By Vulcan Consulting KEY EVENTS THIS WEEK: GERMANY Brief coalition breakthrough reached as remaining hurdles mount Berlin experienced a temporary reprieve early last week when the Social Democrats (SPD) voted on Sunday in favour of formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CSU-CDU bloc. The centre-left party has grown exceedingly divided over whether to re-enter another grand coalition with Ms. Merkel or spend a term rebuilding the party in the opposition benches.   As anticipated, the vote was extremely...

Read more

By Edward Holman, Beth George and Bastiaan Suurmond | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati 2018 promises to be an interesting year in the world of privacy and cybersecurity. In this article, we highlight a few of the most notable developments we expect this year, including major developments in Europe, changes and pending cases at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), notable U.S. Supreme Court cases scheduled to be decided this year, and some areas of legislation that actually may...

Read more

By William R. Rhodes – President & CEO | William R. Rhodes Global Advisors, LLC | Remarks given on January 19th at the Lotos Club Let me give you a brief rundown of how I see the world economy, concentrating ON the US and China.  First of all, let me give you the Good News. The world economy is likely to continue in 2018 to display the significant economic growth that emerged in 2017. This results from improved investment, strengthened world...

Read more

By Alix Partners We are delighted to report that our colleague, Derek Holt, has been promoted to Managing Director in our European economics consulting practice. Derek’s promotion reflects his substantial contribution across a range of competition and regulatory cases.   In 2017 alone, Derek acted as an independent expert for: Visa Inc. in relation to various interchange fee Court litigation (where the Court decided that Article 101(1) had not been infringed); Visa Inc. in relation to the European Commission’s investigation of inter-regional interchange...

Read more

By Alexia M. Fishman | Member | Cozen O'Connor |(800) 523-2900  |afishmancozen.com The new tax law represents the most comprehensive overhaul of the Internal Revenue Code since 1986 and includes important changes to the estate and gift tax rules that likely will have an impact on your estate plan, the state you may choose to be your residence, or your charitable giving.  We want to highlight these important changes: Annual Gift Amount Increased. For 2018, the annual gift tax exclusion amount for gifts...

Read more

By DS-Concept DS-Concept has provided a $30 million credit facility to a trading company specializing in chemicals that are widely used in coatings, adhesives, X-ray films, and refinery. The company, based in China and exporting to the U.S., Europe, and South America, is applying the facility to finance open account terms with buyers overseas, fill more orders, and pursue additional commodity opportunities with larger clients, furthering its coveted position as a leading chemicals supplier. As the US and Europe phase out...

Read more

By Ryan Gandre | Managing Director | Chicago |+1.312.752.3318 |rgandrestoutadvisory.com | STOUT On December 20, 2017, Congressional Republicans passed their long-awaited plan to restructure the tax code, and President Trump signed the bill into law on December 22. Originally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, last-minute Senate budgetary rules prohibited a short name, resulting in the longer name, H.R. 1, An Act to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Titles II and V of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal...

Read more

By Dr. Gerlind Wisskirchen | +49 221 7716 345 | gerlind.wisskirchencms-hs.com | CMS Law Tax The international CMS labor and employment group has the pleasure of sharing the fourth edition of On Your Radar publication giving you access to the key employment law developments at your fingertips. Our easy to read guide provides our expert analysis and action points to deal with these developments in Europe and beyond. And while many of us advising clients in Europe are dealing with the...

Read more

By AEM Carnelutti Big luxury brands have ignored e-commerce sales strategies for many years, while other commercial industries have commonly resorted to e-commerce stores as sale channels. The luxury brands’ view of e-commerce has radically changed in the last two years. Some luxury companies launched their own online platforms to sell their products directly to customers. A recent EU Supreme Court decision may however stall the involvement of mass e-commerce giants, such as Amazon, in the European online luxury shopping. On December...

Read more

By Curtis Y. Chow  (Columbia) | Lee Gibbs Depret-Bixio  (Columbia) | Ogletree Deakins On January 20, 2018, the federal government entered into a partial shutdown following Congress’s failure to reach an agreement to continue funding the federal government. Certain federal agencies that rely solely on government funding will not be able to provide most services. Agencies that receive funding from fees or other government sources are expected to remain open, but are expected to experience service delays. Immigration processes...

Read more