Member News, News

SUNY Global Engagement Program Seeks to place Interns with Companies in New York City – Fall 2014 Information

The SUNY Global Engagement Program in New York City is an internship program for students with interests in global issues. The program is seeking to build partnerships with non-profit international organizations interested in having high achieving, ambitious students undertake non-paid internships.  We realize how important having good interns is for many organizations. GEP helps match academically strong students with organizations that work in their area of interest.  Student applicants are pre-screened to ensure strong candidates and they are closely supervised...

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Austria Start-up Offensive 2014

Start-ups comprise an important success factor for Austria as a business location, because they open up new markets and growth opportunities. Young companies create new jobs, stimulate the economy and generally make it more resistant to crises. It is also obvious that company founders are confronted with numerous challenges and have to be supported as effectively as possible. This especially applies to ensuring financing possibilities.  In particular, young companies which show disproportionately high growth often face the problem of...

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Clipper Race Update: A magnificent home port victory after nail biting finish

Race 14 got underway as crew members waved goodbye to the New York City skyline and looked towards the warm welcome they knew would be waiting for them when they arrived in Derry-Londonderry after the 2850 mile race.  The early days of the race saw gains and losses made by all boats as they chose different tactics in the light winds that they were faced with. The crews saw air and water temperatures plummet as the fleet neared the...

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Chapter News, News

Fresh Momentum for a Transatlantic Economic Partnership

Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade at CDU Wirtschaftsrat Economic Conference, Berlin, 3 July 2014 Ladies and gentlemen, Berlin in 2014 is an anchor of political and economic stability. This is due to your "Soziale Marktwirtschaft" and the great performance of German companies and workers. I praise you for your achievements and I have listened carefully to Chancellor Merkel's convincing agenda for Germany and Europe. Indeed, we have a broadening recovery under way in the European Union. But we are unfortunately...

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Chapter News, News

Have your say on the future of science: public consultation on Science 2.0

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation on ‘Science 2.0’, in order to gauge the trend towards a more open, data-driven and people-focused way of doing research and innovation. Researchers are using digital tools to get thousands of people participating in research, for example by asking them to report if they catch flu in order to monitor outbreaks and predict possible epidemics. Scientists are being more open too: sharing their findings online at an early stage, comparing...

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Commission urges governments to embrace potential of Big Data

Data collection and exploitation is a growing phenomenon; in response to industry and grassroots demands the European Commission is today calling on national governments to wake-up to this “big data” revolution. Vice President Neelie Kroes said "It’s about time we focus on the positive aspects of big data. Big data sounds negative and scary, and for the most part it isn’t. Leaders need to embrace big data.” The main problems identified in public consultations on big data are: Lack of cross-border coordination Insufficient...

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Pepper Hamilton Client Alert: Observation 1.0.1 on the Volcker Rule: With Summer Comes the First Wave — Of Guidance

As we predicted in Observation 1.0, the inevitable waves of Volcker Rule guidance and interpretation have begun. A set of frequently asked questions, developed jointly and adopted in substantively identical form by the federal banking agencies (the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), (the “Interagency FAQs”) has just been published. Since we understand that...

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Foreign Tax-Exempt Organizations Exempt from Withholding Tax

Investment funds, including private equity funds, often receive capital contributions from tax-exempt organizations. These tax-exempt institutions may include U.S. and foreign pension funds, as well as U.S. and foreign charities and college and university endowment funds. This article addresses some of the U.S. withholding tax exemptions and obligations as they relate to foreign tax-exempt organizations invested in investment funds. Taxation of Foreign Investors on U.S.-Source Investment Income Private equity, venture capital and domestic hedge funds typically are formed as partnerships for...

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June and 2014 Year to Date CMBS Trading in Review

The CMBS market saw an impressive finish to the first half of 2014 with spreads tightening sharply across the board in June. Those gains came after a disappointing May in which performance was largely flat. In 2012 and 2013, the spring and early summer turned out to be hazardous times for CMBS investors with meaningful spread widening during those stretches. There was no such drama this year as CMBS investors saw big gains over the last 30 days. Legacy Paper Legacy super...

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Italian Presidency of EU Council Starts Today

Each six months, according to a pre-established order, a new Member State takes the helm of the Council of the EU. The Presidency's role encompasses chairing Council meetings, taking charge of the agenda, promoting legislative and political decisions, and brokering compromises among Member States. Starting today, July 1st 2014, Italy holds this position through December 31. The presidency trio programme is on line Italy, Latvia and Luxemburg: from 1 July 2014 to 31 December 2015 Member states holding the six-month presidency work...

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