By Magdalena M. Czerniawski and Robert Lyons of Marks Paneth As expected, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1865 (The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020) on Friday, December 20, 2019. The bill was primarily designed as a government funding bill. Like most bills, it contained various “tag-along” provisions not associated with federal funding. Two of the provisions signed into law have a significant impact on non-profit organizations. Parking and Transit Pass Tax Repeal H.R. 1865, as signed into law, repealed Code section 512(a)(7) that taxed qualified transportation...

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On 27 November 2019, the Directive on cross-border conversions, mergers and divisions was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council (Directive (EU) 2019/2121) (Directive). The Directive clarifies the existing rules on cross-border mergers in the EU and, for the first time, introduces rules on cross-border conversion and division for all Member States. For example, the Netherlands, like most other Member States, does currently not have any legislation on cross-border conversions and divisions. A regulation for cross-border mergers of...

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On December 31, 2019, the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) announced that 68 additional HTS provisions and product descriptions will be excluded from the Section 301 trade remedies imposed on Chinese-origin products. The newly announced exclusions all relate to items on China 301 List 3 (the $200 billion trade action) which, unless excluded, are subject to an additional tariff of 25% ad valorem. The list of newly-excluded items (which supplements the exclusions previously granted by the USTR) is provided below. The exclusions...

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The IRS Office of Chief Counsel on Dec. 20, 2019, released a so-called Generic Legal Advice Memorandum (GLAM) that had been issued to Division Counsel within the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division. A GLAM is not binding authority and cannot be used or cited as precedent, but it does provide important insight as to how the IRS views a particular issue, as well as how that issue is likely to be analyzed by an IRS auditor. In GLAM 2019-003,...

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ING announced today that Pinar Abay will be appointed member of the Management Board Banking and head of Market Leaders, taking up the responsibility for ING’s operations in the Benelux. She will take up her new position per 1 January 2020. Pinar Abay (Turkish, 1977) currently is country manager of ING in Turkey, a role she has held since joining ING in 2011. Before that Pinar was a partner at McKinsey & Company in Turkey, in charge of consultancy for...

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As one of the world's biggest providers of climate finance, the European Investment Bank, the EU’s climate bank, took part in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25), the annual meeting of global leaders and climate action experts. During COP 25, governments came together to discuss the next crucial steps in the UN climate change process. Following agreement on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement at COP 24 in Poland last year, a key objective is to complete several matters with respect...

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By Irene Picciano and Elisa Stefanini of Portolano Cavallo Studio Legale In October 2019, the European Commission’s Medical Devices Coordination Group (MDCG) published a new guidance on the qualification and classification of software as medical devices (MDSW) under the new Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) and In Vitro Diagnostic Regulations (IVDR) (the “Guidance”). The Guidance aims at providing clarification to medical software manufacturers with respect to (i) qualification issues (when software is considered a device); and (ii) classification issues, depending on...

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James D. Rosener, partner in the Commercial Department of Pepper and head of the firm's International Practice Group, and Brent A. Morowitz, of counsel in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group of Pepper, were interviewed during The Deal Economy Conference. The conference focused on "Predictions and Perspectives" and explored the most effective strategies for deals and transactions, focusing on the opportunities and challenges facing dealmakers in 2019.  View interview here   Compliments of Pepper Hamilton, a Member of the EACCNY

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If you serve in a managerial or advisory role with a company that has foreign operations, suppliers or customers, several familiar phrases have probably caught your attention more often lately. Do “change to the entity list” and “new sanctions announced” sound familiar? Global policies and norms around the exchange of goods, services and ideas are in flux. Various countries, multinational organizations and multilateral treaties with their own best interests in mind are all attempting to regulate trade between foreign nationals...

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX, “BioNTech” or “the Company”) announced today the signing of a contract which provides financing of EUR 50 million to BioNTech SE, an international clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on patient-specific immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. BioNTech will use the funds for the research and development, market access and manufacturing development for its most advanced treatments under development. The EU bank’s loan is backed by a guarantee...

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