Posted in Event

Doing Business Globally, Spotlight: Netherlands

By Israel Group on November 18, 2018

On November 13, 2018, in collaboration with PwC Israel, we hosted the sixth installment of our roundtable series, “Doing Business Globally,” with a breakfast discussion on the legal and tax issues that arise when investing in the Netherlands. This exclusive event was geared towards companies and investors that are already doing business in the Netherlands or are considering doing so, and featured Joris Willems, Sander Wiggers and Michiel Coenraads, partners in our Amsterdam office.

We were privileged to be joined by Ella Rosenberg, VP Business Development of Israel-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who opened the discussion with an overview of the current business arena in the Netherlands and the growing relationship between Israel and the Netherlands; followed by our colleagues Joris Willems, Sander Wiggers and Michiel Coenraads, who discussed business and legal considerations of doing business in the Netherlands; ; after which Ron Mazurik and Rafi Ganz of PwC Israel gave an overview of the Netherlands’ tax environment; and Monique Foudraine, Project Manager of Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) closed the program with a discussion about how NFIA can assist companies looking to do business in the Netherlands.

Posted in Reports

DLA Piper’s Guide to Going Global – Corporate

By Israel Group on November 12, 2018

The Guide to Going Global – Corporate has been created based on our research, our experience and feedback we
have received from clients in both established and emerging businesses that have expanded internationally. We
hope it will be a helpful resource for you.

The Guide to Going Global – Corporate covers corporate basics in 48 key jurisdictions across the Americas, Asia
Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. We touch on a wide range of corporate issues for companies expanding
internationally, including establishing a corporate presence and choice of entity, liability considerations, tax
presence and tax filings, capital requirements, the formation process, director, officer and shareholder
requirements, registration processes, office lease processes and possible exit strategies.

With more than 600 lawyers, DLA Piper’s global Corporate group is one of the largest in the world, with one of
the widest geographical footprints of any global law firm and experience across the legal areas companies need as
they expand internationally. With both global experience and local knowledge, we partner with our clients
wherever they do business to find solutions and manage their risk in relation to their challenges and objectives.
While this guide provides high-level guidance, it is not a substitute for legal advice, and we encourage you to seek
advice regarding the specific matters that concern you.

Click here to access the full report

Posted in Event

Blockchain Breakfast Club

By Israel Group on November 11, 2018

Over 50 people attended our Blockchain Club Breakfast co-hosted with Yigal Arnon & Co. and iCapital.io at Rise Tel Aviv. Martin Bartlam, Head of DLA Piper’s International Finance and Projects Group and Global Co-Chair of the FinTech Group, spoke about Blockchain and ICO trends in the UK market, and Adrian Daniels, Partner at Yigal Arnon & Co., and Agada Nameri, General Manager of iCapital.io, focused on the Israeli Blockchain regulatory changes and market developments.

Posted in Articles

How technical touchpoints can ensnare foreign cryptocurrency companies

By Israel Group on November 7, 2018

In August 2018, the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order with broad implications for the cryptocurrency industry: companies headquartered abroad may nonetheless be subject to US securities laws if their activity – including server locations and blockchain validation node clusters – indicate that sales were conducted in the United States.

This decision appears to be the first time that a US court has taken blockchain infrastructure into account when assessing the applicability of US securities laws to overseas actors, and we expect it to serve as an important precedent for courts presented with similar jurisdictional challenges.

Click here to read more.

Posted in Alert

VAT – Monthly Alert – October 2018

By Israel Group on November 6, 2018

By Daan Arends, Dr Björn Enders and Richard Woolich

For our October summary of important VAT developments with implications for cross-border business operations, please click here. In this month’s update, key developments include:

Court of Justice of the European Union – where a VAT registration number has been deactivated, input VAT can still be deducted subsequently, when the number is reactivated and the substantive conditions for VAT recovery are met (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy România SRL v. Romania (C-69/17)); Services in helping with invoicing and collecting fees are taxable administration services, not financial services or debt collection (DPAS Ltd (C- 5/17))
Opinions of the Advocate General – whether a holding company that carries out an economic activity can deduct the input VAT charged on costs connected to an intended sale of shares which aborts (C&D Foods Acquisition ApS v. Skatteministeriet (C-502/17)); Two opinions concerning the Special Scheme for Travel Agents (TOMS) (Alpenchalets Resorts (C-552/17) and Skarpa Travel sp. z. o.o. w Krakowie (Skarpa))
EU Directive – New proposed directives to modernize VAT for the digital economy, reduce fraud and simply compliance

Country Specific:

Argentina: Argentina regulate the supply of VAT to the importation of “digital services”
GCC States: VAT implementation plan in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. For further information on GCC VAT developments, please contact Ton van Doremalen
Luxembourg: Luxembourg-based entities who share organizational, economic or financial links are now entitled to establish a VAT group
United Kingdom: Anticipated impact of Brexit VAT; taxpayers who wish to appeal VAT assessment must pay the VAT upfront – EU principle of equivalence does not apply (Totel Limited [2018] UKSC 44)

Please contact one of the authors or your usual DLA Piper advisors if you have any feedback or require further assistance.

Posted in Event

Doing Business Globally series with PwC: Spotlight on the Netherlands

By Israel Group on October 25, 2018

Please join us at for our Doing Business Globally series with PwC: Spotlight on the Netherlands which will take place on Tuesday, November 13, 2018. This exclusive event is geared towards companies and investors that are doing business in the Netherlands and/or are interested in finding out more about legal and tax issues that arise when investing in the Dutch market. We will be joined by our colleagues Joris Willems, Sander Wiggers and Michiel Coenraads from our Amsterdam office and we are very grateful to PwC for hosting the event in their offices.

As an added bonus, we will be joined by representatives from the Israel-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency who will discuss the ever-increasing ties between the two countries.

For more information and to register, click here.

Posted in Alert Articles

CFIUS pilot program mandates declarations for certain non-controlling investments in critical technologie

By Israel Group on October 25, 2018

By Ignacio E. Sanchez and Christine Daya

The US Department of the Treasury has issued interim regulations for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a pilot program, as authorized by the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA).

The pilot program is intended to regulate the conduct of foreign persons seeking to acquire certain interests in US businesses involved in critical technologies related to specific industries. The pilot program covers critical technologies in 27 industries (including aviation, defense, semiconductors, telecommunications and biotechnology) that the US government identified because certain strategically motivated foreign investment in those industries could pose a threat to US technological superiority and national security.

The pilot program will become effective on November 10, 2018 – 30 days following publication of the regulations in the Federal Register.

In this concise alert, we examine the reach of the pilot program and review its key requirements for affected industries and sectors.

Find out more.

Posted in Alert

Global Tax Alert: Dutch tax proposals aim to improve investment climate

By Israel Group on October 22, 2018

By Jian-Cheng Ku and Rhys Bane

In September, the Dutch government published an initial round of tax proposals in connection with the 2019 Budget. One of these proposals, the Source Tax Act of 2020 (STA 2020), would, among other things, see the Dutch dividend withholding tax abolished and a source tax on dividends (as of 2020), interest and royalties (as of 2021) introduced. Furthermore, the STA 2020 would see Dutch corporate income tax rates lowered to 16 percent for taxable profits of up to €200,000 and 22.25 percent for taxable profits in excess of €200,000. These proposals were announced on September 15, 2018.

Then, on October 5, 2018, the Dutch government announced it was reconsidering its proposals for the improvement of the Dutch investment climate. On October 15, in a letter from the State Secretary of Finance to Parliament, the government announced the results of this reconsideration.

Rather than abolishing the Dutch dividend withholding tax, the government is proposing 10 changes to the pending tax proposals.

Internationally operating companies with a Dutch company in their corporate structure are making note of the proposals.

Find out more.

If you are interested in attending an event on Doing Business in the Netherlands, please contact deborah.kandel@dlapiper.com.