Essilor International has been included for the 13th consecutive year in the FTSE4Good Index. It’s a global investment index designed to identify companies that demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance practices, measured against globally recognised standards. With 61,000 employees in 63 countries, nearly 540 production sites on five continents and more than $2.4 billion (€2 billion) in purchasing, Essilor has a global and diverse “footprint”. ​With the Group’s mission of improving lives by improving sight comes the responsibility of ensuring...

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After five consecutive months of increases, the Trepp CMBS Delinquency Rate reversed course in August and dropped for the first time since February. The delinquency rate for US commercial real estate loans in CMBS is now 4.68%, a decrease of eight basis points from July. The rate is 77 basis points lower than the year-ago level and 49 basis points lower since the beginning of the year. Compliments of Trepp - a member of the EACCNY    

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The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. The UK and EU will now enter into negotiations to form a new relationship. Pursuant to Article 50 of the EU Treaty, the UK should notify the European Council, and then the UK and the EU should negotiate a withdrawal agreement. If, two years from the date of notification, the withdrawal agreement has not come into force, the EU Treaty and all associated regulations will cease to apply to the...

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On 30 August 2016, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (“BEREC”) has published its “Guidelines on the Implementation by National Regulators of European Net Neutrality Rules“ („Guidelines“). Net neutrality has for many years been an intensively debated political issue. The way in which internet service providers (“ISPs”) may treat internet traffic is for tremendous importance both for the telecommunications sector as well as for the content and application providers (“CAPs”) who offer customer applications via the internet. The European...

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ECON (the EU Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs) voted today to reject the delegated regulation (PRIIPs RTS) as proposed by the Commission on 30 June 2016. ECON claims that the proposed PRIIPs RTS contain inadequacies which could lead to a different interpretation throughout the Member States and that there is a risk that the retail investor would be misled by the information to be disclosed in the PRIIPs KID. Thus the primary goal of the PRIIPs Regulation...

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Technology services and software companies frequently face insurance issues when negotiating their intellectual property license or other services agreements, particularly in this era of data breaches and cloud computing. Numerous questions present themselves. Which party bears the risk in the event of a data breach? Does the company providing the indemnities have insurance to stand behind them? Whether your company is providing a service, engaging a vendor or negotiating a license agreement, keeping these five insurance issues top of...

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English Courts have the power to grant worldwide freezing orders. This is a powerful tool to prevent a party (the "Respondent") from dissipating their assets. Whilst the effect of a freezing order on the Respondent is usually quite clear, a question often arises about its effect on innocent third parties – for example, trustees, banks or directors of companies which the Respondent owns. Breaching an English freezing order can have serious consequences, and not just for the Respondent. Third parties...

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The EACCNY member Cost Containment Advisors is pleased to provide the following summaries of recent developments pertaining to property taxes levied in the power, energy, infrastructure and asset-intensive industry sectors. In the center of contemplation are the states Virginia, South Carolina, North Dakota, Colorado and Alaska. VIRGINIA – Supreme Court holds City of Richmond could not impose tax on natural gas consumed solely for purpose of generating electricity. Virginia Electric and Power Company operates a gas-fired electric generation station located...

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After a record year in 2015, foreign direct investments (FDI) inflow to Hungary continued to rise in the first half of 2016, with 38 successfully negotiated projects in the value of USD 1.5 billion, almost as much as in 2015 all over. Germany has been the biggest investor of the country for decades, however in H1 2016 USA ranked on the top of the investment projects list in Hungary. Such prestigious names as IBM, Alcoa, BorgWarner decided to further...

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Houlihan Lokey's Consumer, Food & Retail Group is pleased to announce that Milk Specialties Global, a portfolio company of Kainos Capital LP, has been acquired by an affiliate of American Securities LLC. Financial terms were undisclosed. The transaction closed on August 16, 2016. This deal represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the food & beverage industry. Founded in 1949, Milk Specialties Global is a leading human and animal nutrition company. The company's Human Nutrition business unit is a leading manufacturer...

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