The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised concerns in a blog post on Tuesday of this week about the increased usage of cryptocurrencies beyond just a fringe group and the subsequent implications for financial stability. The IMF is particularly concerned about the connection between crypto assets and the financial markets, stating that virtual currencies pose a threat to financial stability, given their “volatile price movements, astronomic valuations, and coupling with mainstream investment markets”. It appears that at the start of the...

Being Prepared for a Winter Driving Emergency Are You Prepared for a Winter Driving Emergency? You may have plans to drive to Vermont for a ski weekend. The temperatures are way below freezing and there is snow in the forecast. You are all packed and ready to go. But are you ready if you get in a driving accident or your car breaks down on the way? Don’t forget to make your own winter car survival kit so you don't get stranded...

On the heels of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address, in which she endorsed a suite of progressive environmental policies including product stewardship laws governing the paper and packaging industry, the New York Legislature has introduced a bill targeting environmental sustainability disclosures in the fashion and apparel industry. The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (A.8352/S.7428) would require fashion retailers and manufacturers to disclose environmental and social due diligence policies and allows citizen lawsuits to enforce the...

CISA Director Jen Easterly on Log4j: “These vulnerabilities are the most severe that I’ve seen in my career.”1 On December 11, 2021, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in partnership with the FBI and NSA, announced a critical remote code execution vulnerability had been identified in the Apache Log4j software library. This vulnerability allowed a successful threat actor to take control of a network system and cause a variety of damage, including the ability to launch ransomware, steal and...

Investment in Europe: An unprecedented shock and a fast investment rebound backed by public intervention Support targeted the short-term liquidity needs created by the crisis, but not “zombie” firms that were already financially weak Policy support was a springboard for transformation — firms reactivated their investment plans, started to digitalise and are getting ready to invest in greentech However, the COVID-19 economic shock amplified existing geographical and social inequalities The COVID-19 shock demonstrated the power of policy....

On November 1, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG), along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, issued a “Report on Stablecoins” (Report) that provided background on stablecoins, identified regulatory gaps related to such digital assets, and offered recommendations for addressing those gaps. After outlining the risks and deficiencies in the current regulatory landscape as it relates to stablecoins, the Report recommended that Congress enact legislation requiring that stablecoins...

The holiday period that has just ended, which marked a record increase in the number of COVID-19 infections, was characterized by the adoption of emergency measures of significant impact on daily life and business activities. Law Decree no. 221 of December 24, 2021 (“LD 221/2021”) has further extended the state of emergency until March 31, 2022. Such an extension has entailed, for private employers, among others, the extension of certain emergency measures, including the possibility of implementing the Smart Working...

Learn the significance of the infrastructure bill, which regions will benefit the most and how it will impact the U.S. economy and commercial real estate (CRE) property markets. On November 15, President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law. Carved out of the more aggressive Build Back Better vision, it marks one of the most significant investments in physical infrastructure in the U.S. in at least half a century. In this report, we provide our...