De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek has been named "Netherlands Law Firm of the Year 2017" by Chambers and Partners. This is the sixth time in ten years De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek has been awarded this honour, a remarkable achievement reflecting impressive strategic growth and excellence in client service. Chambers and Partners publishes leading directories, ranking leading law firms around the world. Their in-depth analysis is based on up-to-date, independent and objective research, as well as on client feedback. Geert Potjewijd, managing...

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United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the annual H-1B quota for both the regular 65,000 visa petition bachelor’s degree cap and the 20,000 visa petition U.S. master’s degree cap has been met for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The exact number of petitions received has yet to be announced but will likely be shared in the coming weeks once all of the petitions are counted. Likewise, due to the high number of petitions received, USCIS has...

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Earlier this month, the SEC Division of Investment Management issued guidance with respect to situations in which an operating company may find that, upon the occurrence of an extraordinary event, it meets the definition of an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“Company Act“), even though it intends to remain in such status only temporarily. Absent an exclusion or exemption from this definition, the operating company may be required to register under the Company Act. Rule...

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Due to the digital revolution driving global economy, there is a shortage of skilled and reliable web- and mobile software developers globally. According to a European Commission report, by 2020, 900,000 qualified ICT professionals will be missing from the market in Europe alone, whereby demand for skilled developers will be likely even higher in the USA. Successful businesses need to stay ahead of their competition through digital transformation and the introduction of new digital solutions and services to their clients,...

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April 2017 By Norman Rozenberg Around the world, international institutions and regulators are increasingly pressuring global banks to implement tougher measures to govern illicit financial flows and crimes, such as money laundering and financing for terrorism. In response, and particularly in volatile and smaller countries with limited financial markets and where local banks may be unable to meet these requirements, their global bank partners are increasingly cutting business ties with local affiliates and departing the market altogether. In this trend to “de-risk”...

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April 2017 By Jesica Dobbins Lindgren As the European Union turns 60 years old this year, both pundits and detractors are looking at the shape and fate of the post-World War II experiment. Now comprising 28 member countries, what we now call “the EU” began with the signing of the two Treaties of Rome on March 25, 1957. One of the treaties, the European Economic Community (EEC), laid the foundation geographically and philosophically for the current framework and ideals of...

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Nobel Peace Prize laureate, President Martti Ahtisaari spoke in Washington, D.C., on March 23, stressing the importance of transatlantic cooperation and fundamental global values.    President Ahtisaari spoke at the Wilson Center on Thursday. Former President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari delivered keynote remarks at the Martti Ahtisaari Symposium on European Security and Global Perspectives, held at the Wilson Center on Thursday, March 23.  At the age of 79, Mr. Ahtisaari still travels the world and is active in numerous...

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Data Security New Regulation or Official Guidance Author:  Aki Tanaka, Attorney — Littler Mendelson, P.C. The EU’s top data protection regulatory body, the Article 29 Working Party, released a set of frequently asked questions on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs cross-border data processing activity. The Working Party also published a set of guidelines for identifying a controller or processor’s lead supervisory authority. Both documents flesh out certain concepts and definitions of the GDPR, such as what activities constitute cross-border processing of...

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Eliminating legal uncertainty and taking the pressure off companies or final consumers who assumed, before the REA 2014 (EEG 2014) came into force on 1 August 2014, that they could supply themselves with power from their own share in the capacity of a power plant (“capacity share”) without paying the renewable energy surcharge – this is the purpose of a new transitional rule in the REA 2017 (EEG 2017), which is a type of amnesty provision. Initial situation The legislator defines...

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On 31 March 2017, the Netherlands published a draft legislative proposal for the implementation of the ‘UBO-register’. The Dutch government has launched an online public consultation, providing anyone interested with the opportunity to comment on the draft legislative proposal. The online public consultation closes on 28 April 2017. What is the UBO-register? The UBO-register is a central register containing information on Ultimate Beneficial Owners of corporate entities and other legal entities incorporated in the Netherlands and will form an integral part...

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