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Erbschaftsfalle USA – Steuerliche Nachteile für ausländische Ehegatten

January 31, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net Früher oder später stellt sich für vermögende Ehepaare die Frage einer möglichst steueroptimierten Erbfolge. Besonderheiten ergeben sich im US-amerikanischen Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuerrecht für Ehepaare, bei denen ein Ehepartner kein US-Bürger ist. I. US-Erbschaftssteuer Ist ein Ehepartner US-Amerikaner, so unterfällt in den USA belegenes Vermögen grundsätzlich der US-amerikanischen Erbschaftsteuer („federal estate tax“).1 War…

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Energy Trading – Deutsche Bank pays $ 1,5 Mio. USD penalty

January 30, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net Did a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank pocket illegal gains on the US-electricity market? Apart from its investigations the US-regulators of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Comission (FERC) followed up the suspicion in several proceedings and dealt with a number of different illegal practices. The FERC is an independent agency that regulates the…

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Raleigh and Charlotte among most family-friendly cities in the U.S.

January 30, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net According to a recent ranking issued by the nonprofit group “The Human Life Project”, Raleigh is the most family-friendly City nationwide. The ranking has examined the 50 largest U.S. cities. Charlotte scored a top place on the list as well, the Queen City is ranked fourth on the list. Some of the…

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Reshaping the Mortgage Market

January 22, 2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released new final rules last week aiming to force companies handling mortgage payments to deliver clear information about costs and deal fairly with struggling borrowers. The rules will take effect on January 10, 2014. (c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net The CFPB is the federal agency holding primary responsibility for regulating consumer…

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Rising Star Distinction for Reinhard von Hennigs

January 18, 2013

We are very proud to announce that Reinhard von Hennigs, partner at our BridgehouseLaw Charlotte office, has been named to the 2013 North Carolina Rising Star List by Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers launched the Rising Stars for the first time in 1998 to honor the top up-and-coming attorneys in each state. Reinhard von Hennigs has…

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Driver’s Licenses for Young Illegal Immigrants – Not in N.C.?

January 16, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last June to prevent the deportation of people who were brought into the country illegally as children. The DACA program grants – under certain circumstances – two-year work permits for applicants. Young illegal immigrants have then the chance to get a driver’s license…

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Cloud computing – New report for the European Parliament warned of political surveillance on foreigner’s data

January 15, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net How safe is Cloud Computing? Researchers warned of political surveillance on foreigners’ data in a new report produced for the European Parliament: U.S. public authorities, perhaps unsurprisingly, have continually rejected claims of mass snooping on Europeans’ data if it is stored using U.S. cloud services like those provided by Google, Microsoft and Facebook.…

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North Carolina’s new Governor is former Mayor of Charlotte

January 15, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net The Republican Pat McCrory is the state’s 74th governor. He stepped into office on January 5th 2013, taking over as only the third Republican governor of North Carolina in a century and marking a dramatic turn to red in state politics. McCrory was sworn in at the old Senate chambers in the…

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US banks have undertaken to pay $ 8.5 billion in the course of foreclosure abuses

January 10, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.net A lot of US banks are still confronted with claims of foreclosure abuses they have committed in times of the financial and housing crisis. Above all, they are blamed for the so called “robo-signing”, which means that plenty of times foreclosures against homeowners were made without examining the documents of each single…

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Solar panels in every home – why solar panels are cheaper in Germany

January 9, 2013

(c) photo: freedigitalphotos.com The Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL) has recently published a study that looks at the price differences in the solar panel industry in Germany and the U.S. By looking at pre-incentivized prices paid for customer-owned systems, they were able to pinpoint the major differences between the two countries. In the last five years,…

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