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Cryptocurrency has revolutionized the financial markets but also created tax traps for the unwary investor. Building on proposed regulations issued in 2023, the IRS has increased its oversight of cryptocurrency transactions by requiring brokers, beginning in 2025, to report investor sales and exchanges in connection with such transactions. Taxpayers not complying with these requirements may face penalties based on accuracy of reporting. For federal tax purposes and regulatory compliance, any form of virtual currency is treated as property and not cash.

In an era marked by unprecedented wealth transfer and shifting societal dynamics, philanthropy is being called to actively adjust to a new reality. In the middle of all this, younger people are starting to have a bigger say in where philanthropic money goes. They care more about equity, inclusion, and transparency, as well as changing systems that cause problems.

The issue of concentrated low-basis holdings is a challenge that has vexed wealth managers and their clients for decades. Put simply, if a large majority of your wealth is concentrated in a single position, should you sell some of it and move the proceeds to a more diversified portfolio of investments? However, the sale position oftentimes carries enormous unrealized capital gains with a huge tax liability. But over the years, new ways of looking at the concentrated position have evolved to provide a more robust and meaningful solution.

While the market for private sales has slowed, private equity companies have record amounts of dry powder they need to put to work—for the right companies, this may be the ideal time to explore a business sale or capital raise. In this podcast episode of Business Insights, Terry Hill, Partner in BPM’s Advisory Practice, is joined by Tara Smith Kacher, Managing Director at Cowen Inc. Together, they discuss what strategic buyers are looking for and how companies can best position themselves for M&A transactions.

For foreign families and individuals who are interested in investing in the United States, there are key factors to consider. In this 10-minute interview, attorney Ruben Diaz of Foley & Lardner joins Brian Lucareli to discuss in-bound investing and top-of-mind issues when helping clients through the process of investing into the U.S. from Latin American countries. Ruben spoke about the information required in order to help clients properly structure their investments into the U.S. and the planning process for inbound investments.

For most of the period from the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 through the end of the COVID pandemic in 2022, the Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero. As post-pandemic inflation surged in early 2022, the Federal Reserve began a rapid rate-hike cycle that ended in July 2023 with the Federal Funds Rate at 5.25% - 5.50%. As noted in this Investment Report, the yields above 5% attracted investors to money market funds as total assets grew approximately 20% in 2023 to more than $6 trillion.

The uneven historic GDP growth, deflation, and low corporate productivity have made Japan a tough market for investors. But given the strong performance in 2023, the Japanese market is changing. Starting with Abenomics more than a decade ago and the more recent initiatives by Japanese stock exchanges, the tangible changes in Japan are attracting investors once again.