tenant may successfully argue for a reduction or deferral in the rent payable under a lease agreement. A commercial lease agreement may contain specific force majeure clause which would entitle either party to suspend the performance of the contract and, in the event of prolonged impossibility beyond a certain term, terminate the agreement. Alike, the parties may have included a “hardship clause” providing that, in the event of defined hardship,...

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April 16, 2020 | The fight against COVID-19 is all consuming, but opportunities are clear for those with thoughtful and agile Government Relations strategies Yes, no one planned for this in their 2020 strategy. Yes, it is unprecedented. Yes, disruption to business and economies as we once knew them will be profound. The reality is that the economic damage from COVID-19 is already inevitable. What is to come will need to be endured by us all. In many instances we will not...

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May 7, 2020 | One of the most enticing reasons to obtain a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is the potential for the loan’s forgiveness.1 The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized the U.S. Department of the Treasury to create the PPP through the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 7(a) lending program.2 The loan forgiveness aspect allows employers to obtain business-saving funds without simply “kicking the can down the road” to face debt obligations in a financially...

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May 6, 2020 | As state and local governments (Issuers), and nonprofits and businesses that have borrowed through Issuers (Conduit Borrowers), face cash-flow difficulties, they may consider restructuring some of their tax-exempt obligations to reduce or defer payments on those obligations. The restructuring may be done in several ways, and there may be different tax consequences to the Issuer or Conduit Borrower depending on the option used. Of particular importance to the tax analysis are the rules that deem certain...

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On 5 May, German’s Constitutional Court (BVerfG) ruled in a long-awaited and controversial decision that the ECB’s ongoing government bond buying programme (PSPP) exceeded EU competencies, raising fundamental questions for the ECB and Europe’s legal order. In its ruling, the BVerfG’s argues that parts of the European Central Bank’s 2015 government bond-buying programme may be illegal under the Germany constitution. Through its ruling, which disregards and directly contradicts a previous European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling, the BVerfG not just challenged the...

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May 8, 2020 | Late last month, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Carper (D-DE), released draft water resources and drinking water legislation, a significant step in the biennial process to maintain and improve America’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The two bills, the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (“AWIA 2020”) and the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (“DWIA 2020” and, together with AWIA 2020,...

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