New York/New Jersey Foreign Freight Forwarders and Brokers Assn., PO Box 8217, Red Bank, NJ 07701, and EACCNY Member Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP, one of the nation’s leading law firms specializing in Customs law, are offering a courses in preparation for the October 2016 Custom House Broker License Exam.  This course also provides an excellent overview of customs law and compliance for importers not intending to take the broker's exam. These events are approved by The National Customs Brokers...

Overview  “s we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult one.” — Former United States Secretary...

On June 2, 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released, for a 30-day public input period, proposed enforcement guidance addressing national origin discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”).  The EEOC last comprehensively addressed national origin discrimination in 2002, and the revised guidance addresses important issues and significant legal developments that have occurred since that time. Title VII protects individuals from employment discrimination (as well as retaliation) based on their race, color,...

Last month, EACCNY member Trepp, LLC noted that the property behind the long-troubled, $41.3 million AT&T Consumer Services Headquarters loan would be auctioned off in early June. That auction took place and a Kroll email from yesterday indicated that the final bid was $9 million. That was said to have met the reserve price and the asset has been sold. Kroll is now expecting a 100% loss on the asset based upon that sales price. The face amount of the REO...

The Netherlands is widely regarded as an attractive and sophisticated location for international business. Also in the changing international tax climate, the Dutch tax system is considered to be favourable for international transactions, due to the extensive tax treaty network, the generous participation exemption in corporate tax law, the absence of withholding taxes on royalties and interest payments, and the approach of the Dutch tax authorities. The Stibbe Tax team has considerable knowledge of and experience in domestic and international matters...

World Trade Centers Association, Inc. (WTCA), the leading international trade association with “World Trade Center” Members around the world, has named Scott D. Ferguson its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A senior executive with a concentration in building sustainable business models, Ferguson brings more than 30 years of experience in international business and the WTC Network to the role. Most recently, he was President and CEO of Trade Centre Limited, an Atlantic Canadian organization that operates “World Trade Center Halifax”...

It is hard to resist the temptation to tackle business challenges with horsepower: big budgets, long timelines and large-scale technology solutions. But often, what is really needed is finesse, sleuthing and a commitment to the human experience. We tend to over-index the hard outcomes like revenue, margin and under-invest in discovering the critical intangibles that drive long-term business. What do I mean by “intangibles?” • A broker focusing on sales commission might not realize that he can improve his closing rate by...

Arendt & Medernach affiliate company, Arendt Services, has become the first Specialised PFS in Luxembourg to be ISO 22301 certified. This international certification confirms that Arendt Services has established reliable processes to ensure the continuity of its business activity and is therefore able to ensure service continuity to its customers. This certification has been obtained together with EBRC, a European specialist in ICT Solutions hosting Arendt Services in his TIER IV data center and providing consultancy services. The double certification by EBRC...