Morgan Lewis

FASB to Eliminate Special Accounting Rules for Development Stage Entities

The FASB decided in February to direct the FASB staff to draft a final Accounting Standards Update that will eliminate the special accounting treatment for development stage entities. The final update is scheduled to be issued…more

4/24/2014 | Commercial Law & Contracts, Finance & Banking, International Law & Trade

FASB Revised Guidance Will Decrease Discontinued Operations Treatment

The FASB recently issued an Accounting Standards Update that should reduce reporting of discontinued operations (disc ops) in some circumstances. The revised standard provides that only the disposal of a part of an entity that…more

4/22/2014 | Finance & Banking, International Law & Trade, Securities Law

Powering Sustainability

Recent focus on distributed generation has not addressed how companies will fully meet increasing sustainability commitments, including goals of being “100% powered by renewable energy.” Customers and utilities are exploring new…more

4/21/2014 | Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law

Public Meeting Does Not Clarify Direction of PCAOB’s Proposal to Expand the Auditor’s Report

While most commenters at the PCAOB’s April 2–3 public meeting on the Auditor’s Reporting Model proposal expressed support for additional reporting by auditors, the views as to the nature of such reporting were disparate and…more

4/21/2014 | Commercial Law & Contracts, Finance & Banking, International Law & Trade, Securities Law

New Cybersecurity Framework Revealed

The framework provides standards and best practices for identifying, assessing, and managing cybersecurity risk. Now that the Obama administration has unveiled the final version of its anticipated Cybersecurity Framework…more

4/18/2014 | Commercial Law & Contracts, Privacy, Science, Computers, & Technology

New York City Earned Sick Time Act Expanded Before Taking Effect

The Act was recently amended to cover more New York City employers and to impose even greater compliance obligations than the original law passed in 2013…more

4/17/2014 | Labor & Employment Law

UK Deferred Prosecution Agreements Code of Practice Published

The Serious Fraud Office has issued a code of practice for deferred prosecution agreements, which are now available as an alternative to conviction for certain white-collar offences in the UK. …more

4/16/2014 | Commercial Law & Contracts, Criminal Law, International Law & Trade

H-1B Cap for 2015 Fiscal Year Reached - Update

USCIS received approximately 172,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions during the filing period that began April 1 and conducted its computer-generated random selection process on April 10. …more

4/15/2014 | Labor & Employment Law, Immigration Law

EU Commission Proposes to Amend Shareholder Rights Directive

The proposal covers shareholder votes on remuneration policies and related party transactions and greater transparency obligations on certain market participants. The European Commission (EU Commission) recently published…more

4/15/2014 | Commercial Law & Contracts, International Law & Trade, Securities Law

EU Commission Proposes Further Harmonisation of Single-Member Companies

The proposed directive seeks to coordinate national requirements concerning the formation, registration, and operation of single-member companies. On 9 April, the European Commission published a provisional draft of a new…more

4/14/2014 | Business Organizations, Commercial Law & Contracts, International Law & Trade

Department of State Releases May 2014 Visa Bulletin

Bulletin shows minor forward movement in the EB-2 China category and the EB-3 India category, with no movement in the EB-2 India category or the EB-3 China category. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released its May…more

4/14/2014 | Immigration Law, International Law & Trade

OSHA Publishes Interim Final Rule for CFPA Whistleblower Claims

Companies providing consumer finance products or services should review policies and training materials to ensure compliance. On April 3, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published an interim final…more

4/13/2014 | Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Consumer Protection, Finance & Banking, Labor & Employment Law

Federal Banking Agencies Finalize Supplementary Leverage Ratio Standards

The next step in the adoption of new capital standards will potentially cause the largest U.S. banking organizations to face more stringent minimum capital requirements. On April 8, the Board of Governors of the Federal…more

4/11/2014 | Finance & Banking

Initial FATCA Registration/Withholding Dates Draw Near

Foreign financial institutions, such as offshore funds, should register with the IRS by May 5 and review new and revised IRS forms. The July 1 start date for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) withholding on…more

4/11/2014 | Finance & Banking, International Law & Trade, Taxation

U.S. Supreme Court’s Severance Ruling Impacts Future Unemployment Benefits

The decision in Quality Stores not only kills FICA tax refunds for millions of unemployed workers, but it also requires proactive employer actions to maximize future employer and state unemployment benefit payments to terminated…more

4/11/2014 | Labor & Employment Law, Taxation