What has long been one of the last “sovereign” bastions of Council decision making, EU tax policy may soon be subject to the EU’s “ordinary legislative procedure” – something long called for by Parliamentarians. When the Commission adopted its Action Plan on fighting tax evasion and making tax simple and easy, the proposals were mainly overshadowed by the European Court of Justice’s landmark Apple ruling. In just a few words of a side paragraph, however, the Commission proposed one of the...

The European Union approved under EU rules for state aid Portugal's plans to create a new national development bank to promote the growth of the Portuguese economy. The European Commission on Tuesday said that it had approved the creation of the new Banco Português de Fomento (BPF), which was decided by Portugal’s government in June. According to a statement from the European Union executive, it approved under EU rules for state aid Portugal’s plans to create a new national development bank...

On July 24, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a final rule to revise and codify into the agency’s regulations the FDIC’s Statement of Policy (SOP) on Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Section 19 generally prohibits any person from participating in banking who has been convicted of a crime “involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering, or who has agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion or similar program in connection with a prosecution for any such...

The European banking sector has been characterised by low profitability and overcapacity. Consolidation in the banking sector is expected to improve the sustainability of banks’ business models and enhance the overall financial soundness of the European banking system. In weighing benefits against risks, the task for the supervisors is to make sure that the business combinations resulting from consolidations comply with prudential requirements and ensure effective risk management. On 1 July 2020, ECB Banking Supervision published a guide on the supervisory approach...

On August 3, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule updating filing fees for immigration and naturalization applications. The new fees will be required starting October 2, 2020. Especially notable for employment-based applications is that there will be different filing fees for H, L and O petitions, even though they are all filed using Form I-129. Immigration Benefit/Form Number Old Fee New Fee Percent Change I-129 (H-1B)* $460 $555 21% I-129 (L-1)* $460 $805 75% I-129 (O-1) $460 $705 53% I-131 (Application for Travel Document) $575 $590 3% I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) $700 $555 -21% I-485 (Application to Adjust Status) $1,140 $1,130 -1% I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) $370 $390 8% I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) $410 $550 34% N-400 (Application...

The Houthoff Financial Regulatory team closely monitors developments on the financial markets and within financial supervision. On 1 July 2020, the Dutch Ministry of Finance launched the consultation of the Amending Decree Financial Markets 2021 (Wijzigingsbesluit financiële markten 2021, "Amending Decree"). The Amending Decree will amend the Decree on Conduct of Business Supervision of Financial Undertakings Wft (Besluit Gedragstoezicht financiële ondernemingen Wft, "BGfo"), the Decree on Prudential Rules Wft (Besluit prudentiële regels Wft, "Bpr") and some other decrees relating to the financial...