Member News, News

NYC RE: More Moves Along New York’s Sixth Avenue Corridor

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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Chapter News, News

Statement by the European Commission and the European Central Bank following the conclusion of the first post-programme surveillance mission to Spain

After the expiry of the financial sector programme in January 2014, a staff team from the European Commission, in liaison with staff from the European Central Bank, undertook the first visit to Spain in the context of the post-programme surveillance (PPS) on 24-28 March and on 3 April. The European Stability Mechanism participated in the meetings on aspects related to its own Early Warning System. Overall, the positive trends of policy progress, ongoing economic adjustment and diminishing financial stress that...

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Member News, News

Observation 1.3 on the Volcker Rule: What Fund Managers Need to Know About the Volcker Rule Impact on Client Bank Investors

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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Member News, News

Pepper@Work: Are You Ready for Your Next Audit?

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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Member News, News

Granito launches Soft Compliance

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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Member News, News

German Office Portfolio Loan Gets Big Appraisal Reduction

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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Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

Regulatory Co-operation and Technical Barriers to Trade within Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

A report, authored by the Swedish National Board of Trade, analyzes the differences in regulations and regulatory processes between different sectors between the European Union and the United States, and argues that these regulations should be converged where possible and made more coherent generally on a sectoral basis. Preface of the report A central question in the current trade negotiations between the U.S. and the EU is that of the regulations and requirements that exist for various products to ensure that...

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Chapter News, News

More flexible visa rules to boost growth and job creation

Many non-EU nationals wishing to travel to the EU are often faced with cumbersome, lengthy and costly visa procedures. The proposals presented today will seriously shorten and simplify the procedures for those wanting to come to the EU for short stays, and induce more cost savings and less bureaucracy, whilst maintaining the level of security. Making the access to the Schengen area easier for legitimate travellers will facilitate visiting friends and relatives and doing business. It will boost economic...

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Chapter News, News

Turning a corner in financial services

Closing remarks at the EUROFI High Level Seminar 2014 - Athens, 1 April 2014 by Michel BARNIER, Member of the European Commission, responsible for Internal Market and Services Ladies and gentlemen, My thanks to Jacques de Larosière and to Didier Cahen for inviting me to close this year's EUROFI High Level Seminar. As usual, it has acted as a platform to exchange ideas; brought together many respected speakers from both industry and public authorities; and given us plenty of food for thought. Before...

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Chapter News, News

Eurogroup Press Conference: Speaking points by Vice-President Olli Rehn

Eurogroup - Athens, 1 April 2014 - Olli REHN, Vice-President of the European Commission and member of the Commission responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro Let me begin with some words on the economic outlook. In fact, the picture has not changed substantially since I presented the Commission’s Winter Economic Forecast on 25 February. We continue to project growth in the euro area of 1.2% this year and 1.8% next year, driven by a gradual strengthening in...

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