On January 1, 2017, employers across the nation will face a host of new or amended federal, state, and/or local labor and employment requirements. At the same time, there is uncertainty as to how the Trump Administration and Congress may alter those federal obligations.1  With Congress gridlocked for much of the 2016 election year, the most significant labor and employment legislation and regulations were enacted at the state and municipal levels. Multiple states approved minimum wage increases, with built-in multi-year...

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The Case for Optimism An ugly strain of populism reared its head in America this year. After months of spewing sexist, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic rhetoric, Donald Trump stunned pollsters—and the citizens whose ballots earned Hillary Clinton the popular vote—by winning the White House. Nativist politics won out, and Americans joined other populations, including Brexit supporters and Colombians who rejected the long-awaited peace deal, in voting against their self-interest. Through democratic means, fear surpassed reason repeatedly in 2016, leaving many...

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The year 2017 marks Finland's centennial. The theme of the year is "together", and the special occasion will be celebrated together with all Finns, Finnish-Americans and friends of Finland around the U.S. Though many centennial events will take place around the actual Independence Day on December 6, many individuals and organizations are arranging events throughout the year. Finlandia Foundation Since 2006, when Finlandia Foundation National (FFN) created its Lecturer of the Year program, it has selected experts to visit FFN chapters...

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A White & Case survey finds conventional financial institutions are becoming more proactive in their investments to Fintech players. Most financial institution executives in the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific expect to invest in financial technology players within the next two years in a quest for speed, efficiency and security, a survey by White & Case LLP found. Of the 150 senior financial sector executives the New York-based law firm surveyed, 95% said they expect to invest in a fintech deal...

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Introduction Last November, more than 100 countries (including the Netherlands) concluded the negotiations for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (the "Convention"). The Convention is the outcome of OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS') Action 15 (a mandate for the development of a multilateral instrument on tax treaty measures to tackle BEPS) and is essential in implementing the outcome of certain OECD BEPS Actions in the more than 3,000...

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On 8 December 2016 the Dutch Corporate Governance Code Monitoring Committee published the revised Corporate Governance Code. The new Code will take effect on 1 January 2017, which means that management reports for the year 2017 will have to comply with its provisions. The changes will require for many companies to amend their rules governing their supervisory board ("SB"). We are in the process of drafting standard rules which meet the new Code's requirements and will make this available to...

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