The Netherlands: Unilever officially no longer Dutch company

For 91 years, the company structure was divided between the Netherlands and Great Britain, with two head offices in London and Rotterdam. The company also had two boards and two types of shares.

To simplify its structure, the company decided in 2018 to opt for one main office. Initially, the choice fell on Rotterdam, possibly partly due to the government's announcement to abolish the dividend tax. However, after opposition from influential shareholders, London became the final choice. In the end, the abolition of the dividend tax in the Netherlands was not passed.

The restructuring means that important strategic decisions will subsequently be made in London. This brings an end to the long Dutch history of the company, but in practice – at least in short term – there won't be much change.

Read more at: Unilever officially no longer Dutch company | NL Times

Italy: Insurance Industry: How Italy's Generali Is Connecting U.S. With Its Global Network - by L.S. Howard

Global Reach & point-of-sale expertise.

The U.S. branch of Generali’s Global Corporate & Commercial business unit has recently  launched a property insurance product for U.S.-based multinational corporations.

GC&C is a relative new kid on the block in insurance terms, having launched quietly three years ago. Since then it has carefully chosen a suite of products and a geographic spread that matches its intention to
provide point-of-sale expertise.

GC&C’s newest product, called TRIBUNE, has a global capacity of up to $250 million and provides comprehensive coverage for U.S. corporations’ domestic and overseas exposures via a “controlled master program,” which leverages the global capabilities of Generali.

TRIBUNE customers will be able to access the global loss control and mitigation services provided by BELFOR Property Restoration, said a statement issued by GC&C.

With the ability to issue admitted policies in 145 countries through its network, Generali provides “the advantages of an established global network, such as cross-border premium transfers, local claims adjusting and claims settlement as well as local servicing capabilities and a very broad international network of loss control engineers,” said Andrew Sims, senior vice president of Property & Construction at GC&C in New York City, during a recent interview.

“In an increasingly interconnected world, when you have multiple insurers handling your insurance, you run the risk of certain risks falling between the cracks,” he said. “One of the reasons a multinational program is so attractive is because it provides global consistency.”

“TRIBUNE was specifically designed to respond to the unique challenges of cross-border risk management for multinational corporations based in the U.S. and to avoid the pitfalls of insurance fragmentation across country lines,” said Sims in a statement issued by GC&C.

A controlled master program provides a centrally administered global program in addition to local policies with local claims adjusters, loss control engineers and servicing. The master policy wraps around “the local coverages and provides a consistent level of global coverage,” Sims explained in the interview, noting that this is especially important for manufacturing companies dealing with complex supply chain exposures.

A controlled master policy is a bit like a speed dial, he continued. “You don’t have to keep a list of 50 different insurers that are insuring your assets.”

If something goes wrong, the customer makes one call to its account executive at Generali in New York, Sims said.

Founded in Trieste, Italy in 1831, Generali has had a branch in the U.S. for more than 50 years. Approximately 1,200 people work in the U.S. under different brands such as European Assistance and Generali Employee Benefits—businesses that generate $1 billion in annual revenue for Generali.

EU-Digest

Tax Havens: Europe Will Force Big Companies to Disclose How They Use Tax Havens

The European Commission will propose rules on Tuesday to force major companies to publish details of where they make profits and where they pay tax, as it moves to clamp down on tax avoidance following the Panama Papers revelations.

Companies will have to disclose activities in tax havens, an amendment which has been added to earlier proposals, but campaigners say the measure may be toothless as European Union (EU) states have no common view of what constitutes a tax haven.

The commission wants to apply the measure to all firms with global annual turnover above 750 million euros ($856 million), meaning US companies such as Google and Facebook — which have faced criticism for their complicated tax avoidance mechanisms — will be subject to them.

The original plan had been for big companies to show only how much they paid in each EU state, with the rest of the world treated as a single item. Now, EU officials say, the draft will propose that they also list how much of their money outside the EU flows through each state classed by EU governments as a tax haven.

The problem, transparency campaigners say, is that there is no agreement among EU member states on the definition of a tax haven.

Read more: Europe Will Force Big Companies to Disclose How They Use Tax Havens | VICE News