Business Organization › Administrative Law

N.Y. ALJ Holds Taxpayer’s Motives for Acquiring Stock and How Stock Is Used Irrelevant in Determining Investment Capital

A New York administrative law judge recently held in Matter of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. that income received by a taxpayer from its ownership of common stock was investment income. In so holding, the ALJ addressed an important...more

CPSC Seeks to Hold Former CEO Responsible for Buckyballs® Recall

Last week the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) obtained an unprecedented ruling when Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Dean Metry granted leave to name Craig Zucker in an administrative complaint against Maxfield and...more

Recent PAC Rulings Find University And Park District In Violation Of Open Meetings Act

In a recent decision, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) ruled that Western Illinois University Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) when it voted to terminate a faculty member in closed session. According to...more

Administrative Law Judge Affirms Holding on Alabama SRLY Rule

On August 15, 2012, Chief Administrative Law Judge Bill Thompson issued his long-awaited SRLY ruling, holding that an Alabama consolidated group was entitled to carry forward certain net operating losses (“NOLs”) incurred...more

SBA Rules: Investment Funds Can Now Be Majority Owners of SBIR Companies

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently amended the rules relating to its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The new SBA rules implement the...more

Know the Standard of FDIC Liability for Community Banks

Over 400 financial institutions have failed since the financial crisis began in September 2008, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF).[1] On July 2, 2010, the Federal Deposit...more

BMA Announces Principles Underpinning Use of New Powers

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (the BMA) has published a new statement of practice (SoP). It sets out factors to which it will have regard and procedures to be followed in deciding whether and in what manner to exercise...more

Canning v. National Labor Relations Board

Obama NLRB Recess Appointments Unconstitutional (Text Copy)

Full text copy of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruling in Canning v. National Labor Relations Board, which found President Obama’s recess appointments of three members to the NLRB in January 2012 to be...more

Looking Ahead to Washington State’s Legalized Marijuana Marketplace [Video]

On Election Day last year, Washington State voters approved the legalization of marijuana—but there’s still much to be done before we see the environment and marketplace many envision. What will Washington’s legalized...more

Swap Clearing and the Commercial End User Exception: Corporate Governance and Risk Management Issues for Commercial Companies

Central clearing of over-the-counter derivatives is a central pillar of the financial services reforms that are embodied in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). The presumption...more

How to Reach Your Audience in Compliance Training – The Use of Charisma

One often hears or reads about complaints that compliance training is dull, nay even boring. I mean, how many times can you expect someone to be lectured to on the riveting subject of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)...more

Changes in the Wind for Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans?

On December 28, 2012, the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting that the SEC implement rulemaking to impose new requirements with respect to...more

How Tobin Tax and certain regulatory duties affect Block Trades in Italy

Italian Law No. 228 dated December 24, 2012, which approved the 2013 budget, contemplates, among others, a new tax applicable to certain financial transactions (the “Tobin Tax”). The Tobin Tax will apply to transactions,...more

The Cutting Edge Of Anti-Corruption Compliance: Proactive Audits

The FCPA world is fast-becoming the leader in new compliance strategies. The Justice Department and the SEC have embraced the requirement for conducting “proactive audits.”...more

Securities Law Essentials For Growing Companies

We recently gave a presentation at a CLE titled Securities Law Essentials for Growing Companies. The presentation included an overview of what constitutes a public offering, what is a security, classical private placements,...more

Insider Trading Enforcement And Deterrence

It is hard to know whether the government’s aggressive enforcement of insider trading laws deters criminals from violating securities laws. One key factor in this equation is the risk of getting caught. The Obama...more

Glengarry Glen Ross and the Internal Marketing of a Compliance Program

One of the great plays and movies that I enjoy is ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’. As you might expect with anything that David Mamet pens the dialogue is absolutely spot on, fast paced and non-stop. The action generally revolves...more

Some Federal, State, & Employment, Tax Considerations When Deciding on A Business Entity (LLC, Corporation or Sole Proprietorship)

The amount of taxes that you have to pay is one of the key reasons that individuals select one business entity type over another. The term “tax” though is a bit too general for a business as “tax” could refer to federal tax,...more

NYSE And Nasdaq Amend Compensation Committee Independence Proposals

Nasdaq has amended its proposal regarding independence of compensation committees required by the Dodd-Frank Act. Nasdaq proposes to clarify that a compensation committee is not required to conduct the independence...more

Is the legal environment changing for Russia-related transactions? What new challenges will parties face and how should they...

A dynamic market - Russia is a dynamic, developing growth market, with a constantly changing legal environment. Right now Russia is seeing an upturn of activity in corporate transactions of all kinds: mergers and...more

Congress Extends Exclusion for Investors in Qualified Small Businesses

Among the taxpayer-favorable aspects of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (Act), the 100 percent exclusion from gross income of gain on the sale of Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS), provided for in section 1202 of...more

Forum Selection Bylaws And The California Constitution

Last December, I briefly discussed whether a forum selection bylaw with respect to officers and directors would pass muster as a contractual choice of law. See A Forum Selection Clause Issue That You May Not Have Heard About...more

Rolls-Royce Brings in Lord Gold – Is it Thinking Big Enough?

In December 2012 the BBC online service reported that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited (Rolls-Royce) was in talks with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) regarding potential allegations of bribery and corruption in Indonesia and...more

Notification Threshold Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Increased to $70.9 million

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced higher reporting thresholds for pre-merger notifications filed on or after February 11, 2013. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced revised thresholds for...more

FTC Announces Increases to Thresholds for Pre-Merger Notification and Limitations on Interlocking Directorates

On Jan. 10, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission made its annual announcement of revisions to thresholds that determine whether companies must abide by the pre-merger filing and waiting period requirements set forth in the...more