By Till Steinvorth | Orrick The Council of the European Union (EU) has adopted a new regulation “establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union” (the Regulation). This is the first time the EU is equipping itself with a comprehensive framework to monitor investments into EU businesses by investors from outside the EU. The new rules create a cooperation mechanism where EU member states and the European Commission are able to exchange information and raise concerns. The...

By Fred Crawford, Managing Director, Senior Vice Chair, New York | AlixPartners I was sitting as an invited guest recently at a board meeting of a multibillion-dollar company, as AlixPartners had been retained to assist them on an important issue. As I was listening and looking around at the board members, I could see the company had done a very good job of building a diverse membership.  With regards to ethnicity, gender, and age, the board was quite balanced. Yet, as I...

March 2019 FX OutlookThe dollar rose against most of the major and volatile emerging markets currencies, like the South African rand, Turkish lira, and the Brazilian real in February.  The gains were mostly by default as concerns about the strength of the US economy continued to linger.  The weakness abroad, especially in Europe, seemed more profound.  Trade tensions ebbed as investors correctly anticipated an extension of the US-Chinese trade freeze, while the beginning of the EU-Japan trade agreement coupled...

By Tim Casey | Trepp When property investor 10 Federal launched a $10 million fund in 2017 to invest in self-storage properties, the Raleigh, North Carolina firm hoped to raise $1 million of equity through crowdfunding platform CrowdStreet. The remainder would have to come from its existing network of high net-worth investors. But it didn't need to tap them, as it ended up raising the entire $10 million through crowdfunding. It used that capital to fund the purchase of 10...

By Maria Luisa Mendoza, Scott E. Diamond, David M. Schwartz | Thompson Hine On November 30, 2018, the United States, Mexico and Canada officially signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a proposed free trade agreement that, if approved by Congress and ratified by the governments of Canada and Mexico, would revise and modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Known as “NAFTA 2.0” during the trilateral negotiations, the USMCA is expected to be debated by the 116th Congress in the coming months as it...

France is Europe’s largest country and its location at the centre of the continent makes it a desirable destination for business. A skilled workforce and strong industrial base add to its attraction. Paris ranks second after Tokyo for hosting the greatest number of multinational company headquarters, with around 500 businesses making it their home city. Paris features alongside London, Hong Kong and New York as one of HSBC’s trading hubs. With over 10,000 employees, HSBC France offers banking services to...