By EY EY announces the launch of the EY Geostrategic Business Group aimed at actively working with organizations and institutions globally to understand the business implications of the geopolitical landscape and help them navigate it, manage existing global operations and identify new business opportunities. By bringing together a global network of EY professionals with deep country-level experience in supporting businesses and governments with Teneo Intelligence’s geopolitical advisory competencies, the group combines strategic advice with implementation and execution capabilities. It provides insightful...

By Blue Star Strategies New presence will serve clients in Paris and Brussels, act as Transatlantic bridge Blue Star Strategies, LLC is launching a new office in Europe—Blue Star Strategies SAS—serving clients in Paris, France and Brussels, Belgium with its partners Mathilde Defarges and Etienne Bodard. Ms. Defarges, who has served as a senior advisor to the firm, will become President of Blue Star Strategies SAS, expanding the firm’s government and public affairs presence in the heart of Europe.   Blue Star Strategies...

By Mark H. Moore | RPJ Partners Software licensors routinely require written agreements which prohibit the “reverse engineering” of the software being licensed. The U. S. Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit has issued an important decision which broadly defines the term “reverse engineering” of software to include the analysis of the licensed software to “learn how it works” in order to “recreate its functionality” in a competing product. The appellate court refused to adopt the alternative definition proposed by the...

By Daniella McGuigan | London | Ogeltree Deakins On 19 December 2017, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) proposed a draft plan for enforcement action in relation to The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. Consultation on the proposal is due to close on 2 February 2018. Daniella McGuigan of Ogletree Deakins’ London office is part of a working party representing the views of employers within the consultation process. The regulations indicate that it would be an “unlawful...

By Hector Galeano | Jorge R. Lopez | Littler As it signaled in late 2017,1 the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s investigative arm) began 2018 with an increased emphasis on targeting employers and unauthorized employees through worksite enforcement action. Employers are now seeing the reported orders come to fruition and should expect more actions going forward.2 On January 10, 2018, HSI targeted 98 retail operations in nationwide worksite raids occurring in 17 states and Washington D.C. Such activity will...

By Maurice Phelan | +353 1 614 5083  |mphelanmhc.ie |  Mason, Hayes & Curran We review some key developments in the area of litigation and dispute resolution in Ireland during 2017. The Law Society of Ireland v the Motor Insurer’s Bureau of Ireland This case is a reminder of the importance of drafting agreements in a clear and unambiguous manner. Where ambiguity exists in an agreement, Irish courts will look at the agreement as a whole taking into account the context...

By Heidi Waem | Brussels | +32 2 566 8450 |  & Louisa Vandepitte | Brussels | +32 2 566 8236 | NautaDutilh On 10 January 2018, the act on the creation of the Data Protection Authority (the "Act") was published in the Belgian State Gazette. The Act will enter into force on 25 May 2018, except for the provisions relating to the appointment of members of the Executive Committee, the Knowledge Centre and the Dispute Resolution Body, which will enter into...

By Orest Mandzy | Trepp Last year could have been a disaster for the CMBS market. While it dodged the risk retention bullet, it's now facing headaches of a different sort, namely the potential weak performance of retail loans. Risk-retention rules, which went into effect in late 2016, were feared to wreak havoc on the market.  Many were concerned that investors would be hard pressed to come up with sufficient long-term capital to take down enough subordinate bonds to keep the market relevant. But they came through. And...