Accented Stories Archives

ICC Institute Advanced Training on the Conduct of the Proceedings and Case Management

Published on March 20, 2017

Registration is now open for the ICC Institute Advanced Training on the Conduct of the Proceedings and Case Management.

Location: San Francisco, CA

Description: This training is of an advanced level and will focus in depth on how the arbitrator should establish his or her authority over the parties throughout the proceedings, including hearings, and interact with his or her fellow-arbitrators. Attendees are supposed to already master the basics of ICC international commercial arbitration. The training will consist of presentations and interactive discussions using mock case scenarios designed to hone participants’ understanding of critical theoretical concepts while also emphasizing many practical aspects involved in conducting an international arbitration.

To register, please visit the registration website. Early Bird rate is available through March 31.

USCIB Experts Quoted in Journal of Commerce Articles on Trade

Published on March 20, 2017

container_shipUSCIB experts on trade and customs Rob Mulligan, senior vice president of policy and government affairs, and Megan Giblin, customs and trade facilitation director, were recently quoted in a Journal of Commerce article, “Trump administration unlikely to repudiate new WTO pact.” The article explores the state of bilateral and multinational trade agreements, such as the recent entry into force of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

JOC Special Correspondent Alan M Field wrote that despite the current administration’s aversion to multilateral agreements, it isn’t likely to repudiate the TFA. Field also quoted Mulligan’s views on this matter, “I don’t think that the administration has said much directly related to this agreement, but in some ways, I would expect that the provisions of this agreement are consistent with some of the things they have been saying about trying to open up borders and improve opportunities for U.S. business.”

Giblin agreed, stating that “it is important to recognize some of [the TFA’s] core messages. The TFA is critical to doing business, critical for companies. You’re going to get more transparency and predictability. The time-consuming processes at the border are going to be streamlined. You’re going to see goods moving more rapidly across the border. It’s expected to increase exports significantly.”

The full JOC story is available here, log-in required.

Giblin was also quoted extensively in a separate JOC story, “New WTO accord to speed customs clearance, cut costs” that takes a deeper dive into the TFA’s entry into force. Giblin was quoted on several aspects of the TFA, including the TFA’s value in allowing companies to understand quickly what the rules are and be able to export with assurance, “If everybody is providing the same level of transparency and ability [needed] to appeal decisions, then everyone will know how to operate,” she said. “That will lead to increased exports of products. And that will likely give a boost to the US economy and result in more jobs.”

The JOC story on TFA also quotes International Chamber of Commerce Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.

 

New ICC Arbitration Rules and Note

Published on March 20, 2017

International Law And Human Rights ConceptThe International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration recently adopted new ICC Arbitration Rules and Note, which was approved by the Bureau of the Court on February 22 and went into effect earlier this month. The Note consolidates previously existing notes into one cohesive guidance document.

“The Note is an important step towards the implementation of our new policies to foster the efficiency and the transparency of ICC arbitrations. The possibility for any party to seek the provision of reasons for a wide range of Court decisions is a landmark change as well as a message of accountability to our users,” said President of the Court Alexis Mourre.

The Note also introduces a wide range of additional services that are now available to the parties in ICC cases, such as the recommendation of administrative secretaries, services for the organization of the hearing, the organization of transparent proceedings or the use of sealed offers.

Additional information on the Note can be found here.

Wanner Represents Business at ICANN Meetings in Denmark

Published on March 20, 2017
Wanner at ICANN Meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Wanner at ICANN Meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark.

USCIB vice president for ICT policy, Barbara Wanner, attended meetings of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Copenhagen, Denmark last week, concluding a first of three rounds of meetings scheduled for 2017. Wanner joined 2,400 participants from business, government, civil society, and the technical community for a six-day meeting largely focused on domain name system (DNS) policy issues and inter-stakeholder discussions.

Wanner participated in DNS related meetings in her new capacity as the Business Constituency representative to the Commercial Stakeholder Group, enabling greater input to policy discussions at the executive committee level on behalf of USCIB members.

A noteworthy addition to this meeting – and reflecting heightened global concerns about protections of personal data – was a special “privacy summit,” which featured senior privacy officials from the Council of Europe and EU Article 29 Working Party. “An important result of the “summit” was recognition by the ICANN community of the need for timely, legal analysis of the implications of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which goes into effect May 28, 2018, on the processing of data related to domain name registrations and related contractual obligations of companies that register domain names,” observed Wanner.

USCIB and AFL-CIO Join Forces to Support Key Programs on Labor and Human Rights

Published on March 13, 2017

CapitolUSCIB and the AFL-CIO recently joined forces in a letter co-signed by USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and ALF-CIO President Richard Trumka to the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies and its Senate counterpart to support the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) and the Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL). Robinson and Trumka serve together as members of the President’s Committee on the International Labor Organization.

Separately, USCIB submitted written testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations to continue funding ILAB’s and DRL’s grants and programs. “These department bureaus are essential for ensuring compliance with our current trade law and a level playing field for businesses operating both in the U.S. and globally. The programs and grants of ILAB and DRL are critical to both employers and workers, providing essential support to efforts of U.S. companies and worker organizations to promote worker rights abroad, uphold labor commitments in free trade agreements, eliminate forced labor and child labor, and create an enabling environment for ethical business practices,” said Rob Mulligan, USCIB senior vice president for policy and government affairs.

The joint USCIB AFL-CIO letter is available here.

USCIB in the News: Doran Klein at Pacific Rim Tax Conference

Published on March 13, 2017

USCIB’s vice president for international taxation policy Carol Doran Klein was recently quoted in a Bloomberg BNA piece “U.S. Will Remain Engaged in OECD Tax Work: IRS Official” regarding her comments during a panel in last week’s Seventh Annual Pacific Rim Tax Conference in Palo Alto, California. The two-day conference brought international tax policy and management issues to the forefront of corporate tax leaders and tax professionals, focusing on the Pacific Rim.

Doran Klein spoke on a panel titled “Challenges and Opportunities of BEPS,” alongside Theodore D. Setzer, assistant deputy commissioner (international), Internal Revenue Service. In her remarks, which were captured by BNA, Klein stated that “Companies are very concerned that the U.S. might move away from the multilateral framework. USCIB is encouraging U.S. officials to keep participating in the international tax work of organizations such as the OECD and the United Nations. Dialogue in not improved when your voice is not in the room.”

Doran Klein said Setzer’s remarks were “really important for my members.” She said companies were very concerned that the U.S. might move away from active participation in multilateral tax forums. USCIB would encourage U.S. officials to keep participating in the international tax work of organizations such as the OECD and the United Nations, Doran Klein added.

“Dialogue is not improved when your voice is not in the room,” she said.

Read the full Bloomberg Government piece here.

Donnelly Leads Business Push at OECD for FDI

Published on March 13, 2017

ShaunDonnelly_BIAC_OECD_InvestmentForumUSCIB’s Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly was leading the business voices at multiple events around the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Investment Week in Paris last week. Donnelly was the lead business speaker at the panel on “Is Investment Liberalization Shifting into Reverse?” at the OECD Global Forum on International Investment and the lead business respondent to presentations by academic experts on “Societal Benefits and Costs of Investment Treaties” at the OECD’s Third Annual Conference on Investment Treaties.

In both formal presentations, as well as in formal and informal interactions with government delegations from both ‎OECD member countries and leading developing and emerging governments, Donnelly emphasized the importance of investment agreements, including strong enforcement provisions, to facilitate much needed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows.

Per established OECD practice, Donnelly played a lead role in BIAC’s formal consultation, along with the parallel labor and civil society stakeholder groups, with the OECD’s Investment Committee on Wednesday, March 8.  With investment agreements under attacks from some quarters, it is important for business to speak up these sorts or international fora, whether at OECD or elsewhere, on the importance of FDI for both the host economy and the home country and especially on the important role high standard investment agreements and strong enforcement provisions play in today’s global economy.

Senior investment policy experts from the State Department, U.S. Trade Representative and Treasury Department also participated in the meetings last week.

Washington Conference Looks at OECD’s Role in Fostering Digital Transformation

Published on March 13, 2017
OECD Deputy Secretary General Doug Franz
OECD Deputy Secretary General Doug Franz

Cross-border trade in digital goods and services has grown 45-fold over the past decade. How can policy makers and the business community work together to ensure that new technologies and digital applications can lead to a more prosperous, productive, inclusive and socially beneficial world? And what lessons can be learned from current discussions and related work within the 35-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)?

This was the focus of a conference today in Washington, D.C., “Facilitating Digital Transformation: The OECD’s Role,” organized by the USCIB Foundation, the educational arm of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), in partnership with the OECD and Business at OECD (BIAC).

In opening keynote remarks, David Redl, chief counsel for communications and technology at the Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, compared extending broadband access to the construction of the interstate highway system. “Despite everyone’s best efforts, there are still parts of the United States that lack the infrastructure to meet universal availability and adoption,” he stated. Redl said government spending alone won’t get the job done. “We must also foster investment in U.S. networks, streamline regulation, and improve online trust and security to bring the benefits of the Internet to every American.”

OECD Deputy Secretary General Douglas Frantz identified several factors as key to ongoing digital transformation: improved communications infrastructure and services, new and innovative business models, improved consumer trust and privacy protection, effective policy making, and a robust approach to the challenges and opportunities posed by improvements in artificial intelligence (AI). On the latter point, he proposed that the OECD work toward some sort of policy instrument to address AI.

Andrew Wycoff, director of the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, outlined the OECD’s work to assess the G20 economies’ uneven progress to date toward enabling the digital transformation. He said the OECD’s upcoming policy recommendations would focus on the importance of boosting investment in digital infrastructure, ensuring competition in the ICT sector and the broader economy, and establishing sufficient trust in the digital economy while also making it truly inclusive.

Jacqueline Ruff, Verizon, gives remarks during panel
Jacqueline Ruff, Verizon, gives remarks during panel

During an industry roundtable on emerging technologies, Jacqueline Ruff, vice president for international public policy and regulatory affairs with Verizon, said public policy will be important to remove barriers to the deployment of fifth-generation wireless technology, while creating a pro-investment environment. “They key to 5G will be smart communities,” she stated.

Other conference panels examined questions of equity and potential negative effects of digital technologies, as well as ways to enhance trust in an increasingly connected world. Organizers said the event would help steer discussion toward practical measures to maximize the benefits of new technologies. Panelists also focused on jobs, as well as education and skills-development challenges and opportunities, posed by digital transformation and the efforts by companies, such as IBM, to create “new collar jobs” enabling a segment of workers in more mature industries to become productive participants in the digital economy.

“Getting policy right for digital innovation is a critical factor for economic competitiveness, for trust and confidence in the digital environment, and ultimately for societal well-being”, said Bernhard Welschke, Secretary General of Business at OECD. “We need to communicate the benefits of digital transformation and Business at OECD will continue to work closely with the OECD on this challenge.”

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson stated: “We hope that today’s discussions will enable those who may not participate directly in OECD meetings to learn more about the OECD’s work and its value to the process and substance of crafting sensible, effective policy and regulation. Whether it is in providing frameworks, or in the development of consensus-based guiding principles, the OECD has a lot to offer and think about.”

USCIB, OECD and BIAC Leadership Discuss Trade, Digital Revolution

Published on March 10, 2017
Rob Mulligan, Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs addresses OECD and USCIB members, alongside USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson (center) and Rick Johnston, Citi (left)
Rob Mulligan, Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs addresses OECD and USCIB members, alongside USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson (center) and Rick Johnston, Citi (left)

USCIB hosted leadership from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Business at OECD (BIAC) on March 9 in Washington DC, following a successful joint OECD-BIAC-USCIB Fostering Digital Transformation Conference the day prior. Nearly forty of USCIB’s leadership and members attended the meeting, including USCIB Vice Chair Rick Johnston (Citi) and Vice-Chair of USCIB’s China Committee Tad Ferris.

OECD and Business at OECD officials included OECD’s Deputy Secretary General Doug Frantz, Secretary General of Business at OECD (BIAC) Bernhard Welschke, Senior Policy Director at BIAC Nicole Primmer and Acting Head of the OECD Washington Center Susan Fridy.

This was a timely opportunity for USCIB, OECD and BIAC to have a roundtable discussion on a wide range of issues that are being addressed in the OECD such as tax, cross-border data flows, health, investment, digital trade, the Sustainable Development Goals and the G20. These issues were framed in a larger discussion of the role of business in the current political and economic climate in the U.S., about which Frantz said, “we need help from business to convey that free trade, open borders and anti-corruption guidelines require multilateral engagement. The U.S. and the U.S. business community benefit enormously from the work done at the OECD.”

Doug Franz, Deputy Secretary General OECD addresses USCIB members
Doug Frantz, Deputy Secretary General OECD addresses USCIB members

Frantz also emphasized the role of digital innovation in providing future growth, prosperity and equal distribution of wealth to curtail the negative effects of the digital revolution, noting “taking digital innovation and its breakthroughs and making sure that the breakthroughs are more evenly distributed through training, skills-building and education that is based on deductive reasoning, will cushion the fall for people who are at risk of losing their jobs to the digital revolution.”

ICC and USCIB Hold Educational Events on Arbitration

Published on March 6, 2017
Emmanuel Gaillard, visiting professor at Yale Law School and head of International Arbitration at Shearman & Sterling LLP
Emmanuel Gaillard, visiting professor at Yale Law School and head of International Arbitration at Shearman & Sterling LLP

The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and USCIB’s Arbitration Committee organized two educational events in New York last month—the fifth annual Proskauer Lecture on International Arbitration on February 21 and the Eleventh Vis Moot Practice Session on February 24.

The Proskauer Lecture is organized jointly by ICC, USCIB, Proskauer, and Columbia University School of Law’s Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration Law. As in previous years, the lecture featured a globally-renowned expert delivering a lecture to the international dispute resolution community in New York. This year’s expert lecturer was Emmanuel Gaillard, visiting professor at Yale Law School and head of International Arbitration at Shearman & Sterling LLP who spoke on the topic: International comity, ‎lis pendens, res judicata: Do the principles of judicial practice apply to international arbitration? “Emmanuel Gaillard gave a tour de force lecture on comity that has gotten people talking about the issue and even thinking about it in a different manner,” noted Peter Sherwin, Partner at Proskauer. “Through presentations like his, the Proskauer Lecture has become a must-attend event for the international arbitration community in New York and beyond.” A summary of Gaillard’s lecture will appear in the next issue of the Global Arbitration Review (GAR).

A few days later, Dentons LLP hosted eight universities in the eleventh annual ICC/USCIB Vis Moot Practice Session. Participating law schools included the University of Bucharest, Brooklyn Law School, Cardozo, Fordham University, New York University, Pace Law School, Rutgers Law School and St. John’s University School of Law. The practice session serves as an invaluable opportunity for teams to hone their arguments in front of mock arbitrators prior to The Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna (April 7-13) or Hong Kong (March 26 – April 2), during which times teams from around the globe will compete in a mock arbitration. John Hay, partner at Dentons LLP stated that “Events like this provide for all the participants a worthwhile learning experience where they see, firsthand, which presentation styles and techniques work, and which do not.”

Consistently growing since its inception eleven years ago, the Vis Moot Practice Session gathered nearly thirty arbitration practitioners who volunteered their time and expertise to serve as mock arbitrators and provide feedback to teams before the real competition commences in Vienna or Hong Kong. Speaking on the networking opportunities presented to law students and future arbitration practitioners, Soeun (Nikole) Lee, deputy director, head of ICC Young Arbitrators Forum North America Chapter, stated that “the VIS moot is the best introduction to international arbitration as a student.  It is intellectually challenging, fun, and a phenomenal opportunity to meet future colleagues and mentors.   ICC VIS moot practice session serves as a great “moot for the Moot”.  We were very impressed at the students’ level of preparation and quality of arguments.”