In mid-May, the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) published final guidelines on mandatory stress tests at banks and other financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets. For your reference, a roundup of legal advisories on the new rules: Agencies… Read more »
The European Union’s “Cookie Directive” went into effect on May 26, 2012. The new law requires EU-owned websites, as well as those merely accessible to EU users, to tell visitors about cookies that track traffic on their sites. In addition, websites must obtain “informed consent” from users before saving cookies to their computers. For the… Read more »
For your reference, here’s a roundup of recent legal advisories on the broad topic of doing business in the Middle East: Iraq Iraq Perspectives – May 2012 (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP) “Iraq is recovering from decades of war, sanctions and domestic unrest, and the country is in urgent need of all types of infrastructure… Read more »
In a unanimous decision published yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in Freeman, et al. v. Quicken Loans, Inc., that Quicken Loans did not violate the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) when it charged what plaintiffs considered to be “unearned” settlement service charges. RESPA rules bar unearned fees when they are split between two or… Read more »
Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a widely criticized Bankruptcy Court ruling that will require lenders to return more than $400 million in payments made on fraudulent loans to TOUSA. TOUSA was once one of the nation’s largest home builders. But its size was built on high levels of debt, including more than $1… Read more »
The recent fallout (or should we say investor fury) after Facebook’s IPO had us wondering what lawyers and law firms are writing on the subject of initial public offerings and related topics these days. Here’s a quick look at some of what we found. FYI(PO): Underwriter Not a Fiduciary of a Security Issuer (Dechert LLP)… Read more »
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Huping Zhou, a former employee of the UCLA Health System, for illegally accessing protected health information in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The decision provides an important clarification of HIPAA rules for health care providers, their employees,… Read more »
For your reference, a roundup of legal advisories on issues of relevance to companies doing business in the state of California: Calif. Assembly OKs Bill To Shield Workers’ Facebook Logins (Mintz Levin – Employment, Labor & Benefits) “A landmark bill that aims to protect California employees and prospective workers from being asked by a company… Read more »
A: It depends who you ask… For more on JP Morgan’s recent trading loss (and what might have caused it), watch this lively debate between Chris Whalen, Senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners, and Jeff Madrick, Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Choice quotes: Whalen: “”The calls for more regulation and the implementation of the… Read more »
Several recent updates relating to outsourcing remind corporations of the financial and business risks associated with the practice (both foreign and domestic). For your reference: Gearing Up For The Complicated Worlds of Outsourcing and Offshoring (Dechert LLP) “Last time, we wrote about ‘country risk’; i.e., the risk a company takes by doing business in a… Read more »
For your convenience, recent legal advisories on a broad range of corporate issues related to doing business in and with China: China’s Anti-Monopoly Law Makes it Easier to Sue in Cases of Anti-Competitive Conduct (McDermott Will & Emery) “Recently, the Supreme People’s Court of China issued final rules to build a working framework for civil… Read more »
Federal regulators are stepping up their enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as a recent $100,000 fine levied on Phoenix Cardiac Services demonstrates. From law firm Mintz Levin: “The settlement reaffirms OCR’s commitment to enforcing the Privacy and Security Rules, and its willingness to sanction covered entities for HIPAA violations.” (The… Read more »
On May 4, 2012, a Federal Circuit panel issued a decision that narrowed the conditions under which plaintiffs can include multiple unrelated defendants in claims of patent infringement. The ruling, which only applies to lawsuits filed before the America Invents Act took effect in September 2011, blocks joinder in multi-defendant patent infringement cases where the… Read more »
First Brinker, now Kirby? The California Supreme Court recently gave employers in the state what could amount to another break on meal and rest break disputes. In Kirby v. Immoos Fire Protection, the Court held that attorney’s fees may not be awarded under the California Labor Code to a party that prevails on a claim… Read more »
What’s on your mind? Human trafficking, online advertising, corporate bribery, and legal issues for nonprofits, among other things. For your reference, here’s a look at the most-read Corporate Law Report posts over the past month: 1. California Transparency in Supply Chains Act Takes Effect January 1, 2012 “The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of… Read more »
