Episode 116 -- Alstom Executive Convicted of FCPA and Money Laundering Offenses
Potential for Vicarious Liability Under the Graves Amendment
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 122-with Matt Kelly on Alstom, Avon and Petrobras
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 118-the Alstom FCPA Enforcement Action
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 117-the Avon FCPA Enforcement Action
Cross-Border Update on Investing and Doing Business in the United States
The M&A Word of the Day® from the Book of Jargon® – Global Mergers & Acquisitions Is Carve-Out Transaction
Nevada famously limits directors and officers from personal liability. However, it would be an overstatement to say that Nevada is a "liability free" jurisdiction. For example, the Nevada Supreme Court recently held that...more
In In re CII Parent, Inc., the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware affirmed a secured lender’s prepetition exercise of its proxy rights and its subsequent removal and replacement of the directors/managers of the...more
In an important decision for U.S. companies with UK subsidiaries, the UK Supreme Court recently handed down its long-awaited judgment in BTI 2014 LLC v. Sequana S.A., the first case in which the UK's highest court...more
On 5 October 2022, the English Supreme Court handed down its decision in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others. This (as described by Lady Justice Arden) “momentous” decision principally concerns whether directors are under...more
Section 189 of the California General Corporation Law defines "subsidiary" as follows...more
Okpabi and others (Appellants) v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another (Respondents) [2021] UKSC 3, 12 February 2021. The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the English courts have jurisdiction to hear a claim by over 40,000...more
In Teamsters Local 443 Health Services & Insurance Plan v. Chou, the Delaware Court of Chancery held, at the pleading stage, that plaintiff stockholders had stated a claim for Caremark oversight liability against certain of...more
The fiduciary duty of care has become more aspirational than a real legal basis for potential director liability in M&A in the Age of DGCL Section 102(b)(7), Corwin v. KKR Financial Holdings LLC (Del. 2015) and In re Volcano...more
Since January 1, 2019 there have been approximately 20 spinoff transactions announced. And to date there have been a number of instances of litigation arising out of spinoffs, some of which have insurance-related issues in...more
In Jiménez v. Palacios et al., C.A. No. 2019-0490-KSJM (Del. Ch. Aug. 2, 2019), the Delaware Court of Chancery accepted as binding the U.S. President’s recognition of a foreign government and upheld the validity of that...more
We set out in the attached Newsletter a number of interesting English court decisions and market developments which have taken place in the first half of 2019 and their impact on M&A transactions. This review looks at these...more
California, like Delaware and other states, authorizes a short-form merger procedure. Essentially, this involves a merger of a subsidiary into its parent or vice versa. Under California's statute, the parent corporation must...more
In a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for private equity sponsors and other controlling stockholders, the Delaware Court of Chancery expanded the potential for liability for foreign-based controllers by...more
Ruling provides guidance on how close to insolvency a company needs to be before directors must consider creditors’ interests. The UK Court of Appeal has ruled that the payment of a lawful dividend did not, on the facts,...more
In re Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. Derivative Litigation, Consol. C.A. No. 2018-0058-JTL (Del. Ch. Mar. 15, 2019). Stockholders that control Delaware corporations find themselves subject to fiduciary duties. According to this...more
Have you heard of the “fake president” fraud? Despite the name, it has nothing to do with politics; it is a worldwide financial scam that has affected hundreds of multinational companies, especially companies in Europe. ...more
We set out in the attached Newsletter a number of interesting English court decisions and market developments which have taken place in the second half of 2018 and their impact on M&A transactions. This review looks at these...more
The General Court of the European Union recently held, in Goldman Sachs v. Commission, that purely financial investors such as investment funds may be held jointly and severally liable for competition law violations...more
Citing duty to obey the board’s lawful instructions, the Seventh Circuit rejects breach of fiduciary duty claims under Indiana law against bankrupt bank holding company’s former officers. Corporate officers of a distressed...more
The Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision determining that a director who refused to cooperate in remediating flaws in the company’s capital structure breached his fiduciary duty of loyalty and owed damages...more
What makes a corporate officer an “officer”? For corporations, the issue of who qualifies as an officer is significant because corporations may be required to advance legal expenses and indemnify their officers pursuant to...more
Major Workforce Culture Controversy - A recent, highly-publicized controversy provides a near-worst case scenario of how workforce culture issues can damage corporate reputations and raise questions about board oversight. ...more
Under Canada's Anti-Spam Law (CASL) not only may a corporation that fails to comply be liable to pay a monetary penalty but personal liability may also arise. Section 31 provides that "An officer, director, agent or mandatary...more
On July 15, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a new revenue procedure, Rev. Proc. 2016-40, providing safe harbors for transactions in which a corporation (Distributing) obtains the requisite control of a...more
Previously, I’ve written how forming a U.S. affiliate can be like using a lightning rod for U.S. litigation risk. Properly used, a U.S. affiliate can help keep U.S. litigation risk away from the Irish/NI parent and its...more