Tax Reform On 14 December 2016, Luxembourg parliament adopted the bill of law on tax reform including the gradual corporate income tax reduction of 3 percentage points. Our tax newsletter of 29 July 2016 reports on the most relevant measures. All of these measures were adopted without modification vis-à-vis the original bill of law. The tax reform measures are generally applicable as of the tax year 2017, with some exceptions.  Country-by-Country reporting Further, on 13 December 2016, Luxembourg parliament has adopted the bill...

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GRANITO is pleased to announce the fall inauguration in Milan of a new cycle of seminars dedicated to providing specialized education to lawyers, accountants and other professionals. The workshops have dealt with diverse subject matters including banking abuses, family law, corporate crisis management, lease agreements and trusts. New seminars will be available beginning in January. GRANITO welcomes professionals looking for new areas of education to grow globally with them in 2016. Compliments of Granito - a member of the EACCNY

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Today, the Luxembourg Parliament enacted the law (the “New Market Abuse Law”) implementing Directive 2014/57/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on criminal sanctions for market abuse (market abuse directive), also known as the “Market Abuse Criminal Sanctions Directive” (“Directive 2014/57/EU”) and Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2015/2392 of 17 December 2015 on Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards reporting to competent authorities of actual or...

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A new report, Going the Distance: The Expanding Lifecycles of Private Equity Funds by Pepper Hamilton and Mergermarket, shows that while it is taking longer for managers to deploy capital, the entire lifecycle of PE funds also appears to be lengthening. Managers are seeing longer fundraising periods, sourcing periods for creating and generating viable deals, and holding periods for investments. This longer lifecycle can also be attributed, in part, to the very competitive market for investors’ dollars. For general partners,...

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On January 1, 2017, employers across the nation will face a host of new or amended federal, state, and/or local labor and employment requirements. At the same time, there is uncertainty as to how the Trump Administration and Congress may alter those federal obligations.1  With Congress gridlocked for much of the 2016 election year, the most significant labor and employment legislation and regulations were enacted at the state and municipal levels. Multiple states approved minimum wage increases, with built-in multi-year...

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The Case for Optimism An ugly strain of populism reared its head in America this year. After months of spewing sexist, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic rhetoric, Donald Trump stunned pollsters—and the citizens whose ballots earned Hillary Clinton the popular vote—by winning the White House. Nativist politics won out, and Americans joined other populations, including Brexit supporters and Colombians who rejected the long-awaited peace deal, in voting against their self-interest. Through democratic means, fear surpassed reason repeatedly in 2016, leaving many...

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The year 2017 marks Finland's centennial. The theme of the year is "together", and the special occasion will be celebrated together with all Finns, Finnish-Americans and friends of Finland around the U.S. Though many centennial events will take place around the actual Independence Day on December 6, many individuals and organizations are arranging events throughout the year. Finlandia Foundation Since 2006, when Finlandia Foundation National (FFN) created its Lecturer of the Year program, it has selected experts to visit FFN chapters...

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A White & Case survey finds conventional financial institutions are becoming more proactive in their investments to Fintech players. Most financial institution executives in the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific expect to invest in financial technology players within the next two years in a quest for speed, efficiency and security, a survey by White & Case LLP found. Of the 150 senior financial sector executives the New York-based law firm surveyed, 95% said they expect to invest in a fintech deal...

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Introduction Last November, more than 100 countries (including the Netherlands) concluded the negotiations for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the "Convention"). The Convention is the outcome of OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS') Action 15 (a mandate for the development of a multilateral instrument on tax treaty measures to tackle BEPS) and is essential in implementing the outcome of certain OECD BEPS Actions in the more than 3,000...

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On 8 December 2016 the Dutch Corporate Governance Code Monitoring Committee published the revised Corporate Governance Code. The new Code will take effect on 1 January 2017, which means that management reports for the year 2017 will have to comply with its provisions. The changes will require for many companies to amend their rules governing their supervisory board ("SB"). We are in the process of drafting standard rules which meet the new Code's requirements and will make this available to...

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