Finland has opened a new Honorary Consulate in Charlotte, NC, which is the largest business, financial and transportation hubs in North and South Carolina. The jurisdiction of the new Honorary Consulate covers both North and South Carolina. The new Honorary Consul in Charlotte is Todd Wiebusch, a business executive who has lived in Charlotte over 20 years and who has a long business and personal history with Finland. New Honorary Consul Todd Wiebusch has actively promoted Finnish culture and business...

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After more than ten years of extensive discussions, the modernisation of the Luxembourg corporate legal framework has now been adopted. However, the law is yet to be published before entering into force: such publication is expected in mid-August. Flexibility and legal certainty are the key drivers of the reform. As many adjustments are very technical we thought that rather than providing you with a detailed explanation of the newly adopted law, you would be more interested in seeing what the new...

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On July 12, 2016, the European Commission announced its final approval of the EU-US Privacy Shield (the “Shield”).  Once signed by both the EU Minister of Justice and the US Secretary of Commerce, the Shield will replace the US Department of Commerce Safe Harbor Program, one of several mechanisms that allowed companies in the EU to transfer personal data from the EU to the US.  Previously, the Safe Harbor registration created a comparatively streamlined way for US companies to...

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"Brexit" is coming: In the referendum on 23 June 2016, 51.9 percent of Britons spoke out in favor of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU). Admittedly, the result of the referendum does not yet constitute a formal step towards withdrawal and there is speculation about whether the withdrawal proceedings pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) are going to be initiated in the short term or not. Regardless of that,...

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The world is in dire need of vision correction – especially in less developed nations. The Vision Impact Institute is a research partner to an exciting and productive coalition called EYElliance, comprised of public, private, non-governmental organizations and other partners who are working together to meet the world’s need for eyeglasses. At the recent World Economic Forum in China, EYElliance, a coalition of public, private and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) released a report outlining how the outlook for the world population’s...

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Littler's Workplace Policy Institute Insider Report details key labor, employment, and benefits news and events at the federal, state, local, and global levels. The July edition of the Insider Report includes a discussion of legislative and litigation efforts to block recent federal agency rulemaking, White House and DOL initiatives to promote equal pay and target sex discrimination, key end-of-term Supreme Court actions, and new state-level employment laws and ballot initiatives. The Report contains the following sections: Insider Briefing . In the weeks...

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In one of those weird 21st century fads (think "virtual pets") people around the US are taking to the streets, looking for Pokémon characters through their smartphone apps. (Didn't they know they've been lurking in Times Square for years?) The game was launched by Nintendo whose stock price was up more than 30% yesterday based on the popularity of the game. For the last several years, investors have seen yields on government bond go from real to virtual. Yesterday, investors might...

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The Brexit: Introduction On 23 June  2016,  the majority of the voters in the United Kingdom (hereafter also "UK") opted to leave the EU ("Brexit"). This is a landmark event as no nation has ever left the EU. In this Alert we will briefly discuss certain possible tax consequences of the Brexit. In view of the many variables involved, however, this tax Alert may often only offer speculation on possible outcomes. Timing and strategic considerations on submitting the Article 50 Notice The rules...

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Markets in June were dominated by the approach of the UK EU referendum on June 23 and the sharp reaction to the vote to leave. While there will be more focus on other things in July, market movements are still likely to be dominated by the aftermath of the UK vote for “Brexit”, mainly because the market reactions to the vote were so sharp and large. Main market movements in June GBP/USD fell 18 figures to 1.32 – the lowest level...

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The people of the United Kingdom (UK) have spoken on the issue of whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union (EU). In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, British voters by a narrow margin voted for the UK to leave the EU. The UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU (a process colloquially termed “Brexit”) will likely have significant consequences in ways both known and as yet unknown. What will Brexit mean for companies...

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