Member News

Member News
02
Jan
Trade & Logistics Headlines for Q1 2026: Changing Trade Lanes, Red Sea Opening, & Tariff Uncertainty Remains
Global Ports
The Headlines: Global ports will be navigating a volatile start to the year as shifting trade imbalances and uneven demand reshape global cargo flows. 2025 closed with news of China’s expanding trade surplus, with an expected result being growing equipment imbalances and other network inefficiencies. At the same time, global trade is reaching record value levels, but growth momentum is slowing, putting...
22
Dec
On December 15, the Department of State (DOS) announced it will expand its social media vetting requirement to additional nonimmigrant visa classifications, including H-1B, H-4 dependents, F, M, and J. As a result of this expansion, all applicants for such visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on “all of their social media profiles to public.” Those profiles will then be subject to review as part of their visa application process for entry into the United States.
Additionally,...
22
Dec
You can argue that commercial real estate investors have become bullish. That's a good thing if you're in the deal-making business.
The signs are everywhere. Transaction activity, involving both property sales and lending, has increased, driven in large part by the greater liquidity in the market. Loan spreads—the risk premiums that lenders apply in order to come up with coupons—have tightened and a greater number of lenders, including banks, are now competing for the best loans.
Cementing that thinking is the...
18
Dec
Given the size of the Swiss pension fund market, it presents a highly attractive opportunity for non-Swiss fund sponsors – especially as Swiss pension funds increasingly seek international diversification. In this two-part series, we provide a hands-on guide to the key steps and legal considerations for successfully marketing to Swiss pension funds (Volume 1), and the regulatory requirements for onboarding them (Volume 2) .
Volume 2 – Onboarding Swiss pension funds
The Swiss pension fund market ranks among the largest in...
18
Dec
Given the size of the Swiss pension fund market, it presents a highly attractive opportunity for non-Swiss fund sponsors – especially as Swiss pension funds increasingly seek international diversification. In this two-part series, we provide a hands-on guide to the key steps and legal considerations for successfully marketing to Swiss pension funds (Volume 1), and the regulatory requirements for onboarding them (Volume 2) .
Volume 1 – Marketing to Swiss pension funds
The Swiss pension fund market ranks among the largest...
18
Dec
The European General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 ("GPSR") is applicable since 13 December 2024. It applies to all types of non-food consumer products. The regulation acts as a sort of safety net for gaps in consumer protection in product-related harmonisation legislation. Economic operators must comply with numerous new requirements for handling digital product information, e-commerce, marketplace regulation and recall management. For products that are not harmonised at European level, it also comprehensively determines the requirements for product safety.
The...
18
Dec
It's no secret that the outlook among professionals in the commercial real estate industry is brighter today than it was a year ago. Lenders are more readily lending: Banks are back in the game, CMBS bond spreads have tightened, issuance volumes are higher than they've been since the Global Financial Crisis, investor interest has increased, and the prognosis for property fundamentals has markedly improved.
That's not to say that everything will be smooth sailing over the next 12 months. We're...
17
Dec
Tariffs and trade disruptions dominated headlines in 2025. European firms rely heavily on global trade – it represents about half of EU output. Despite that, European businesses are not radically overhauling their globalised approach. Instead, they are investing to make their supply chains more efficient and resilient.
US firms are a different story. While they rely less on global trade (it represents roughly one-quarter of output), new tariffs caused them to reduce imports and diversify the countries they import from....