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Based on a global survey of high-net worth individuals, including almost 300 family business owners, the eighth instalment of Barclays Wealth Insights provides fresh analysis into the state of family businesses around the world today. The report will assess the current situation and prospects of family businesses, and examine in detail their unique characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, with particular reference to today's challenging economic, financial and operating environment.

Researchers from the Bank for International Settlements delve into why some companies remain private and how well the philosophy has worked for them. While control seems to be a key factor in companies remaining private, research by BIS shows privately held companies operate as efficiently as those that have gone public.

Entrepreneurs have become increasingly important players in the global economy and have amassed fortunes in doing so. While a worldwide financial crisis would seem to work against them, some entrepreneurs see today's challenging economic environment as the land of opportunity. This report from Barclays Wealth explores what makes entrepreneurs successful in good times and bad.

Family businesses are most at risk for financial troubles based on a lack of formal succession planning and preparation, and on family business owners' personal financial issues, according to MassMutual Financial Group's 2007 American Family Business Survey. The survey also found that family businesses are growing in jobs and revenues, and often with women leading that growth.

A guide to minimizing the after-tax proceeds from the sale of a family business. According to the article, legal exit preparations involve a 3-step process: due diligence investigations (i.e., public searches, review of minute books and key contracts, etc.); identify any 'skeletons' and consider what options exist to remedy or neutralize them; finally, create and implement a plan to manage these skeletons.

Proper asset allocation and estate planning is often the best gift to children who have neither an interest in, nor propensity for, running the family business. Sale of the family business is usually a once-in-a-lifetime chance to achieve meaningful liquidity, and well-qualified advisors can add much more in transaction value and stress relief than they take away in fees.

According to research conducted by JPMorgan Private Bank's Advice Lab, almost one in three family-owned businesses has experienced some form of liquidity event over the last 12 years. An outright sale or a merger or initial public offering has major implications for businesses that may have been family-run for generations. The analysis highlights how liquidity events can undermine a family's sense of purpose and cohesion, as well as its capital.

Selling the family-owned business is one of the most important financial decisions and transactions that any family will face. Business owners, their children and grandchildren will live with the results for a long time to come. Getting it right is important to maximize family wealth, and some basic advance planning — even several years in advance — could help achieve that critical goal.

Leadership succession and governance are important issues for every financial family. However, these issues are especially complex for business-owning families. To explore succession from an expert perspective, FOX spoke with Kelin Gersick, co-founder and senior partner of Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, a consulting and research firm specializing in family enterprise and philanthropy.

In Canada, as in many other jurisdictions, data breaches that pose a real risk of harm to individuals must be reported. Apart from class action liability, data breaches can trigger large fines and important reputational consequences. While the recent court decisions in Canada—where theft of personal information does not by itself entitle the victim to damages—are favorable for firms that suffer data breaches, firms still need robust cybersecurity safeguards to lessen their changes of being hacked, as data breaches have other costly consequences.