Americas

Headlines

Crystal Ball Not Required

Company directors owe several fiduciary duties, one of which is to act in the best interest of shareholders. But to what extent does that duty to shareholders apply in the context of the financial health of the company? The award-winning commercial and litigation lawyers at ParrisWhittaker are experienced in advising company directors on their duties,...

Home to Portugal's "mountain of stars".

Home to Portugal's "mountain of stars" and some of Europe's least light-polluted skies, the Alentejo region is best seen at night.A long twisting road leads up Portugal's highest mountain, and here, unlike many other European summits, visitors can drive right to the top. The peak rises 1,993m above sea level, and although its actual name is Torre (tower),...

America Inc is on the hook for Joe Biden’s splurge on infrastructure

UNLIKE HIS $1.9trn covid-19 relief bill, which was almost entirely deficit-financed, President Joe Biden would like his recently unveiled $2trn infrastructure plan to be paid for with taxes. Individual taxes have been left for later. Unluckily for American companies, the White House has set its sights on them to pony up. This is hardly unexpected. Mr...

The bumps ahead for Joe Biden’s plan to decarbonise America

IN 2020 LOCKDOWNS caused the largest single-year drop in America’s greenhouse-gas emissions on record: some 10%. Even then, for every American 16 metric tons of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere. By 2050 President Joe Biden would like that number to be net zero. Getting there within three decades seems daunting. Every sector, not just...

Small cities in America’s Mountain West are booming

IN 1871 WILLIAM JACKSON PALMER, a civil-war general and railway magnate, looked up at Pikes Peak in central Colorado and decided “he wanted to build a city that matched the magnificent scenery”. Or so says John Suthers, the mayor of Colorado Springs, the town Palmer would eventually found at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Now, 150 years later,...

Finance

With Earnings Soaring, Wall Street Banks See Economic Boom Ahead

The banks said they released large chunks of money that had been set aside to cushion themselves from losses caused by the pandemic. #styln-signup .styln-signup-wrapper { max-width: calc(100% - 40px); width: 600px; margin: 20px auto; padding-bottom: 20px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e2e2; } The mood on Wall Street is decidedly...

How to Use Technology to Prepare for Travel During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Even as vaccines make it safer to travel, planning a trip is becoming increasingly complicated.With coronavirus vaccines now readily available, you might have ambitions to venture far from home. Government officials, after all, say traveling is a low-risk activity for the inoculated.But the sheer amount of preparation needed to travel during the pandemic...

Why Coinbase's Trading Debut Is a Cryptocurrency Coming-Out Party

#styln-signup .styln-signup-wrapper { max-width: calc(100% - 40px); width: 600px; margin: 20px auto; padding-bottom: 20px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e2e2; } SAN FRANCISCO — Digital currency, once mocked as a tool for criminals and reckless speculators, is sliding into the mainstream.Traditional banks are helping investors...

CBS News President Prepares Exit as Broadcast News Is in Flux

Susan Zirinsky is departing, while ABC News is said to be close to hiring a new leader, at a time of reorganization in television news in the post-Trump era.The first woman to lead CBS News, Susan Zirinsky, is expected to announce that she is stepping down from the presidency of the network’s news division, possibly as soon as this week, a person...

The Biden Administration Is Quietly Keeping Tabs on Inflation

A monthslong effort to monitor and model economic trends inside the White House and the Treasury Department found little risk of prices spiraling upward faster than the Fed can manage.WASHINGTON — Even before President Biden took office, some of his closest aides were focused on a question that risked derailing his economic agenda: Would his plans...

Legal

Supreme Court Narrows Availability of United States Discovery for International Arbitration

A unanimous Supreme Court on June 13 determined that 28 U.S.C. §1782 (“Section 1782”) does not permit United States courts to order discovery for foreign or international “private adjudicatory bodies”.  ZF Auto. US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., No. 21-401, 2022 WL 2111355, *3 (2022)(“ZF Automotive Decision”).  Rather, the Supreme...

In brief: Meet the 4 Asian startups selected for VISA’s accelerator programme

Brankas, Curlec among the 4 Asian startups selected for VISA programme The story: Visa has picked four Asian startups which, over the next four to six months, will focus on creating defined commercial opportunities to collaborate on new payment solutions with Visa and its extensive network of bank and merchant partners The startups are: Brankas (Singapore)...

Play Ventures closes US$135M fund targeting gaming startups

Play Ventures, a Singapore-based VC firm focused on funding gaming startups, has announced it has hit the final close of its second fund at US$135 million. This brings the firm’s total assets under management (AuM) to US$175 million. Launched in 2018, Play Ventures portfolio consists of 24 early-stage gaming startups across over 10 different countries....

Hyperganic brings 3D printing software to Singapore after US$7.8M funding

Hyperganic, a German company developing software that generates 3D printings, is expanding into Singapore. This comes off the back of its US$7.8 million funding round co-led by German funds HV Capital and VSquared Ventures. As per a press note, Hyperganic will use Singapore as a key pillar of its development strategy. The company shared this […] The...

SEED Ventures’s new fund can pay interest-free loan of up to US$38K to startups ‘within 5 days’

Singapore-based VC fund management company SEED Ventures has announced the launch of a new sector-agnostic venture debt fund. Christened ‘Venture Debt Fund 1’ (VDF1), it plans to provide an interest-free loan of US$15,000-US$37,500 to 30 seed-stage ASEAN startups by the end of 2021. What makes the fund unique is that it is able to dispense...