BDO USA - A return of volatility to the stock market, executive misconduct, seemingly endless reports of cyber breaches, global economic concerns, demands for transparency, and historic changes brought about by the new tax law are just a few of the topics being discussed in corporate board rooms around the country. These issues and many more will make for an intriguing annual meeting season this spring. BDO’s Center for Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting recently reports on a variety of topics...

TD Bank - Grants will support nonprofits focused on neighborhood revitalization, financial sustainability, and economic growth through small business development. TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, awarded more than $5.9M in grants to eighteen non-profit organizations supporting affordable housing, financial literacy/health, neighborhood revitalization, economic development, and human service needs in communities from Maine to Florida. More than forty organizations were invited by the TD Charitable Foundation to submit program proposals that demonstrate innovation, creativity and...

Thompson Hine - As technology continues to enable us to create ways to accomplish tasks faster and more accurately, the workplace continues to become more complex and complicated for employers to navigate. The use of biometric data for security and identity verification is becoming more commonplace by the day. However, the use of biometric data also is raising a host of concerns for employers, ranging from privacy and security issues to litigation exposure. What Is Biometric Data? Biometric data is any data...

Mason Hayes - Businesses wanting to stay relevant and ahead of the curve need to keep an eye on evolving tech trends. Advancement in technology and an evolving legal climate in 2018 will be an interesting challenge for today’s business world. Augmented Reality (AR) Currently seen in gaming applications such as Pokémon Go, AR entertainment will mature during the coming year. However, AR is also likely to impact consumer experiences in industries such as food, automotive and digital marketing. AR combines the...

Vistra - The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new data protection law which comes into force on 25 May 2018 and governs how businesses must handle and use personal data. Personal data means information relating to an identifiable individual. It covers everything from an individual’s home address to their HR and payroll information. Even the contact details of an individual placed in a CRM system purely to be used for B2B purposes amounts to the personal data of...

BlueStar Strategies - “2018 will be a decisive year for Europe.” This was the bold pronouncement made by French President Emmanuel Macron, who used his first New Year Eve speech to outline his strategy for Europe in advance of European elections in 2019. Macron clearly has 2019 in his sights, partly due to the fact that the European election results will be taken into account for the appointment of the next President of the European Commission and the 26 EU commissioners. These...

Arendt & Medernach - Through the law of 27 February 2018 implementing the EU regulation (UE) 2015/751 on interchange commissions for card based payments, which amends various laws relating to the financial sector (and was published in the Luxembourg official gazette on March 1st 2018), the Luxembourg parliament has now relaxed the rules on professional secrecy for banks, investment firms, other regulated professionals of the financial sector, payment institutions, electronic money institutions and insurance undertakings (together the « financial institutions...