Bob Rajan, Managing Director and the Co-Head of Restructuring with Alvarez & Marsal in Munich, and Maximilian Baer, an Associate with A&M, were recently featured in INSOL World about the role of big data in retail restructuring. Mr. Rajan and Mr. Baer spoke with Global Marketing about the current challenges in the retail industry and the role that big data will take in the near future.

The Federal Reserve’s prolonged historical low interest rate policy combined with its recent decision to maintain current rates due to the global economic uncertainty – primarily in China – continues to adversely impact financial services firms, including insurers. But low interest rates are not the sole factor driving a stalled insurance market. The combined forces of a benign catastrophe loss cycle, excess capital and influx of alternative capital have caused many insurers to lower premium prices in an attempt to maintain market share.

On July 23, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations under Section 707(a)(2)(A) that could have broad implications for how a partnership can structure a valid “profits interest.”

A&M continues to globally expand its transaction advisory capabilities by strengthening its offerings for Latin America. The appointments of Los Angeles-based Managing Director Fabio Pires and Miami-based Managing Director Alvaro Araujo bring significant in-market expertise in nearly all countries across the region, including Brazil, Mexico Colombia, Chile and Peru, building on A&M's commitment to serve clients' global needs as evidenced by the firm's recent growth in Europe and Asia.

As tightened regulatory controls continue to squeeze the banking industry, institutions must juggle providing continued service while identifying potentially high-risk customers.

Many companies maintain “top hat” plans to provide supplemental pension benefits to their top-paid employees. A recent brief filed by the Secretary of Labor in pending litigation suggests that sponsors of such plans may want to rethink the population that is allowed to participate in such plans.

A&M's Healthcare practice ranks in the top 10 consulting firms as determined by the Modern Healthcare Magazine survey of the largest healthcare management consulting firms based upon 2014 client revenue. A&M climbed five spots in this survey from last year.

The opening of A&M’s Frankfurt office complements the strength of its Benelux and UK Transaction Advisory Group teams and enhances the firm’s ability to serve the pan-European market’s complex transaction advisory, performance improvement and turnaround needs. The recent appointment of Messrs. Schmitz, Morris and Grein augments the Transaction Advisory Group’s capability to create client-centric solutions that address key challenges and concerns.

2015-Issue 29—Starting this fall, nine states are instituting tax amnesty programs for reporting unpaid taxes.

In a pair of rulings issued recently, the IRS announced some significant changes impacting qualified retirement plans.

In the years since the economic downturn, many U.S.-based multinational companies have been utilizing their large net operating losses to fully offset taxable income. However, as these companies utilize their NOLs and return to their status as “U.S. taxpayers,” many tax directors are being forced to reignite their relationship with a long-forgotten friend: foreign tax credits (FTCs).

Changing economic models in law firm partner retirement packages have brought significant change to the profession. As law firms shift financial obligations to partners, post-retirement benefits once seen as a way to attract and retain professionals to the industry grow more precarious. In this edition of Action Matters, Bud Schiff, Managing Director and CEO of A&M’s Executive Compensation and Benefits practice, discusses the growing financial planning concerns of both firms and retirees.

2015-Issue 25—State legislatures are working hard to make changes to their tax systems in an attempt to stay competitive with their neighboring states and broaden their tax base.

A recent decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery should cause many employers to at least consider amending incentive plans that cover their directors and to review their peer groups.