Even if you’ve never thought about it, here’s your chance to find out why Portugal is the place to be if you have a startup. Sure, Portugal’s sunny and it has a really good quality of life – but that’s just stating the obvious, and we’re not here to do that. We’re here to let you know what the future holds and why you shouldn’t miss the big bang of the Portuguese startup scene. Truth is, we couldn’t be writing...

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In 2014, companies around the world continued to grapple with persistent low- to no-growth environments, increased regulatory scrutiny, and ongoing legislative changes. From financial services to healthcare to life sciences, we saw companies across all industries find new ways to improve operations and create value – whether by reexamining policies and procedures around reporting and disclosure, by harnessing the power of technology to improve the speed and quality of decision making, or by managing the risks involved with operating across...

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On February 24, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will start accepting applications for work authorization from certain spouses of H-1B visa holders beginning May 26, 2015. This regulatory change has gone through the normal rulemaking process and is not affected by the federal district court injunction issued last week blocking other administrative actions on immigration. Who Can Apply for a Work Permit? Any spouse applying for work authorization must be in H-4 status as the dependent of...

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In the midst of ongoing, escalating and increasingly troublesome reports of large-scale corporate cyber breaches, the federal government is trying to fight back more forcefully with a dual strategy to shore up agency capability and exchange information with industry in a “shared mission.” Recently, it added five newly enacted cybersecurity laws to its arsenal – or mitigation squad. Their purported goal: to improve the government’s capability to thwart and limit future attacks. The laws generally seek to: •  streamline internal...

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19 February 2015 With the market for mobile applications (“apps”) booming, concern has increased around the amount and type of data that many apps collect and use. Recently, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (“DPC”) along with data protection authorities from around the world (the “DPAs”) wrote an open letter to app marketplaces. The letter, dated 9 December 2014, called on app marketplace operators – like Google and Apple – to make links to app privacy policies mandatory. This letter followed...

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The French Open is followed by 3 billion viewers around the world. In order to express the mythic stature of the tournament, The French Tennis Federation turned to EACCNY member Sixième Son. “We analyze what the brand aims to accomplish,” said Laurant Cochini, Director of Client Services for Sixième Son, “The musical creation becomes the brand’s identity.” The main challenge presented to Sixième Son was to create a sound identity that encompassed The French Open’s Latin roots while remaining unique...

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On February 8, 2015, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued its Report on Cyber Security in the Insurance Sector and announced measures to test New York-licensed insurers for the adequacy of their cyber security preparedness. (DFS's press release, which contains a link to the report, is available here.) These materials have taken on heightened significance since disclosures earlier this month by leading health insurer Anthem of a major data breach, a development mentioned in the report...

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In what appears to be the first formal SEC action arising out of the SEC's recent liquid alt scrutiny and heightened focus on alternative mutual fund managers, the SEC sanctioned an investment adviser to several alternative mutual funds for causing the funds to violate several rules under the Investment Company Act of 1940, primarily for maintaining the funds' cash collateral for swap transactions at broker-dealer counterparties instead of at the funds' custodians. The adviser specialized in event-driven strategies, including merger-arbitrage, through...

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12 February 2015 Contacts and connections are a key asset for many businesses, particularly those in the B2B space. However, disputes often arise as to whether or not the connections are ‘owned’ by the employee or the employer. This issue often comes to the fore in cases where a senior (and often well-connected) employee moves jobs and seek to leverage their existing rolodex to compete with their former employer. Despite the importance of this issue, there is not much case...

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