Competition Commissioner Vestager presented a sneak peak of her plans for the future of EU merger control on the 30th anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation. The proposed plans include a simplification of the notification procedure and a new approach towards the system of referral to ensure that significant transactions, particularly in the digital and pharmaceutical industries, no longer escape Commission scrutiny. The Commission calls upon national competition authorities to refer transactions to it that remain below notification thresholds, but potentially have...

This article is part of Portolano’s quarterly “INFORM@ Corporate” Newsletter. Click here to subscribe. | 1. The Schrems II judgment in a nutshell On July 16, 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU” or the “Court”) upheld a cornerstone judgment in the Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximilian Schrems case (Case C-311/18—or the “Schrems II judgment”), concerning data transfers under EU Regulation 679/2016 (“GDPR”) and in particular transfers from Europe to the United States. In the judgment, the Court struck...

Partners Emily Jones and Steve Wilson provide a joint letter on Osborne Clarke's 20th anniversary in the US market | OCUS | 20 years’ young October 2000 seems a very long time ago…honestly, January 2020 seems a lifetime ago, but that’s a different story! Back in the late 90s, the "relics" at Osborne Clarke had been considering how best to support our US client base from afar without disrupting the relationships we had with so many amazing law firms in the...

COVID-19 Is There Insurance Coverage for Business Interruption Losses Related to COVID-19? Thomas H. Bentz Jr. More than six months into the pandemic, there is still no easy or definitive answer to the question many retailers are asking about whether there is coverage for their business interruption losses related to COVID-19. Insureds have filed more than 1,000 business interruption claims against insurance carriers to date. Federal suits are pending in at least 37 states. This is more than three times as many...

On 12 October 2020, the OECD released for public consultation updated reports on its two-pillar proposal to address the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy. The Pillar One proposal focuses on new nexus and profit allocation rules for certain business models, whereas the Pillar Two proposal pursues more broadly a global minimum effective taxation. The reports identify key issues, both political and technical, where divergences remain to be solved. The goal is to reach consensus amongst the 137 participating jurisdictions by mid-2021....

On 12 October 2020, the OECD released for public consultation updated reports on its two-pillar proposal to address the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy. The Pillar One proposal focuses on new nexus and profit allocation rules for certain business models, whereas the Pillar Two proposal pursues more broadly a global minimum effective taxation. The reports identify key issues, both political and technical, where divergences remain to be solved. The goal is to reach consensus amongst the 137 participating jurisdictions by mid-2021....