Client Alert: 7/14/2017 The Second Circuit’s Silver decision highlights the importance for defendants of the Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling in McDonnell, which narrowed the definition of “official act” and limited the reach of the honest services fraud and Hobbs Act extortion statutes. On July 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the conviction of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was convicted in 2015 on seven counts of honest services fraud, Hobbs Act extortion...

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By Dr. Gerlind Wisskirchen, Attorney-at-Law/ Partner/ Certified labor and employment law specialist, CMS Germany Gerlind Wisskirchen is a partner and specialist lawyer in the area of labor and employment law at CMS Germany. She advises multinational corporations particularly on the issues of reorganization, national and international labor and employment law and compliance. Gerlind is an expert on the digitalization of the world of work and editor of the report "Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and their Impact on the Workplace" for...

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The White House has been working with the Department of Justice to formulate changes to the H-1B visa program pursuant to the administration’s “Buy American and Hire American” executive order. The H-1B visa program is a temporary work visa for professional positions. Apart from the required involvement of the Department of Homeland Security, some of the proposed changes to the program could be implemented by administrative actions, while others would require new legislation to be passed. Proposed Changes That Would Require...

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Former White House Special Advisor will lead Latin America practice. July 10, 2017, Washington, DC  – Daniel P. Erikson was named Managing Director at Blue Star Strategies, LLC, where he will lead the firm's Latin America practice representing U.S. corporations across Latin America and the Caribbean and Latin American businesses with interests in the United States. Erikson has had an outstanding career as a diplomat in the U.S. State Department and the White House, where he served as special advisor for...

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Parliamentarians in Strasbourg have this week voted to introduce new rules that would enforce multinational companies operating in the EU to publish details of their profits on a country-by-country basis. The legislation is part of an overall campaign to reform broader tax regulation in an effort to cut down on multinational tax avoidance.   Similar laws already exist for the banking sector, but MEPs extended the rules to cover all multinationals that operate in Europe. This will result in companies...

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Following on from the European Commission’s €2.4bn fine against Google last week, the trade commissioner Margrethe Vestager has called for tougher powers to be granted to her competition department in order to intervene earlier in antirust problems. These so called interim measures would avoid long delays previously experienced in EU investigations by allowing the commission to order companies to cease suspected anti-competitive behaviour even before there is a formal finding of wrongdoing.   Speaking to the media, Ms. Vestager spoke of...

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NYC's REAP, ECSP, LMEP, CRP, CEP, CRT, and other Programs Renewed for 3 years!  Right Now is a Great Time to Plan for the Rest of 2017 and Beyond.     About NYGC: For 15 years, NYGC has succeeded in obtaining more than $800 million for 5,000+ clients in government grants, tax credits, energy discounts, rebates and alternative financing. Our award-winning incentive experts seek and secure local, county, state and federal programs to maximize these awards for years to come. Industries Served: Back...

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Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that The Nature's Bounty Co. and The Carlyle Group have agreed to sell Holland & Barrett to L1 Retail for £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion). L1 Retail, the retail investment arm of LetterOne, has agreed to purchase Holland & Barrett for £1.77 billion. Houlihan Lokey served as a financial advisor to The Carlyle Group and The Nature's Bounty Co. The transaction is expected to close by September 2017, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Further financial...

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