By Bakyt Azimkanov | Flora Wilke | EY The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) outlook in 2018 looks robust with global corporates seeing deals as a significant opportunity for growth this year. There is a heightened appetite to do deals in the next 12 months among global executives looking to acquire, with digital transformation remaining a core driver of M&A.1 While 2017 global deal value fell 7%2(US$3.2t) compared to 2016, deal volumes increased 6%. The slowdown in mega deals, which characterized 2017 activity,...

By Blue Star Strategies 2017 was an exciting year for Blue Star Strategies. To continue to provide effective and top quality services for our public and private sector clients, we welcomed four new colleagues and expanded our Europe and Latin America practices. We grew our institutional affiliations and made significant investments in our marketing and communications portfolio.Our 2017 client portfolio took us to over two dozen countries around the world, from the halls of U.S. Congress to Latin American capitals...

By Maximilian Coqui |Alexandre Marian |Qian Xu | Alix Partners Car sharing and ride hailing are clearly here to stay. Although we haven’t yet felt the full impact of shared mobility, it is already starting to make an impact on consumers’ car-buying decisions. To learn more about how shared mobility could transform the auto industry, we surveyed more than 5,000 consumers around the world. At a glance Awareness of car sharing and ride hailing is now nearly universal among urban consumers in...

By Rory Moore | Associate | rorymoorecozen.com | (800) 523-2900 |Cozen O'Connor The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act), signed into law on December 22, 2017, makes major changes to federal income and estate tax law. There are numerous changes in the Act that affect businesses, individuals, tax-exempt organizations, the taxation of compensation arrangements, and fundamental aspects of U.S. international taxation. As one in a series of Alerts on the Act, this piece will provide insight into significant changes to the...

By Tobias Niehl | Max Welbes | Loyens & Loeff In its press release 18/02 of 5 January 2018 (the Press Release), the Luxembourg supervisory authority for the financial sector (Commission de surveillance du secteur financier – CSSF) informs about a change of policy regarding Luxembourg UCITS investing in other UCI (the Non-UCITS).1 According to the past CSSF policy, Luxembourg UCITS were allowed to invest in a non-UCITS ETF if the Luxembourg UCITS ensured that the non-UCITS ETF effectively complied with the...

By Houthoff Regulatory Team | +31 (0)10 217 26 29 |regulatory@houthoff.com This overview provides a selection of relevant legal developments regarding financial services regulation including the new rules on PRIIPs, the commencement of the MiFID II regime and amendment of the remuneration rules. Retail Start of PRIIPs regulation As of 1 January 2018, the so-called PRIIPS regulation applies. This regulation introduces the obligation for manufacturers, sellers and advisers of packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (or PRIIPs) to provide retail investors with...

By Laurence Buchanan | Woody Driggs  | Tony Qui | Ernst & Young Resolution 1: Instill a sense of urgency Yes, the word disruption is likely overused, which could explain why some executives might be covering their ears each time the word comes up. That’s a mistake, because the potential to disrupt or be disrupted is a clear and present danger for businesses in every industry, and every part of the world. Changes that could disrupt your business are happening now,...

By Melissa A. Bailey  (Washington DC) | Aaron Wilensky  (Washington DC) | Ogletree Deakins The Trump administration continues to look for ways to lessen the regulatory burden on employers. As a result, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) electronic recordkeeping regulation continues to be whittled down. OSHA’s latest Regulatory Agenda sets out new changes to the already beleaguered rule. Specifically, OSHA intends to propose to amend the Electronic Recordkeeping rule to eliminate the requirement that establishments with 250 or...