Since the European Court of Justice declared invalid, on October 6, 2015,1 the Safe Harbor agreement between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission for the transfer of personal data, hundreds of U.S. multinationals have been struggling to find an alternative while waiting hopefully for the Safe Harbor’s replacement. The Privacy Shield, effective as of July 12, 2016, may provide the alternative these organizations have been seeking. For U.S. multinationals that relied on the Safe Harbor to...

Read more

According to this morning's Commercial Mortgage Alert, the CMBS loan backed by the 1.7 million square-foot Chicago office at 131 South Dearborn (also known as the Citadel Center) has been modified. The piece notes that Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Hines have recapitalized the property with a pledge of $50 million of new equity. The $472 million in CMBS debt has been modified as well. The new terms split the loan into a $400 million senior note and a $72...

Read more

The New York office of the Dutch law firm Houthoff Buruma offers clients and colleagues in the US selected news items about relevant legal developments in the Netherlands, the European Union and the Dutch Caribbean. Please email managing partner Helena Sprenger if you have any questions. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield officially adopted On July 12, 2016 the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield was adopted by the European Commission, providing a new framework and legal basis for EU-U.S. personal data transfers. U.S. companies will be...

Read more

Recently a set of BEPS related draft legislation/guidance has been published: (i) On 21 June 2016, the Council of the European Union (“EU”) agreed on the draft Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (“ATAD”); (ii) On 22 June 2016 a bill of law regarding the adoption of a Protocol amending the US/Luxembourg double tax treaty (“Protocol”) was filed with the Luxembourg Parliament; and (iii) On 29 June 2016, the OECD released new guidance on the implementation of the Country-by-Country (“CbC”) Reporting. For your convenience, we have summarised hereafter the...

Read more

On July 1st, Stout Risius Ross proudly celebrates its 25th anniversary . Many things have changed over the past 25 years. One thing that has not changed is our focus on providing our clients with the insight and advice they need to help make good decisions. From our earliest days, we have been guided by underlying values and the highest standards that have stood the test of time. We are proud to have grown from our humble beginnings to one...

Read more

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...

Read more

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...

Read more

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...

Read more

"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,...

Read more

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...

Read more