Due to climate change, and the state of the world, companies are under considerable pressure from investors and customers to improve their ESG performance. While companies and governments work hard to develop and implement ESG principles, there is still much work in this field and many pieces that need to be added to build reliable ESG mechanisms. One of the most significant challenges global businesses face today is setting ESG goals and effectively monitoring and progressing toward them. The complexity and fragmentation of incoming data sources often result in incomplete analyses, inconsistent reporting, and unmet commitments. This is precisely why […]
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Unbelievable numbers: 840,000 employees, USD 280 billion in revenue for 2019, USD 11.5 billion profit (for the same year) and first centi-billionaire owner ever. Today, one of the biggest undertakings in global trade. But, on the other side, one of “The Biggest Deals” for the EU, ever. We bring you a story of to-ings and fro-ings between Amazon and the EU Commission. Short Recap Rewind to July 17, 2019. On that day, the Commission opened an investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by Amazon. More precisely, an investigation was opened to assess whether Amazon’s use of sensitive data from independent retailers […]
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Money laundering – a crime that is not victimless In a globalized world where modern technology allows the rapid flow of funds, fighting money laundering has never been a more important and urgent need. Trillions of dollars are laundered each year and these funds fuel serious organized crime activities such as drug trade, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, terrorism, etc. Money laundering is far from a victimless crime, and, moreover, it harms society in a more perfidious manner than other crimes. The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) is the leading global money laundering and terrorist financing “watchdog”. As a policy-making body, […]
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General Court brings the curtain down on epic court battle between Apple Ireland and the EU/European Commission in a state aid case labelled the ‘Apple Tax case’. On July 15, 2020, the EU’s General Court overturned the Commission’s decision because the Commission failed to prove Apple had broken competition rules. Following an in-depth state aid investigation launched in June 2014, the Commission requested information on any rulings granted by Ireland in favour of the Apple Group companies: Apple Operations International (AOI), Apple Sales International (ASI) and Apple Operations Europe (AOE). The Commission concluded that two tax rulings issued by Ireland to […]
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