de Kort & Partners

The World Trade Organization opened a formal investigation into allegations that China was providing a safe haven for product piracy and counterfeiting, the most far reaching of four current trade disputes between Washington and Beijing. The United States complaint over China's enforcement of intellectual property rights is the culmination of years of agitation in Washington and elsewhere over one of the world's biggest sources of illegally copied goods, ranging from DVDs, CDs and designer clothes to sporting goods and medications.

After centuries of being the undisputed world leader in producing and marketing diamonds, the Belgian port city is facing a series of new challenges, including globalisation, which are threatening to take the shine off its traditional role.

The Antwerp tradition of cutting and trading the most precious of gems began some 560 years ago. Now the industry - like other businesses - is shifting the bulk of manufacturing to low-wage countries like India and China.

Government eyes `asset searchers' Reviews banks' reliance on firms that track debtor data
Article from: The Boston Globe Article Author: Ross Kerber, Globe

The federal government, expanding its campaign to prevent unauthorized leaks of sensitive financial information about consumers, is reviewing bankers' reliance on "asset searchers," investigative firms paid to track down data on debtors and others who owe money to lenders.

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Research Assignment: When buying or selling an advisory firm, due diligence may be the most important thing you do before signing on the dotted line.

Due diligence is the process of acquiring objective and reliable information prior to an acquisition or sale. It is about finding those "red flags" that exist in every practice. It's the name we give to the function of kicking the tires and looking under the hood.