By Susan Gault-Brown and John Sullivan The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sponsored a symposium in July 2017 at which U.S. regulators discussed the use of distributed-ledger technology (also referred to as blockchain) in the financial services industry and the regulatory significance of blockchain. The U.S. regulators in attendance included FINRA, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve Board. Prior to the symposium, FINRA...

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In June 2017, the Article 29 Working Party - the collective group of European data protection authorities - (“WP29”) adopted new guidance on data processing in the workplace. This guidance complements previous WP29 opinions on the processing of data in an employment context and on electronic surveillance in the workplace. The new guidance seeks to address the increase in the amount of personal data collected in the workplace. It also focuses on the rise of new forms of data processing...

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BY Christopher Olsen and Edward Holman On August 15, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had reached an agreement with Uber Technologies to settle allegations that the ride-sharing company had deceived consumers by failing to live up to its privacy and data security promises.1 Specifically, the FTC levied two deception counts against Uber: (1) that the company had failed to consistently monitor and audit internal access to consumers’ personal information, despite public promises to do so; and...

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BY BANNOCKBURN GLOBAL FOREX , LLC   The USD was mixed in August, losing a little ground against a strong EUR but gaining modestly against GBP and the CAD. After initially recovering slightly after heavy losses in July, the USD made new lows both against the EUR and on a trade-weighted basis at the end of the month in the aftermath of the central bank symposium at Jackson Hole. Market hopes that ECB president Draghi would indicate concern at the strength...

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The European-American Chamber of Commerce in New York is delighted to announce that as of September, Eric Fort will succeed Bob Calmes as head of Arendt & Medernach's New York office. Having successfully worked with institutional and private clients operating in Luxembourg, Eric brings a wealth of experience to Arendt & Medernach's US office where A&M aim is to continue to provide tailored advice for their clients in this market. To welcome him to the office, Arendt & Medernach is...

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By Donald C. Dowling, Jr. | Littler Multinationals inevitably vary their employee compensation packages—their pay rates, employee incentives, bonus plans, benefits offerings—by country of employment. It is pointless to inquire into some multinational’s entry-level total compensation package for its managers, engineers, in-house lawyers, computer techs, punch-press operators, cashiers, secretaries, truck drivers or fry cooks without specifying their place of employment. Compensation packages for otherwise-similarly-situated staff inevitably run higher in (for example) Canada, Japan and Norway than in (say) Croatia, Jamaica and Nicaragua....

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Authors: Marifrances Morrison (Raleigh), Whitney Brownlow (Raleigh), Sarah J. Hawk (Raleigh)Published Date: September 5, 2017 On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the Memorandum on Rescission Of Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA is a program that provides deportation relief and work authorization to certain undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.What is DACA?  The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was established by the...

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Foreign investors in US partnerships had reason to celebrate last month when a major tax court decision rejected the controversial Revenue Ruling 91-32, which stipulates that gains of a non-US partner from the disposition of an interest in a partnership engaged in US trade or business is treated as a sale of partnership assets and subject to US income tax.   In Grecian Magnesite Mining, Industrial & Shipping Co. SA v. Commissioner, the court ruled that treating the gains as “ECI” (income effectively...

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Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s 2017 Mid-Year Technology and Life Sciences IPO Report presents key data related to the pricing of 26 U.S.-based technology and life sciences issuers between January 1 and June 30, 2017. Just as the overall volume of IPO activity has increased during the first half of 2017, compared with the same period in 2016, the number of IPOs by issuers from the technology and life sciences sectors has been proportionally robust. Read the Full Report here.

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By Maia T. Spilman, Esq./CIPP The “GDPR” –What is it and why does it matter if we’re not in Europe? The Data privacy/Data protection community has been all abuzz about the European Union’s “GDPR” for a while and the attention will not go away soon.  Apart from those of us who are data privacy/protection focused in our jobs, many companies that handle electronic data are also joining the conversation.  In this column we’ll attempt to provide an overview of the “GDPR”...

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