Americas

Headlines

Should Facebook run political adverts containing lies?

ACCORDING TO ONE of the great myths of American politics, George Washington could not tell a lie. No politician since has felt such compunction. Slandering opponents has been part of the political playbook since at least the 1800 election, when John Adams’ campaign accused Thomas Jefferson of being “the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by...

Russians have flocked to Donald Trump’s Florida

A ROUND a century ago, a furniture magnate from Rochester, New York named Harvey Baker Graves spent a day boating through the estuarine wilds of upper Biscayne Bay, along the southern Atlantic coast of Florida. What today is beach-front property was then a verdant, claustral jungle; in photographs the dinosaurs seem to be lurking just outside the frame....

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost most Americans nothing

WHEN SERGEANT LIAM DWYER of Connecticut trod on a booby-trapped bomb in southern Afghanistan the explosion could be heard 13 miles away. It blew off his left leg, much of his right one, left his left arm “hanging by threads” and smashed his right arm. “I’m bleeding out and about to die,” he recalls thinking before he blacked out. His field-medic...

Milwaukee’s north side remains deeply troubled

“MILWAUKEE IS RESILIENT, like this building,” says Mandela Barnes, a 32-year-old from Wisconsin’s largest city. He chats over ginger tea in Shindig Coffee, a lively spot inside the Sherman Phoenix, a complex of dozens of small shops, hair salons, yoga studios and galleries. It opened a year ago, renovated after arsonists attacked the building,...

The off-year elections were not a rejection of Donald Trump

ON THE EVE of the election, President Donald Trump stood in a basketball stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, trying to salvage the candidacy of Matt Bevin, the incumbent Republican governor who has one of the lowest approval ratings in the country. “He’s such a pain in the ass, but that’s what you want,” said Mr Trump, who in 2016 carried the state...

Finance

Pendo Systems name Ruth Wandhöfer, a globally recognized banking expert, to their Board of Directors

Pendo Systems is proud to announce that Ruth Wandhöfer, Global Head of Regulatory and Market Strategy at Citi, has joined their board. Ms. Wandhöfer is a banking regulatory expert and one of the foremost authorities on transaction banking regulatory matters. Her reputation has been built around her ability to drive regulatory and industry dialogue...

Implications of the money laundering law reform

The amendment to the money laundering law approved in the first debate requires accountants, lawyers and real estate agents to report suspicious transactions made by their clients.Bill 19.951 reforming the Law on Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, Drugs of Unauthorized Use, Related Activities, Legalization of Capital and Financing of Terrorism...

Wall Street finishes flat ahead of earnings season, key US-China meeting

It was a fairly flat session on Wall Street overnight, as investors exercised caution ahead of the first-quarter earnings season and a meeting between the US and Chinese presidents later this week. Investors will be focussed on the potentially tense meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday, after Mr Trump held out the possibility...

GLC Advisors Strengthens Advisory and M&A Expertise with Addition of Senior Bankers

Addition of Several Industry Bankers Including Former St. Charles Capital Professionals Deepens Firm’s Expertise and Relationships Across Technology, FIG, Consumer, Retail and Energy IndustriesGLC Advisors & Co., LLC (“GLC Advisors”) is pleased to welcome nine seasoned M&A professionals, including former Partners and professionals of Denver based...

Columbia Threadneedle opens office in Chile

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has opened its first Latin American office in Santiago, Chile. As its first proprietary distribution hub for the Andes (Chile, Peru and Colombia), the new office will serve the asset manager’s institutional and wholesale clients in the region. Columbia Threadneedle has also appointed Santiago Zarauza Riestra...

Legal

Cybersecurity in M&A Transactions: Friend or Foe?

The heavy reliance on technology in today’s data driven world means that cybersecurity threats must be taken seriously. More specifically, with respect to M&A transactions, a target’s cybersecurity mechanisms has become an important part of the due diligence consideration. Indeed, it is important to have a firm grasp on the nature and extent...

Canadian M&A Q3 2019 Review: Canadian M&A activity remains strong despite a slight decline in transaction volume

Crosbie & Company’s “Crosbie & Company Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions Report for Q3 2019” (the Report) reviews the minor slowdown in Canadian M&A activity in Q3 2019 following a record-breaking second quarter. While deal activity declined slightly in Q3 (776 announced transactions compared to 886 in Q2), the Canadian M&A market...

Digging for a Solution: alternative sources of financing in the mining sector

In response to unpredictability in the Canadian mining sector, two recent trends have emerged regarding the availability of debt and equity for the development of mining projects. As discussed in a previous post, increasing commodities prices (such as gold) and the impact of large-scale M&A mining transactions have renewed excitement in mining financing,...

CANADA’S COMPETITION BUREAU IS KEEPING AN EYE ON SMALL M&A DEALS

The Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) is required to review certain merger transactions that exceed various financial thresholds, based on the size of the business being acquired and the combined size of the buyer, the target business, and their affiliates. The notification thresholds under the Competition Act (the “Act”) are discussed in more...

Chamber of Digital Commerce Releasing the First Ever Comprehensive Report on Canada’s Blockchain Ecosystem

Over the last decade in which the digital economy has grown at an unprecedented pace across industry sectors, blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology have shown the ability to reform the ways in which businesses and governments operate. To better understand Canada’s blockchain ecosystem, on October 4, 2019, the Chamber of Digital Commerce...

Deals

Pike Street funds QuickBox

Pike Street Capital has made an investment in Denver and Atlanta-based QuickBox, a provider of third-party fulfillment and logistics solutions to businesses. No financial terms were disclosed.Read More

Pcysys amasses Series A

Pcysys, a cybersecurity risk validation startup, has raised US$10 million in Series A funding. Canadian venture firm Awz Ventures and Blackstone were the lead investors. The company has raised US$15 million to date. Pcysys has offices in Israel, New York City, Toronto and the UK.Read More

Concord and AHA launch $50 mln healthcare fund

Concord Health Partners and American Hospital Association have launched a $50 million venture fund. The fund will invest in early-stage healthcare companies.Read More

Cybrary procures $15 mln Series B

Cybrary, an online cybersecurity career development platform, has secured $15 million in Series B funding. BuildGroup led the round with participation from other investors that included Arthur Ventures and Gula Tech Adventures. In addition to the funding, Gray Hall, managing director at BuildGroup and Ron Gula, president of Gula Tech Adventures, will...

Data science platform Cnvrg.io gathers $8 mln

Cnvrg.io, a data science platform, has secured a total of $8 million funding. The company's investors include Hanaco VC and Jerusalem Venture Partners.Read More

Acq Lite

Eni deal a testament to Abu Dhabi's attraction

March 12 (UPI) -- In what's nearly a $1 billion commitment, Italian energy company Eni said it made its Emirati debut in an agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.Eni signed agreements to acquire minority shares in the Lower Zakum, Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore fields from state-run ADNOC for a total fee of $875 million."The stakes in the two...

Statoil using mega-rig to tap frontier North Sea area

March 12 (UPI) -- Norwegian energy company Statoil will move a deepwater drilling rig to the North Sea to tap a prospect awarded more than 30 years ago, a regulator said Monday.The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate gave Statoil consent to move the Deepsea Atlantic drilling rig to a section of the North Sea to tap into a prospect awarded to the company...

German green energy segment Innogy divvied up

March 12 (UPI) -- German utility company E.ON is now in control of the renewable energy segment created by its rival, RWE, in a landmark, multi-billion dollar deal, they said.In a joint statement, E.ON said it reached an agreement in principle with RWE to acquire more than three quarters of the stakes in renewable energy entity Innogy, an offshoot from...

Russia test-fires Kinzhal hypersonic missile

March 11 (UPI) -- A Russian jet successfully test-lauched a hypersonic missile Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.The Kinzhal hypersonic missile was launched from an MiG-31 interceptor jet, which departed from an airfield in the Southern Military District, Russia's TASS News Agency reported."A MiG-31 fighter crew of the Russian Aerospace Forces...

Huntington Ingalls contracted for further repairs on USS Fitzgerald

March 9 (UPI) -- Huntington Ingalls was awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy to continue repairs on the USS Fitzgerald.The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $77.5 million under the terms of a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, which is a modification to a previous award.The modified contract between the U.S. Navy...