Over €50 billion of capital is expected to be invested in global real estate during 2017, with North American investors on target to grow their global real estate allocation from 11.3% to 12.1%.  These are the results from the fourth global Investment Intentions Survey 2017, published this month by INREV, ANREV and PREA.  The survey, which specifically focuses on non-listed real estate funds, has a number of other interesting findings. It is anticipated, for example, that 74.1% of these global...

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As we consider the state of global investment activity, we can look back at the statistics of 2016 which show a reasonable year for cross-border investments, an increasing confidence of VCs and corporate investors (CVCs) supporting fast growth businesses in a different jurisdiction.  This has mainly been US investors taking equity in European and Asian companies, but outbound Asian investors are being more prominent in the league tables, particularly outbound from China in tech businesses.  However, there are many other...

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Previously published at corpcounsel.com see here Four Things You Need to Know about Federal Anti-Hacking Statutes in Employment Disputes Every time an employee logs onto a work computer, and every time an employer shows an interest in what that employee is up to, there is a possibility that the federal anti-hacking statutes, the Stored Communications Act (SCA) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), will come into play. These statutes, designed to prevent unauthorized use or interference with electronic communications and...

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On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order (among others) titled: “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” (the “Order”).  The Order purports to “suspend entry” of both “immigrant and nonimmigrant” individuals from the seven countries currently subject to visa waiver restrictions:  Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.1  The Order excludes some diplomatic and government visas, but applies to individuals with common employment-based visas, such as H-1B and L-1 visas, and even...

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Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce the sale of Body Plus Nutritional Products, Inc. (Body Plus) to Jamieson Laboratories Ltd. (Jamieson), a portfolio company of CCMP Capital Advisors, LP (CCMP). The transaction closed on January 31, 2017 Founded in 1984 and based in Toronto, ON, Canada, Body Plus is a dynamic nutritional company that delivers highly comprehensive, professional quality, on-trend natural health and active lifestyle supplements that appeal to a broad range of ingredient-conscious consumers. Body Plus is well known for its...

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A letter from Portolano Cavallo: Dear clients, friends and business partners, We recently strengthened our Life Sciences practice, hiring two senior professionals that will add significant experience and skills to Portolano Cavallo. Marco Blei will focus on Intellectual Property and Life Sciences IT matters, Elisa Stefanini on regulatory issues. Both professionals come from BonelliErede, where they were members of the "Healthcare and Life Sciences" Focus Team. In his fifteen-year IP, IT and Privacy experience, Marco has assisted  players in the pharmaceutical, and...

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On January 19, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued final, temporary, and proposed regulations (the “Regulations”) under section 871(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). Code section 871(m) imposes withholding tax on U.S. source “dividend equivalent” payments made on certain derivative financial products, including notional principal contracts (“NPCs”), equity linked instruments (“ELIs”), and sales-repurchase agreements. The Regulations serve to both clarify and codify much of the official and regulatory guidance issued under...

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ING records robust commercial growth in 2016 while achieving a number one NPS score in 7 of 13 retail markets · ING gained over 1.4 million new retail customers and grew primary relationships by 8.1% to 9.7 million · Business growth was robust in 2016 with EUR 34.8 billion net core lending growth and EUR 28.5 billion net customer deposit inflow   ING Bank full-year 2016 underlying net profit of EUR 4,976 million, up 17.9% from full-year 2015 · Strong full-year 2016 results reflect robust commercial growth...

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Perhaps in response to the recent presidential election, the demand for immigrant visas has noticeably surged across most employment-based immigrant visa preference categories. While the final action dates for most preference categories have moved forward, meaning additional numbers of foreign nationals may proceed with applications for immigrant visa processing or adjustment of status, Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (DOS), forecasts that additional final action cutoff dates are...

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