April 14, 2020 • $600 billion Main Street Lending Program established under the CARES Act to help small and medium-sized businesses. • Businesses with up to 10,000 employees may be eligible. • Loan amounts range from $1 million to $150 million, based on eligibility. On April 9, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve released details about the new $600 billion Main Street Lending Program, which is designed to help shore up the economy. The program will be implemented using funds appropriated under the...

Read more

April 13, 2020 • The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the extent to which the United States and other countries are dependent upon a well-functioning global supply chain of critical medical supplies, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) essential to protecting doctors, nurses, EMTs and others on the front lines of the pandemic. • As with many goods, the supply chain, from raw material to manufacturing to delivery, is global and depends on "just-in-time" supply chains. In normal times, this degree of global...

Read more

April 10, 2020 | On April 8, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amended securities offering rules for business development companies1 (BDCs) and registered closed-end funds as mandated by Congress.2 The amendments largely extend the 2005 securities offering reform for operating companies to BDCs and closed-end funds. The amended rules are intended to streamline the registration, offering and investor communications processes for BDCs and closed-end funds. According to the SEC, these changes should enable BDCs and closed-end funds to respond more...

Read more

April 10, 2020 | On April 9, 2020, in further response to the economic effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System took actions to pump an additional $2.3 trillion in liquidity into the U.S. credit and capital markets. According to the Federal Reserve, this new $2.3 trillion – which complements the $849 billion in funding authorized by the U.S. Congress under Titles I and IV of the CARES Act —...

Read more

April 12, 2020 I. It is truly a global crisis. Old animosities and hostilities should be put aside to deal with this pandemic. A coordinated effort by the US and China marshal the resources to combat the virus and help the world economy recover from this body blow. Countless op-ed pieces in the traditional media and internet have cried, "Can't we just get along, for the common good?". And who can disagree? The problem is two-fold. It is naive and dangerous. It is naive...

Read more

The Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice yesterday that allows additional tax deadline delays for individuals and businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Notice 2020-23 expands the July 15, 2020 deferred deadline to additional federal tax filings or payments due on or after April 1, 2020 and before July 15, 2020.   The relief previously provided for applied only to federal income taxes, gift taxes and estimated taxes due on April 15, 2020.   This new relief is available to...

Read more

April 8, 2020 • At the request of several countries, OECD Secretariat releases document analyzing how this crisis affects double tax treaties, dealing with issues related to permanent establishments, tax residence and cross border workers. • The guidance included with the document does not depart from the Commentaries on the OECD Model Convention and, in general terms, embraces the exceptionality of the situation to play down the impact of the crisis. • The document also refers to measures and interpretations followed by...

Read more

Come together April 7, 2020 The coronavirus threatens thousands, possibly millions of lives across the globe. It is first and foremost a health crisis and the disease must be beaten, and the curve of Covid-19’s spread must be flattened for our lives to return to something approaching normalcy. But what of the economic damage, our governments’ responses, and the outlook going forward? Should we expect a V-shaped recovery – a rapid rebound from an economic standstill? In our view it is increasingly...

Read more

March 26, 2020 In a welcomed attempt to align their approaches, the antitrust enforcers of the European Competition Network (ECN)1 have published a brief joint statement on the application of competition law during the Covid-19 crisis. If one may regret that its content remains too high-level, it is an important step, which comes just shortly after the European Commission adopted a specific temporary State Aid framework in order to offer Member States the flexibility required in this exceptional context to support businesses impacted by...

Read more

April 1, 2020 Surviving in the short term and thriving long-term For many businesses, surviving the COVID-19 economic downturn depends on managing liquidity and, more specifically, managing enterprise cash. The erratic timing and extent of various disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic may reduce cash on hand, threaten future cash flows and curtail the ability of a business to meet immediate obligations. Uncertainty over the ability to pay employees and creditors, to withstand supply chain shocks and to maintain other important operational functions...

Read more