By Richard J Keery & Michal Mrozek | HSBC Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is today very much open for business. The transitioning economies of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania in particular have attractive long-term growth prospects which make this region an ideal international base. CEE can also count on political stability, improving infrastructure and a highly-skilled workforce. Combined with its freemarket economic principles, and wide geographical spread, this is a prime location for international investment. HSBC has a distinct presence in...

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By Barbara Timková and Jan Gerych of Wolf Theiss and Roger James of Ogletree Deakins The status of employment contracts concluded between board members and companies has been clarified by a decision by the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic after many years of twists and turns in case law and legal interpretation. The Court has held that board members and companies may, under certain conditions, agree that their relationship should be governed by rules of the Czech Labour Code,...

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By Adam Kalbfleisch, Kyle Donnelly and Alysha Pannu | Bennett Jones On January 31, 2019, the Competition Bureau announced the 2019 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act would increase to $96 million (the 2018 threshold was $92 million). Acquisitions may be subject to mandatory pre-notification where the aggregate value of the target firm's assets in Canada, or the gross revenues from sales in or from Canada generated from those assets, exceeds the size of transaction threshold. The size...

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As the threat of additional tariffs on Chinese imports looms with the U.S.-China “tariff truce” scheduled to end on March 1, last week The Toy Association co-led a special Washington, DC fly-in event with the Americans for Free Trade Coalition. Over the course of two days, nearly two dozen toy industry executives joined other industry participants to urge government officials to oppose tariffs on Chinese imports and help small businesses across the country. Representatives from member companies including LEGO Systems Inc.,...

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We have gathered some of the most exciting recent applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Launched in India, Child Growth Monitor is an AI-powered smartphone app that detects malnutrition in children. The app uses an infrared sensor to capture the child’s measurements (height, body volume and weight, and limb circumference) to succesfully diagnose malnutrition. Unity Technology has developed Obstacle Towers, a video game designed to test the strengths and weaknesses of AI’s. They hope to develop a standardized benchmarking tool to evaluate...

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By Nicole M Elliott| Christopher J Armstrong | Holland & Knight   HIGHLIGHTS: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released IRS Notice 2019-09 (Notice) offering guidance under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code as added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Section 4960 applies to certain tax-exempt organizations, and imposes an excise tax on excess executive compensation and excess parachute payments. Section 4960 imposes additional burdens on tax-exempt organizations to assess, track and potentially pay the excise tax. Notice 2019-09 provides...

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By Michael Obeiter | Taite R McDonald | Beth A Viola | Amy L Edwards | Holland & Knight HIGHLIGHTS: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Feb 7, 2019, released companion resolutions that provide a framework for prospective legislation on a Green New Deal (GND), an ambitious climate policy. The GND proposals are instructive and can serve as a blueprint for a potential climate and energy package for the next Democratic president to propose to Congress, or...

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Kempen in 2018:  €37 billion of transactions executed As a result of our versatile service offering, Kempen Corporate Finance achieved a record year in revenues having successfully advised on 38 M&A, ECM and Debt Advisory transactions with a volume of €37 billion. Against the backdrop of the capital markets the center of gravity has shifted to M&A, including public take-overs. More than half of these transactions were international cross-border transactions. Despite the increased public market volatility we have been able...

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