On 30 August 2016, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (“BEREC”) has published its “Guidelines on the Implementation by National Regulators of European Net Neutrality Rules“ („Guidelines“). Net neutrality has for many years been an intensively debated political issue. The way in which internet service providers (“ISPs”) may treat internet traffic is for tremendous importance both for the telecommunications sector as well as for the content and application providers (“CAPs”) who offer customer applications via the internet. The European...

ECON (the EU Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs) voted today to reject the delegated regulation (PRIIPs RTS) as proposed by the Commission on 30 June 2016. ECON claims that the proposed PRIIPs RTS contain inadequacies which could lead to a different interpretation throughout the Member States and that there is a risk that the retail investor would be misled by the information to be disclosed in the PRIIPs KID. Thus the primary goal of the PRIIPs Regulation...

Technology services and software companies frequently face insurance issues when negotiating their intellectual property license or other services agreements, particularly in this era of data breaches and cloud computing. Numerous questions present themselves. Which party bears the risk in the event of a data breach? Does the company providing the indemnities have insurance to stand behind them? Whether your company is providing a service, engaging a vendor or negotiating a license agreement, keeping these five insurance issues top of...

English Courts have the power to grant worldwide freezing orders. This is a powerful tool to prevent a party (the "Respondent") from dissipating their assets. Whilst the effect of a freezing order on the Respondent is usually quite clear, a question often arises about its effect on innocent third parties – for example, trustees, banks or directors of companies which the Respondent owns. Breaching an English freezing order can have serious consequences, and not just for the Respondent. Third parties...

The EACCNY member Cost Containment Advisors is pleased to provide the following summaries of recent developments pertaining to property taxes levied in the power, energy, infrastructure and asset-intensive industry sectors. In the center of contemplation are the states Virginia, South Carolina, North Dakota, Colorado and Alaska. VIRGINIA – Supreme Court holds City of Richmond could not impose tax on natural gas consumed solely for purpose of generating electricity. Virginia Electric and Power Company operates a gas-fired electric generation station located...

After a record year in 2015, foreign direct investments (FDI) inflow to Hungary continued to rise in the first half of 2016, with 38 successfully negotiated projects in the value of USD 1.5 billion, almost as much as in 2015 all over. Germany has been the biggest investor of the country for decades, however in H1 2016 USA ranked on the top of the investment projects list in Hungary. Such prestigious names as IBM, Alcoa, BorgWarner decided to further...

Houlihan Lokey's Consumer, Food & Retail Group is pleased to announce that Milk Specialties Global, a portfolio company of Kainos Capital LP, has been acquired by an affiliate of American Securities LLC. Financial terms were undisclosed. The transaction closed on August 16, 2016. This deal represents another successful transaction for Houlihan Lokey in the food & beverage industry. Founded in 1949, Milk Specialties Global is a leading human and animal nutrition company. The company's Human Nutrition business unit is a leading manufacturer...

Drafting a social media policy in compliance with Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “the Act”) has become increasingly challenging for employers, as the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) continues to parse individual words and phrases in employers’ social media policies.  Enforcing that policy can be even more challenging as the Board and counsel struggle to apply the 1930s concept of “protected concerted activity” to employees’ burgeoning 21st century social media activity. ...