Much has been written about Bitcoin since its creation in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Indeed, the high volatility of and scandal after scandal involving this new digital currency have been amply documented in the press. In recent months, however, the price of Bitcoin has stabilised at around 40% of its record high and appears to be rising.  One reason for this is the financial sector's interest in the technology underlying Bitcoin, namely the blockchain. This article first explains blockchains in...

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Aeropostale announced it will be closing 154 stores in conjunction with its bankruptcy filing. We've created a list of CMBS loans that intersect with that list of closings (Aeropostale store closings touching CMBS). There are 36 loans for which a closing Aeropostale is part of the tenant base. The majority of the properties do not list Aeropostale as a top five tenant. Nine of the loans are either going through the foreclosure process, are already REO, or are 60 or more days...

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The Toy Industry Association (TIA) announced the election of eight new members to the TIA Board of Directors for two-year terms of office expiring in 2018 during its Annual General Meeting held in Miami, Florida. The meeting also saw the chairmanship gavel pass to David Hargreaves of Hasbro, Inc. from retiring Board Chairman John Gessert of American Plastic Toys. Nominated to serve their first terms on the TIA Board were Kathleen Campisano, Vice President of Toys & Games, Barnes &...

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Last month, IIE hosted a panel discussion and reception to mark the release of a new IIE report, Social Justice and Sustainable Change: The Impacts of Higher Education. Yielding the first findings from our 10-year impact study of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP), Social Justice and Sustainable Change shows that funding the post-graduate academic pursuits of emerging social justice leaders from marginalized groups leads to significant, measurable benefits for communities and organizations in their countries and throughout the...

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EACCNY member BJM Consulting Associates want to make you aware of many wire transfer frauds targeting the general public and U.S. businesses. Law enforcement officials have warned of a wire transfer fraud based on the receipt of a compromised email. This fraud is a sophisticated scam targeting businesses that normally work with foreign suppliers and regularly perform wire transfers. The business receives a spoofed email, allegedly from a known supplier, indicating there has been a change to the normal wire instructions....

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In July 2007 the U.S. changed its visa-waiver program to enhance security and provide an opportunity for all EU member countries to enter the U.S. visa free. Prior to these changes the visa waiver program criteria relied on an evaluation of visa rejection and over stay rates.  When the law was changed the new criteria relied instead on shared security measures. Unfortunately, the Senate imposed a sunset clause that provided insufficient time for all EU countries to achieve the new...

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On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued a new standard, Leases (ASC 842). Certain provisions of the new standard are particularly noteworthy for portfolio companies owned by private equity investors. Calendar year-end public companies adopting the standard on January 1, 2019 will need to apply the guidance to the 2017 and 2018 comparative periods presented. Most notably, the new standard requires lessees to recognize virtually all leases (other than short-term leases) on their balance sheet. This means that lessees will...

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Reaching the 2.5 billion people worldwide who do not have access to the vision care they need took a step closer to reality this month when the Essilor Group launched the Vision For Life program. Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, Essilor’s Chief Corporate Mission Officer and Chairman of the two boards that will administer the funds, explained how it will work. “Vision for Life is a global strategic giving program that will fund, monitor and measure the impact of projects showing the most potential...

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When UK emerging companies venture outside the UK, they quickly need to address whether – and how - to extend equity-based compensation to non-UK employees.  However, few jurisdictions offer a regime as favourable as the UK’s Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme for providing equity compensation to emerging company employees. The discussion below provides guidelines for making this work.  Although the focus is on extending equity-based compensation to US employees, the issues addressed have broader applicability. 1. Provide for non-EMI grants of...

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When the Danish company Coloplast needed a venue and activity to complement their global sales training kickoff, they chose Dream Racing. We helped them custom build an integrated program for their 70 sales managers that would enhance their sales strategy and celebrate their successes of the previous year. Starting with a morning of presentations in the state-of-the-art Media Center they then headed down to the track for a pit stop competition. Dressed in team unfiorms and feeling very competitive, sparks...

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