Practitioner Contributions

As business activities grow increasingly global, and personal information and data cross national boundaries on a daily basis, companies need to ensure that they are aware of local privacy and data protection regulations and pending legislation that would impose more stringent privacy and security requirements. This article provides an overview of current privacy and data [...]

Since 2008, when China Corporate Income Tax legislation was amended and preferential tax treatment for foreign-invested companies abolished, Chinese local governments have introduced new and substantial incentive policies to attract foreign investors. Some local governments have adopted written investment incentive policies. Others have informally adopted incentive policies but not yet put these in writing. In [...]

The EU Data Retention Directive (2006/24/EC) (“the directive”), which requires European telecommunications providers to retain certain communications data for up to two years, has created a significant compliance burden for providers operating across the EU. In addition to this complaint from industry, civil liberties groups continue to oppose the directive on human rights and data [...]

Differences between the laws of different states can materially impact the outcome of fiduciary duty and “deepening insolvency” claims asserted in bankruptcy, as a recent Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision illustrates. In Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. Baldwin (In re Lemington Home for the Aged), 659 F.3d 282 (3d Cir. Sept. 21, 2011), [...]

With the current economic realities, trustees and debtors-in-possession (“DIP”), typically with oversight by both secured and unsecured creditors, are proactively managing the assets in the bankruptcy estates they are administering to maximize values in order to provide a meaningful distribution to creditors. To further this goal, practitioners are discovering new and creative ways to monetize [...]

This is Part Two of a two-part article that examines the question of whether the Three Strikes system is effective in accomplishing its purpose and is likely to spread as the preferred method of combating global piracy. In Part One, we introduced the Three Strikes System and the problem it was developed to solve, the [...]

Ever since the Internet opened to commercial traffic, businesses have been limited to using a handful of top-level domains, such as .com and .biz, and various country-specific designations like “.uk” and “.us.” This changes in January 2012 when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) — the organization that controls the Internet domain [...]

Member firms of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) often communicate internally about products or services offered through the firm, and label documents that are not to be shared with persons outside the firm as “internal-use only” material. Communications that are purely internal, and not shared with anyone outside the firm, are often supervised as [...]

On September 6, 2011, Solyndra LLC and related entity 360 Degree Solar Holdings, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amidst an investigation related to Solyndra’s acquisition of $538 million in government guaranteed loans. More than 60 days later, Solyndra continues to exist under the safeguard of the Bankruptcy Code as it sheds non-core assets [...]

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is continuing to focus its attention on individuals who work in the London markets. The recent expansion of the FSA’s requirement to record telephone conversations and electronic communications made from traders’ mobile devices highlights this focus. Its aim is to heighten oversight of and help deter and detect acts of [...]

Chinese companies with U.S.-listed shares have come under attack this year. Short-sellers and Internet-based research analysts are leading the charge with reports challenging the credibility of these companies’ financial reporting and disclosures. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have taken up the cause and filed more than 30 securities fraud class action lawsuits in the United States this year [...]

The increasing globalization of business continues to thrust U.S. companies into discovery relating to documents and information that are located in other countries. Global discovery presents unique challenges for companies as they seek to comply with both U.S. and foreign legal requirements. Common law states, such as the United States, tend to have more expansive [...]

The Eurozone is currently experiencing a crisis of potentially biblical proportions. The debt markets are proving themselves the masters of national destinies. Yet the European Commission appears to be continuing doggedly on with its regulatory plans for European financial markets having published, on 20 October 2011, its texts1 for the next revision of the Directive [...]

It is well-established that the written employee benefit plan document is sacrosanct. Section 402(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)1 requires plan documents to be in writing, and employers are free to provide in their plan documents whatever level of benefits they so choose. Only upon proof of the elements of [...]

Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese word for “crisis” does not signify “danger” and “opportunity.” A whole industry of pundits and therapists has grown up around this one inaccurate statement, says Professor Victor Mair, a Professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. He says the Chinese word for crisis “Weiji” is [...]

Nearly six months ago, in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated certification of a class of roughly 1.5 million current and former female employees of Wal-Mart who alleged gender discrimination in violation of Title VII.1 While doing so, the Court clarified the “commonality” requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)(2), holding that [...]

On August 18, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Proposed Regulations regarding the Branded Prescription Drug Fee (the Fee) that will be charged to manufacturers beginning in 2011. The Proposed Regulations are the same as the Temporary Regulations put in place by IRS on the same date, to enable it to administer the Fee [...]

Is Conventional Wisdom Wise? Every year, around eighty-five thousand people apply to American law schools. If they have thoroughly done their research, they have read a few books, spoken to countless friends and relatives, browsed hundreds of law school websites, and attended a few forums, all in an effort to determine where they want to [...]

Every year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) publishes its business plan which outlines its key priorities for the coming year. When the FSA published the Business Plan 2011/12 this April, unlike other years there was also the additional challenge of managing the regulatory reform agenda of dividing the FSA’s responsibilities between the new regulatory authorities [...]

C-144/10 Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) Anstalt des Offentlichen Rechts (Berliner) v JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Frankfurt Branch, (CFI, Third Chamber, 12 May 2011) The European Court of Justice has provided clarification – and at the same time, welcome news for banks – in a landmark ruling on Article 22(2) of Regulation 44/2001 (Brussels Regulation) which implements [...]