Alstom & Siemens: 

The Merger is on the Tracks

On September 27, the two largest train producing companies in Europe, Alstom and Siemens, proposed a merger in order to create "a new European champion in the rail industry for the long term," to beat competition from China. "The message of this merger is [also] that the European spirit is alive," declared Joe Kaeser, the chief executive of Siemens.

 

Officially, it is an alliance of equals, however, Siemens "swallows" Alstom. Indeed, Siemens will acquire 50% of Alstom's capital. The French high-speed TGV therefore passes under the German flag. We already know that the name of the new company will be Siemens-Alstom and the logo will draw more from the puzzle of Alstom. Discussions began in Spring 2017 but afterward, everything went pretty quickly. "Siemens was our first choice," said the Alstom management.

 

The operation was closely monitored by the public authorities and notably by French President Emmanuel Macron. The merger's goal is to create a giant capable of competing with China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, known as CRRC, which has grown into the world's largest and most competitive maker of railway equipment. The two groups are complementary from both a geographical and a business point of view: Alstom specializes on rolling stock and Siemens provides the infrastructure making it possible to run trains. In other words, it is a real marriage of reason between two groups, with very different cultures, who have been at odds with each other in recent years.

 

The merger has already captured the attention of Emmanuel Macron's cabinet, as being a good deal. Concretely, the chief executive of the new company is going to be Henri Poupart-Lafarge-a French citizen-already at the head of Alstom. The headquarters will also be in France as well as the listing on the stock exchange. Finally, while populist parties such as the "Front National" in France are generally hostile to political ties in the European Union, yet in this case they seem to be less likely to oppose corporate mergers to protect European companies from foreign competition.

USA Workshop in München 15. und 16. November

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Open House Celebrating a Great Year in International Economic Development

To celebrate a great year in international economic development and a new alliance between BridgehouseLaw and Queen City Immigration Law, we are holding an open house on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Second Floor Conference Center of 112 S Tryon St, in Charlotte, NC.

During this event, special guests will be present, among which:

·      Energizing Africa through Partnerships Conference Attendees

·      John S. Leary Bar Association

·      Charlotte World Affairs Council’s Magellan Society

·      F7 International South Africa Project Managers & Prospects

·      Local Attorneys and Professional Service Providers

·      Charlotte Supplier Diversity Leaders

·      Charlotte Black Chamber of Commerce

·      Businesses and Trade Leaders for Emerging Markets

To register for this event, please RSVP on the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bridgehouselaw-qci-law-open-house-international-economic-development-tickets-38653945993

For more information:

BridgehouseLaw LLP

112 S Tryon Street

Charlotte, NC 28284

T: + 1 980 219 5200

F: + 1 980 219 5299

E: charlotte@bridgehouse.law

www.bridgehouse.law

North Carolina Legislative News

 

The North Carolina Legislature has been pretty active on different topics over the past few months.

Below is a quick overview of some bills dealing with the Bright Futures Act, personal injury bankruptcy trust claims, the alcoholic beverage control commission laws, and small wireless communications infrastructure.

 

House Bill 68 (February 9,2017)

 

This act encourages the establishment of bright markets by enabling the lease of additional digital infrastructure necessary for economic development and innovation in key markets, including broadband, retail online services, internet of things, gridpower, health care, training, and education.

 

Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any agency which has either jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact.

 

Finally, cities are authorized to sell or lease any public enterprise that it may own upon any terms and conditions that the council may deem best.

 

Senate Bill 470 (March 30, 2017)

 

This act amends Rule 26 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure relating to discovery in bankruptcy trust personal injury claims.

 

Senate Bill 155 (June 30, 2017)

 

This acts aims at making various changes to the alcoholic beverage control commission laws, among which the following:

 

• Create Spirituous Liquor Special Event Permit to Allow Distilleries to Give Free Tasting
• Allow Sale of Specified Alcoholic Beverages at Auction by Licensed Auctioneers
• Allow the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages Before Noon on Sundays, Subject to Local Government Approval
• Authorize Sale of Crowlers by Retail Permittees
• Authorize Off-Site Storage Location for Breweries, Wineries, and Distilleries
• Authorize Sale of Unfortified Wine on Premises by Retail Businesses
• Authorize Tastings During Brewery Tours
• Authorize Certain Persons to Sample Alcoholic Beverages for Purposes of Sensory Analysis, Quality Control or Education
• Amend Homebrewing Laws
• Clarify Law Governing Relationship between Breweries and Affiliated Retailers
• Authorize Brewery Taprooms to Sell Other Alcoholic Beverages upon Receiving the Appropriate Permit
• Authorize Breweries With Production Facilities in Other States to Distribute to Wholesales
• Authorize Farm Breweries
• Amend Law Governing Brewery Sales at Additional Retail Locations
• Tax Compliance and Reports
• Simplify Local Licensing Applications
• Clarify Winery Special Event Locations

House Bill 310 (July 21, 2017)

 

This act reforms collocation of small wireless communications infrastructure to aid in deployment of new technologies.

Interesting take on “international office”

While not the central theme of this attached article, it does strike me as odd that they are promoting Terminal (a hybrid app development/engineering labor platform) as opening an “international office.”  Terminal focuses on providing lower cost skilled labor for select app developers and designers.  Essentially this is moving capital to markets with a greater surplus of labor, a staple of multinational business.  With NAFTA 2.0 on the horizon, is it possible we will see some of the “international offices” of large textile manufacturers returning to the South? 

My point is what Terminal is promising is not nearly as cutting edge or even novel.  The premise is that new startups, often with little cash on hand, have difficulty paying the market rate for engineers based in Silicon Valley.  Instead, they can partner with Terminal which will not only provide the cheap foreign labor but the prestige of opening an “international office”.  This way the VCs, idea men, and exceptionally skilled programmers can continue to live in Silicon Valley while the actual labor force is paid cheaply abroad, a situation at least as old as the hunter gatherer model.

One novelty of the Terminal model is that Terminal has absorbed some of the higher capital costs, providing a workspace, workstations, and the logistics of an international office.  This way the Terminal client can focus on production and take advantage of this division of labor without an expensive outlay of capital.  It appears the app industry is trending toward its more mature cousins like the textile industry, where often the research, design and development is centralized and production localized where labor costs are cheaper. 

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/16/terminal-makes-it-easy-for-companies-to-open-international-offices/

Green Card Lottery 2019 – Registrations Begin on October 3, 2017

General, Green Card / By annamaria

Applications to enter the DV-2019 program (Green Card Lottery 2019) will be accepted by the U.S. Department of State between “Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-4)”.
Under this DV lottery program, commonly known as the green card lottery or the diversity visa lottery program, 50,000 immigrant visas will be made available to a category of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants.” The diversity immigrants usually are the ones who belong to countries that have not sent many immigrants to the U.S. Anyone who belongs to an eligible country can register for this program at no cost.
Apply for the Green Card Lottery Program

However, belonging to an eligible country alone will not make a person eligible for the lottery. Applicants will have to meet the age and the education or the work experience requirements.
A computer will randomly pick the winners of the lottery. Winners who are deemed eligible will receive their immigrant visas after they appear for interviews and undergo the required medical examination. Immigrant visas will be issued to people belonging to six geographical regions equally and no single country will receive more number of visas than the other. Usually, every eligible country receives around seven percent of the available diversity immigrant visas.
Eligibility requirements have not changed this year and the same countries that were ineligible for the lottery last year are still in the list of DV lottery ineligible countries. Following are the countries on the ineligible list.
“Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.”
Similar to the previous years, applications to enter the lottery program can be filed online at dvlottery.state.gov. Applicants must make sure that their entries are complete.
Register for green card lottery 2019.

USA Workshop in München vom 15 - 16. November

Trotz oder wegen Trump: USA go west ! Wer will in USA eine Firma aufbauen, M&A oder sonst den Markt erobern? am 15. und 16. November der GABA Workshop in München https://www.xing.com/events/usa-markteintritt-risikomanagement-1869183 - Rückfragen gerne an mich und .... es gibt noch ein paar freie Plätze http://www.gaba-forum.org

Wir begleiten Sie gerne!

Amerika ist immer noch das Land der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten!

Die German American Business Association bietet Ihnen Praxistipps für Ihre US-Unternehmen,  für bestehende oder noch zu gründende.  Unsere Referenten sind Experten mit langjährigen Lebens- und Berufserfahrungen in den USA und bieten Ihnen in den Seminarreihen  im Jahr 2017 / 2018 kompakte Informationen, die Ihnen den Markteintritt und die Risikominimierung in den USA erleichtern.  

Wir machen Sie fit für den Markteintritt und das Risikomanagement  Ihres Unternehmens in den USA. Wir beantworten Ihnen  diese und viele weitere Fragen, die sich Ihnen stellen. Zum Beispiel:

• Wie werden die amerikanischen Märkte erschlossen?
• Wie werden  320 Millionen Menschen erreicht?
• Gibt es amerikanische Vertriebsstrategien?
• Welche Anforderungen hat das deutsche Management im Rahmen der Corporate Governance der US-Tochter zu beachten?
• Welche Produkthaftungsstrategie ist die richtige?
• Wie funktioniert erfolgreiches Recruiting geeigneter Mitarbeiter in den USA?
• Wie bereite ich Mitarbeiter auf Ihre Entsendung vor?
• Wie erhöhe ich interkulturelle Kompetenz in multinationalen Teams?
• Wie führe ich die Führungskräfte an ihre internationale Rolle heran?

Sie wählen zwischen zwei Seminartypen (Markteintritt und Risikomanagement) - wir bieten an jedem Seminarort jeweils an einem Tag  alles, was Sie zu diesem Thema wissen müssen. Gerne begrüßen wir Sie natürlich auch an beiden Seminartagen - oder Sie buchen unsere Angebote ganz bequem als Inhouse-Veranstaltung bei sich in der Firma.

Las Vegas Shooting: "Terrorism" or Not?

 

The answer appears to be "yes" under Nevada law, but only a "maybe" under federal law -- the debate continues about whether to label such an act, perpetrated by a man with no known ties to Muslim extremism, as "terrorism." 

 

The act of ascribing meaning to such an act is reassuring for the public, however, it is a powerful label whose definition has vastly different legal and operational ramifications.

 

For instance, according to Nevada's state law, an "act of terrorism" is defined as "any act that involves the use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population."[1]  A separate state law describes a terrorist as "a person who intentionally commits, causes, aids, furthers, or conceals an act of terrorism or attempts to commit, cause, aid, further or conceal an act of terrorism." 

 

On the other hand, under federal law, a terrorist is someone with ties to a foreign entity who uses tactics of intimidation or violence for political motives and intents to affect not just the immediate victims, but a larger group. 

 

By the legal, federal definition, it cannot be determined whether this act could be considered terrorism, as it is unknown whether the attack was politically motivated.

 

Currently, there is a criminal statute for international terrorism, but not domestic. 

 

To be charged with terrorism, a person has to be suspected of acting on behalf of one of nearly 60 groups that the State Department has declared a foreign terrorist organization.  A person who carries out a mass attack and survives can face a range of charges, but unless the person is linked to one of the banned groups, a federal terrorism charge will not be one of them.

 

There are complex arguments against drawing up a comprehensive definition of domestic terrorism in law.  First Amendment concerns arise in legal discussions about making domestic terrorism a crime.  Many worry that the federal government would criminalize speech, religion, or ideology.

 

There is clearly a significant difference between domestic terrorism and international terrorism - or what is being referred to as Islamic terrorism.  Until we can have a good understanding of what "terrorism" is, "domestic terrorism" and its definition, will continue to be a point of debate.

USA und Türkei frieren gegenseitige Visavergabe ein 

  

Die US-Botschaft in Ankara stellt keine Visa mehr für türkische Bürger aus. Nun reagiert die Türkei: Sie stoppt ihrerseits die Visavergabe für US-Bürger. 

Nach der Ankündigung aus den USA, die Vergabe von Visa für türkische Bürger vorläufig und mit sofortiger Wirkung einzufrieren, hat die Türkei reagiert: Sie stoppt sämtliche Visavergaben in der Botschaft in Washington sowie in sämtlichen Konsulaten in den USA. Die einzige Ausnahme soll für Einwanderungsanträge gelten.

 

"Jüngste Ereignisse zwingen die türkische Regierung, neu zu bewerten, wie sehr sich die US-Regierung der Sicherheit von türkischen Botschafts- und Konsulatsgebäuden und ihren Mitarbeitern verpflichtet fühlt", teilte die türkische Botschaft in Washington mit. Der Wortlaut der Erklärung ist identisch mit dem der US-Regierung in Richtung Ankara.