In the first few weeks of the Trump Presidency, there have been numerous marches, protests and other forms of political advocacy expressing views both in support of and in opposition to the President’s various appointments, executive orders and other actions.  Employers concerned about protests potentially planned for the next few months and political advocacy in general understandably have questions surrounding how political demonstrations may affect their workplaces.  Several news articles and an event website have called for a “general strike”...

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On 21 February 2017, the Council of the EU reached political agreement on amendments to the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) to neutralise hybrid mismatch structures involving non-EU countries (ATAD 2). The ATAD contains rules combatting certain hybrid mismatches between Member States (MS). ATAD 2 extends the scope to (i) a variety of other mismatches between MS and (ii) mismatches between MS and third countries. The hybrid mismatch rules must be implemented into domestic law by 1 January 2020, one year later than was...

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BOS Container USA is happy to announce its new US inventory. BOS Quick Build Containers are manufactured in Germany. BOS Container USA, LLC (BOS USA) represents the factory in the USA, Canada and abroad. BOS USA is looking to develop long term B2B partners. Some of the industries we Service are Construction, Special Events, Fire and Flood Remediation, Self-Storage, Portable Storage, etc. New inventory: Until now, a typical client has ordered a full sea container shipment of BOS Containers (e.g. 28 units...

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DS-Concept has partnered with Blue Lab in Amsterdam. Blue Lab is part of Denim City, the umbrella organization consisting of five pillars including Workshop, Denim Institute, Blue Lab, Embassy and Jean School. Blue Lab is a unique and independent denim washing-design laboratory, providing trend analysis, R&D, sustainability, washing design and laboratory training services to brands, students, academics and industry experts. Part of the Denim City mission statement is “towards a brighter blue”, which is aiming at developing more sustainable production...

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The most recent market trends indicate a significant increase of the role of privacy matters within M&A transactions, with a particular focus on potential data security issues. In this scenario, the parties involved in M&A transactions have opposing interests, both aimed at managing their respective transactional risks and related consequences. The seller, on the one side, is expected to give representations and warranties in respect of the target business and, therefore, is required to take into appropriate consideration the increasingly...

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US stocks continued their recent run as the rally extended to a fifth day. Equities were helped by President Trump's reiteration that a "massive" tax cut was in the works. The Dow moved up another 107 points (0.52%), while the S&P 500 added 0.50% and the Nasdaq jumped 0.64%. All three major indexes hit all-time highs for the fifth straight session, which hadn't happened since 1992. Retail sales data beat expectations yesterday, while CPI rose by the largest amount in...

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During discussions with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, officials noted that recent liquidated damages cases assessed for late or non-payment of duty may have been issued in error. According to CBP, a technical error arose in the agency’s internal computer system during the recent migration to the Automated Commercial Environment. This error caused CBP’s internal software to reflect inaccurate release dates that in some cases generated erroneous dates of entry and affected the duty payment deadline. Liquidated damages cases were...

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This year promises to be great at the Vision Impact Institute (VII), and I am humbled and honored to now be leading such an amazing organization. The past two years have brought tremendous growth to the VII and to the conversation around refractive error. Global discussion has significantly increased around  vision health, specifically as it relates to academic performance, drivers’ safety and regulations, workplace productivity and even the independence of our world’s elderly.  Together we are making a difference! Last...

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UPDATE: On February 9, 2017, a Ninth Circuit panel upheld the restraining order against President Trump’s travel ban.  On February 3, 2017, federal Judge James Robart issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting President Trump’s January 27, 2017, executive order (the “Order”) entitled, Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Entry into the United States by Foreign Nationals. The Order suspended entry into the United States for immigrants and non-immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen (“affected countries”) for at...

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Today, the Commission des Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) published a press release to confirm that it expects all Luxembourg UCITS to comply with ESMA’s opinion on UCITS share classes (the Opinion). Share classes that are not compliant with the Opinion, but established prior to 30 January 2017 should be closed for subscription by new investors by 30 July 2017 at the latest, and for additional investment by existing investors by 30 July 2018 at the latest. New share classes of...

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