Kramer Levin is pleased to announce that Richard E. Farley has joined the firm's Corporate Department as a partner and chair of the firm's Leveraged Finance Group. Mr. Farley is one of the nation's leading leveraged finance lawyers, with experience in complex syndicated loan and high-yield debt financings. His practice centers on representing global commercial and investment banks and alternative investment funds in leveraged buyout financings, recapitalizations and refinancings. Mr. Farley earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law...

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Allan E. Goodman, President & CEO of the Institute of International Education (IIE), appointed Joyce P. Hendricks to serve as the organization’s Vice President & Chief Philanthropy Officer. Hendricks works with IIE’s President and CEO, as well as the Board of Trustees and senior management to lead fundraising efforts.  She develops and maintains relationships with current stakeholders and potential prospects who have an interest in and desire to support IIE’s world-class services and programs. Hendricks focuses on expanding support for critical...

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Subsequent to our last client information letter, we would like to inform you today about current developments regarding the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. On 29 February 2016, the EU Commission published a collection of documents on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield that are to regulate the framework conditions of data transfer to the U.S.A. in the future. The published documents specify the agreement on the content of the key points of the treaty reached between the EU and the U.S.A. about a...

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On March 9, 2016, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an advance copy of the final rule pertaining to optional practical training (OPT) for certain students with degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). The official version of the final rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2016. The new rule will permit employers to retain the talents of certain individuals currently dependent on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa for a...

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The case for international partnership goes beyond the EU debate, says Allan Goodman This week, Universities for Europe convened a panel on the impact of the Brexit vote on UK universities. As an outsider, I was invited to join in offering perspective from the US. Both Britain and America have historic elections this year, and our people have a chance to say “no” to the rhetoric extolling moats and walls. Staying in the European Union would surely make it easier for UK...

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Organizations that transfer personal data to the United States can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being: At the last minute, the EU and the United States have agreed on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Shield. This Privacy Shield is supposed to safeguard the data flows from the European Union to the United States in terms of data protection law in the future, after the European Court of Justice invalidated the "Safe Harbor" Treaty that had been applicable...

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By Sally Painter of EACC Member Blue Star Strategies | 2.24.16 On February 2, the White House announced a rare piece of good news about Europe: the administration would be requesting $3.4 billion in funding for the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI) in fiscal year 2017, quadrupling its prior commitment. The program, developed in June 2014 in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, provides for increased U.S. force presence in Europe, additional military exercises and training for NATO, and other measures...

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In a recent IRS Memorandum from the Office of the Chief Counsel (ILM 201606027, the "Memorandum"), the IRS concluded that common "bad boy guarantees" may cause otherwise nonrecourse loans to be treated as recourse loans for tax purposes. Such treatment may prevent non-guarantor investors in real estate development and other partnerships from being allocated losses in excess of their invested capital that they otherwise would have expected and could, if retroactively applied, result in adverse tax consequences to such...

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For those who see the glass as half full, we are happy to offer up this faint praise for February: at least it wasn't January. As everyone painfully recalls, January saw its worst month in years with US stocks down more than 5%, oil prices collapsing, and, for CMBS, noticeable spread widening and a consistently pessimistic tone. For the broader markets, February brought some modest relief with stocks eking out a small monthly gain and oil prices stabilizing (albeit at a...

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NEW YORK, NY, USA - We would like to congratulate and welcome the newest Member of the World Trade Centers Association: • World Trade Center Lisbon, Portugal The Applicant Group presented a comprehensive plan for developing an iconic World Trade Center Facility with an international trade services component. A WARM WELCOME AND CONGRATULATIONS TO WORLD TRADE CENTER LISBON! We look forward to continuing to build and strengthen the global WTCA network and to working in partnership with all of our members to grow...

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