From the slow speed of vaccinations across the EU, to its accidental threat of enforcing a hard border on the island of Ireland as part of its new vaccine export transparency mechanism, the European Commission is defending itself from all sides. What started with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s universally celebrated announcement that the Commission had centrally procured more than 2.3 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to have everyone in the Union vaccinated by the end of the...

Lawrenceville, NJ – (January 19, 2021) | Datacolor®, a global leader in color management solutions, announced today the launch of the Spectro 1000/700 series, a family of close-tolerance benchtop spectrophotometers designed for high efficiency and confidence in color formulation and quality control in a wide range of industries. The new series features the high inter-instrument agreement Datacolor customers have come to rely on, to ensure uniform color assessments across various instruments and multiple locations throughout the supply chain. The systems are designed...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes to the manner in which businesses must operate, including patent offices around the world and the businesses and law firms that file patent applications. As a result, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), like many other patent offices around the world, made certain concessions to allow patent examination to continue despite the challenges. Those concessions include some aimed specifically at prosecution of plant patent applications. At the beginning of the pandemic, the USPTO provided relief...

With Democrats now in control of Congress, it is increasingly likely that President Biden will be able to get at least some of his tax proposals passed. However, as the details of these proposals are still fluid, it is important to be mindful of the potential changes and to keep up with any new information. Income/Payroll Tax President Biden’s proposals aim to increase tax rates and limit deductions for taxpayers with income above $400,000. It is uncertain whether the $400,000 amount...

In this News Update, we discuss the amended Regulation on Sound Remuneration Policy Wft 2017, the consultation on the Act Implementing the Directive on Cross-Border Distribution of investment firms and UCITS, the ECB's new climate change centre, and the AFM's supervision agenda for 2021 and research agenda for 2020-2021. Finally, we highlight some other important financial regulatory publications. If you wish to stay informed, you can subscribe to the News Update Financial Regulatory. DNB – Amended regulation on Sound Remuneration Policy Wft...

On January 19, 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) presented a Communication setting out a strategy to stimulate the openness, strength, and resilience of the European Union's economic and financial system. An important part of this Communication concerns EU sanctions, in particular: The implementation and enforcement of EU sanctions regimes. The EU's resilience to the effects of the extra-territorial application of unilateral sanctions and similar measures by third countries. The stated aim of the proposed actions is to further enhance the EU's strategic...