The Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) and State of Vermont have enacted new requirements relating to the regulation of children’s toys and other children’s products. I. CPSC Amendment to Testing Requirements for Unfinished and Untreated Wood Toys and Wood Component Parts of Toys In a Federal Register notice dated December 17, 2015, the CPSC published a final rule amending the requirements of ASTM F963-11 to eliminate third party testing requirements for certain unfinished and untreated woods toys and wood component parts...

After what seemed like an eternity of will they or won't they stories, the Fed finally raised rates this week and...not much happened. US equities rallied on the announcement but gave back all the gains the following day. The Dow and S&P were both down more than 2% on the week and crude oil ended below $35, down almost 50% on the year. The ten year US treasury ended the week yielding 2.21%, up less than 10 bps despite...

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek has advised SNS Bank on reaching an agreement with NIBC Bank on the acquisition of SNS Securities.  NIBC acquires SNS Securities from SNS Bank Clients of NIBC and SNS Securities will benefit from the combined product suite NIBC Bank NV (NIBC) and SNS Bank NV (SNS Bank) have reached an agreement on the acquisition of SNS Securities NV (SNS Securities). With this transaction, NIBC expands its service offering with capital market solutions, equity and fixed-income brokerage, research and...

DS-Concept Factoring, a global commercial finance company specializing in international non-recourse factoring, has provided a $1 million reverse factoring facility to a fashion retailer in Germany. The client, a fashion retailer with over 50 locations throughout Germany, anticipates an annual factored volume of $10MM-$15MM. With DS-Concept funding the client’s suppliers in China and Bangladesh, the foreign vendors benefit from faster funding and lower borrowing costs. With the increased working capital, the client will focus on their expansion and plans to...

The Institute of International Education was featured in CNBC as one of the top 10 charities changing the world in 2015. IIE also received Charity Navigator’s coveted 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency for the 8th year in a row. IIE is among only 2 percent of charities to receive at least 8 consecutive 4-star evaluations, indicating that IIE outperforms most other charities in America. © 2015 Compliments of the Institute of International Education...

The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") announced that it filed complaints and proposed civil penalty orders totaling $1.3 million against four national retailers in connection with charges that the companies mislabeled textiles as made of "bamboo" in violation of the FTC's Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the FTC's textile rules. According to the FTC, the products, which included napkins, dresses, socks, and other clothing, were labeled as "bamboo," but actually made of rayon. The FTC alleges that these companies continued...

By Luca Gambini and Daniel Joseph Guiliano of Portolano Cavallo Studio Legale The Italian Government has recently enacted a new set of rules relating to “annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings” by means of Legislative Decree no. 139 of August 18, 2015 (the “Decree”), implementing Directive no. 2013/34/EU (the “Directive”). The measures set out under the Decree concern the following three areas: A. The introduction of a report on payments to the Italian government applicable...

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday, December 8, 2015, to tighten security measures and impose new restrictions on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP permits citizens of 38 designated countries, mostly in Europe, to travel to the United States for business or tourism for 90 days or less without a visa. The bill, which passed in the House by a vote of 407 to 19, would prohibit...