An increasing number of online services are becoming available in the EU. This was the conclusion of the so-called E-Government Benchmark study carried out by the IT consulting company Capgemini and published by the EU Commission. Austria continues to clearly outperform the European average in the E-Government Benchmark 2014 report. For example, some 90 percent of official documents are accessible online in Austria. Austria was also praised in the study for the availability of key technologies such as the mobile...

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GRANITO is pleased to announce it has been asked by foreign distributors to source foreign food products for distribution into the Columbia and Venezuela markets. GRANITO continues to use its network and experience in cross border transactions to make opportunities available to businesses in the position to expand their exports, but in need of distributors. GRANITO welcomes suppliers with products servicing the needs of the South American markets to grow globally with them in 2014. To reach out to Granito visit: www.granitocorporateadvisory.com

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Investors in GMACC 2004-C3 might be in luck. For a while now, we have been concerned about the $33.9 million Key Center note. About a year ago a developer was looking to lure the building's lead tenant--Delaware North--away from the Buffalo, New York property. The hospitality and food service management firm occupies 24% of the space with a lease that ends in the summer of 2015. In October the rumors were proven true when it was reported that Delaware North was headed to a...

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Representatives from 3 EACC Member companies: Pepper Hamilton, Duff & Phelps and Freeh Group International Solutions (FGIS) led a fast-paced, interactive discussion of some of the hottest topics in the fund managing world. This podcast is a recording of this session from Philadelphia. Topics discussed included valuation questions including trends in secondary market regarding valuations; cybersecurity including how do you judge the risk of your third party vendors, what to do if you have a data breach; and fundraising and...

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City of Rochester became the second city in New York to “ban the box,” by adopting legislation restricting the timing of pre-employment inquiries by most Rochester public and private employers into a candidate’s criminal history.  Rochester joins Buffalo,1 as well as Baltimore, Newark,2 Philadelphia,3 San Francisco,4 Seattle,5 Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota,6 and Rhode Island7 in banning the box.  More than 40 jurisdictions have enacted ban-the-box laws that apply to public employers.  The “box” refers to the box on employment applications inquiring whether an applicant has...

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In the Netherlands, so called Bitcoins do not qualify as 'currency' in accordance with the Dutch Civil Code (DCC). According to a Dutch District Court (Overijssel) in a recent ruling, the Bitcoin has the status of a medium of exchange. In the case at issue, a seller ought to transfer 2750 Bitcoins to a buyer, based on a purchase agreement. However, after payment of the purchase price by the buyer, the seller only transferred 990 Bitcoins. The buyer stated that...

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Another block of assets that is up for auction in May and June started to flow through remittance this month, which sent volume and severity up after a lull in April. Liquidated loan volume reached $1.02 billion in May, up from $844.16 million in April. Of the loans that were liquidated, 84% (by balance) fell into the greater than 2% loss severity category. May loss severity registered 48.94%, up nine percentage points from April's 39.77% and just above the 12-month...

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The twelve international crews competing in the Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race will arrive in Manhattan on June 4, following a brief muster in New Jersey, after completing more than three quarters of its eleven month, 40,000 mile global ocean odyssey. Established by legendary British sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1995, the Clipper Race is uniquely designed for amateur sailors (only the skippers are professional), whose only required qualifications include a thirst for adventure and the desire to...

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By Richard Tretler, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, DS-Concept Factoring Over the past five years, the import/export sector expanded significantly. However, traditional financing tools available to small businesses in this arena continue to shrink, leaving behind a marketplace opportunity with enormous potential for import/export trade finance and factoring firms. Before I became the chief financial officer/treasurer of DS-Concept Factoring, I was the CFO for a New York City-based international importer/distributor of fashion and consumer goods. I come from “being in the trenches” with...

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Trepp, LLC, the leading provider of information, analytics, and technology to the CMBS, commercial real estate, and banking markets, today announced its acquisition of Commercial Real Estate Direct (CRE Direct), the subscription-based source for information and news on the real estate capital markets. “Trepp’s acquisition of CRE Direct was a logical step, as both our organizations focus on delivering valuable information to the commercial real estate and CMBS markets,” said Manus Clancy, Senior Managing Director at Trepp. “CRE Direct is...

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