133 international companies set up business operations in Vienna in 2013, more than ever before. Total investment volume amounted to about EUR 38 million, creating 700 new jobs. In the past ten years more than 1,000 international firms have established subsidiaries or branch offices in Vienna, creating or safeguarding 9,100 jobs and stimulating investments of EUR 800 million. Functioning city lures companies The soft skills offered by the business location were also among the main reasons explaining the decision of international...

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How did the decision come about?  European law permits national courts to submit questions to the Court on the interpretation of EU legislation. The Irish High Court referred questions from a case taken by Digital Rights Ireland, an organisation dedicated to defending civil, human and legal rights in a digital context. The questions concerned the validity of the 2006 Data Retention Directive, which obliged Member States to introduce laws compelling the storage of telecommunications data. The Directive required the collection and...

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A proposal for amendments to Cayman law could align their legislation with that of Delaware in order to facilitate private equity structures adopting the master/feeder structure, potentially attracting more funds domiciling in the offshore jurisdiction. Cayman is expected to pass a new Exempted Limited Partnership Law in March or April 2014. The bill, which sets out the terms of the proposed new law, provides for increased drafting flexibility for exempted limited partnership agreements, writes Matt Mulry, partner – financial services,...

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First Lady Michelle Obama remarks on Nutri Ventures' commitment to improving childhood nutrition Nutri Ventures Corp. has signed an agreement with Partnership for a Healthier America, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization chaired by First Lady Michelle Obama. When Nutri Ventures and PHA announced the partnership during the Building a Healthier Future conference on March 13, Nutri Ventures pledged to work with the PHA on its core mission: promoting healthy eating habits in children. To do this, all 29 episodes of “Nutri Ventures:...

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Trepp, LLC in the past has written about the various comings and goings on Manhattan's Sixth Avenue (also known as Avenue of the Americas) a number of times. Several more large lease changes were reported over the last few days. None of the leases touch CMBS in a material way, but they do show how much current movement there is in that neck of the woods. On Tuesday, Steve Cuozzo of the New York Post noted that law firm White and Case was...

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On April 1, 2014, the final regulations implementing the “Volcker Rule”1 became effective. The regulations were jointly adopted on December 10, 2013 by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The regulations, among other things, prohibit banking entities and nonbank financial companies from engaging in proprietary trading and...

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By now, federal contractors should have taken a hard look at their current Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) policies, procedures and documentation to ensure compliance with the new requirements. Under the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) Final Rule, effective March 27, 2014, contractors are required to gather data and set hiring goals for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. Some of the other rules, however, will not become effective until contractors update their annual AAP. To be confident...

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Coinciding with the announcement of funds availability to small and medium-sized foreign enterprises for use in developing compliance programs, GRANITO launches a new project called "Soft Compliance" addressed to SMEs that seek to expand their operations cross border, but who have not yet adopted compliance programs and organizational and control models such as larger companies may be required to have under, for example, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or, at the EU level, under the U.K. Bribery act, or by the Italian Legislative Decree no. 231/2001. When not required by...

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According to a special notice received on 2/Apr/2014, the appraisal value for the Tishman German Office Portfolio loan was decreased by €89.40 million. The loan is the largest in EURO 28 with a current balance of €244.97 million. The loan, which is backed by office properties in Germany, is expected to mature on 7/Feb/2015. The loan's initial securitised balance was €378.96 million. The loan was valued at €599.20 million at origination, and its most recent valuation was €273.80 million as of 1/Nov/2009. Based on...

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