Meeting the global challenge of evolving corporate compliance. Compliance is becoming more important as a variable that senior decision-makers must consider when choosing international expansion locations. At the same time, legal and tax teams need to know what jurisdictions are complex for handling compliance issues. The TMF Group Compliance Complexity Index gives a detailed understanding of the changing picture for corporate compliance in 84 jurisdictions, as well as across continents and globally. It takes the pulse of a sector that is...

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By Rachit Agarwal | Randall Fox | Joel Cooper On 3 July 2018, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published the much anticipated discussion draft on financial transactions (discussion draft) for public comment. Even though this discussion draft is a non-consensus document, it provides useful commentary and guidance on the application of arm's length principle to a broad range of intragroup transactions where international guidelines have been largely non-existent in the past. The discussion draft also provides a peek into OECD's thinking...

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By Max Welbes, Lea Hungerbühler On 12 July 2018, the European Commission adopted two delegated regulations supplementing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and the Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive (UCITS) on the safekeeping of assets by depositaries and their delegates. Their main purpose is to eliminate discrepancies among different national regulations. The following aspects will be amended: Introduction of additional factors to determine the required frequency of reconciliation of accounts and records between the depository and the third parties...

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By Darrel H. Pearson, Sabrina A. Bandali, and Jessica B. Horwitz | Bennett Jones  The Government of Canada has released its updated list of U.S. products that will be subject to a surtax when imported into Canada as of July 1, 2018. The final list targets approximately $16.6-billion worth of goods as a response to the U.S. section 232 tariffs imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum products. A 25% surtax applies to imports of listed steel products and a 10% surtax applies...

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By Torsdon Poon, Petter Wendel, Gerald Whelan | EY In the first quarter of 2018, private equity deal activity was up 60% over the same period in 2017, making it the most active first quarter for PE in more than a decade. That activity level is an indirect result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, says Torsdon Poon, EY Americas Transaction Tax Leader. “The fact that corporate tax rate reductions are helping to create more stability in the market is beneficial,” says Poon....

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Join us on the High Line on Saturday, July 14th for a free community program featuring honey tastings, live beehives, and much more Friends of the High Line and TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, and the Presenting Green Sponsor of the High Line, today announce the return of the High Line Honey program, which culminates this year with a summer harvest event on the High Line on Saturday, July 14th. Organizers expect to produce between 100 to 150 pounds of...

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By Dr Raimund Behnes | DLA Piper Following its recent joint decision on Deister Holding (C-507/16) and Juhler Holding (C-613/16) on the former version of the German anti-treaty shopping rule (see earlier insights), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has now decided that the current version of Germany's anti-treaty shopping rule, as widely expected, is also incompatible with the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive and infringes the EU freedom of establishment (ECJ decision C-440/17). This outcome renders the German anti-treaty shopping framework in its current form invalid and...

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By Osborne Clarke  Many supply, construction or service contracts include a clause which allows either party to terminate the agreement, or provides that the agreement will terminate automatically, upon the occurrence of various insolvency-related events. However, such clauses allowing for the termination of contracts purely for reason of insolvency of the other party are generally invalid under German insolvency law. Understanding how this might affect your contracts can help you to ensure that you are adequately protected through other contractual provisions,...

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By Danaïs Fol | Loyens & Loeff Today, July 11th, the Court of Justice issued an important ruling in the case C-356/15 European Commission versus Belgium. The Court of Justice ruled that Belgian legislation, which provides that Belgian authorities can unilaterally declare posted workers subject to the Belgian social security legislation, is inconsistent with EU legislation. A1 Declaration is presumed to be binding An A1 Declaration is an official document issued by a Member State in which a company that is posting workers is...

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