Performance Management is an umbrella term encompassing the processes and applications that support strategy development, planning and forecasting, financial management, profitability management, and reporting and analytics. EPM, CPM and BI are popular acronyms referring to Performance Management. At A&M, we call it Integrated Performance Management (IPM) because we believe that the core of management excellence and achieving the success of our clients’ programs is integration.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been busy of late producing internal guidance for its examiners (both specialists and non-specialists) for use in auditing foreign and cross-border transactions.

Alvarez & Marsal Taxand, LLC, an affiliate of leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal, has augmented its dedicated Private Client Services group. Joining A&M Taxand as part of this expansion are seasoned tax experts Erik Christianson and Ambrosio Gonzalez, both Senior Directors based in Miami.

To understand compensation practices in the energy sector, specifically, for exploration and production (E&P) companies, Alvarez & Marsal’s Executive Compensation and Benefits Practice examined the latest proxy statements for 100 of the largest E&P companies in the U.S.

Stress Test Scenarios and Forecasts for Market Uncertainty: In the second paper of our two-part series in A&M Readings in Quantitative Risk Management, we continue to examine the behavior of human beings in times of financial stress and how the changes in human behavior impact stress testing and the management of capital at banks.

The proposed EU-U.S. Privacy Shield is designed to replace the now defunct Safe Harbor scheme which was developed to protect the transfer of personal data between the EU and the United States. However, the framework only addresses one aspect of risk in dealing with data.

Because of its magnitude and complexity, U.S. tax law is rife with ‘‘traps for the unwary.’’

Chapters 3-32 and 4-156 of the Municipal Code of Chicago impose taxes on personal property leases and amusement transactions, respectively. These laws were broadly drafted, but significant technological advancements since the effective date of these chapters have further broadened their scopes.

A&M was the lead sponsor at the Bank Structuring and Resolvability Conference in London. The event brought together industry experts from Europe to examine the evolution of bank structures redesigned to meet regulatory requirements, as well as best-practice approaches for deploying resolution plans. The conversation was driven in response to the recent trend of financial regulation requiring that institutions amend internal frameworks to minimize bailout risk.

After several years of evolutionary changes, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on January 26, 2015, a timeline of moving from volume to value in Medicare payments; i.e., from 30 percent of provider payments in 2016 to 50 percent by 2018.1 Implementation of the Comprehensive Care Joint Replacement initiative signals an intention to mandate, at least for targeted geographic areas, a value-oriented payment system across the entire continuum of care, from surgery and inpatient care to post-acute care recovery and rehabilitation.

Data is the lifeblood of most modern-day organizations. Email, infographics, databases, presentations, payroll systems, audio, video and spreadsheets are just a sampling of the types of data that comprise a business entity. The challenge with data is that it is portable, easily manipulated and relatively effortless to duplicate.

A common provision in many restricted stock unit awards is that vesting will accelerate when a participant becomes eligible to retire, after having reached a certain age and/or completed a minimum number of years of service. One aspect of “retirement vesting” that can be overlooked is the timing of the employment tax obligations.

As shareholders and advisory groups continue to scrutinize executive compensation, the number of executives entitled to excise tax gross-ups and other benefits in the event of a change in control is declining, according to a new Alvarez & Marsal Taxand study.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), created by the Dodd-Frank Act, is shifting its focus to the nonbank sector. Institutions such as mortgage companies (originators, brokers, servicers, and provider of loan modification or foreclosure services), payday lenders and private education lenders now fall under the CFPB lens. Further, through the ‘larger participant rule’ in Dodd-Frank, the CFPB is now the first federal regulator to supervise other nonbank markets.

Leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), continues to expand its senior team in the Middle East, hiring Dr. Saeeda Jaffar and David Tusa as Managing Directors.