On August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued its decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., upending decades of well-settled precedent to establish a new, broad standard for determining when two entities are “joint employers” under the National Labor Relations Act. 362 NLRB 186 (2015) ...
Lavery closely monitors the development of class actions dealing with consumer law and is committed to keeping the business community informed of the latest developments in this area of the law by regularly publishing newsletters dealing with new case law or legislative changes which may impact, influence, even transform the practices in this area. The courts of Quebec recently dealt with two issues of interest in the context of two class actions instituted by consumers ...
Intellectual property due diligence in an investment context Major changes enable registered charitable organizations to invest in limited partnership units INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DUE DILIGENCE IN AN INVESTMENT CONTEXTEric Lavalléewith the collaboration ofCynthia Coutu, student-at-law A due diligence analysis of intellectual property right
Poland’s first clearinghouse for cash-free payments was established in 1990. In 1991 the first payment cards for individual clients were issued in Poland. The history of cash-free trade in this country now goes back over a quarter-century. But one of the key Polish regulations governing money—the Foreign Exchange Law—has not kept pace with the evolution of the forms in which money is used, but remains fixed in times when the dominant form of money was cash ...
Could your institution be at risk of liability for unauthorized wire transfers and Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) credit transfers? Data security breaches continue to garner headlines, and criminals continue to engage in targeted activities to steal millions of dollars in unauthorized funds ...
The attorney-client privilege is a cornerstone of the legal practice. The privilege protects the confidentiality of communications between a client and an attorney from disclosure to a third party when the communications are intended to be confidential and the confidentiality is not waived ...
Could your institution be at risk of liability for unauthorized wire transfers and Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) credit transfers? Data security breaches continue to garner headlines, and criminals continue to engage in targeted activities to steal millions of dollars in unauthorized funds ...
Headlines should read, “Congress and President Do Something Right!” On July 28, 2015, only one day after Congress passed the matter, the President signed into law an increase in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) lending, from $18.75 billion to $23.50 billion, for the 7(a) program. One common SBA lending program, 504, was not restricted, so loans for buying and developing real estate continued ...
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in June and July 2010 with minimal Republican support, and it was signed by President Obama July 21, 2010. Since passing, Dodd-Frank has been hailed, depending on who answers, as salvation for our banking system or the death knell of community banking. The American Banker published a number of articles about this act in July 2015. Most were critical, highlighting the raised regulatory burden, which is huge ...
Q: You recently took the helm of Carolina Premier. What has been the biggest surprise to you in your new role as a CEO? What has been the biggest surprise about Carolina Premier?A: Well, bankers are known not to surprise well. I like to think that my previous roles, especially working closely with NewBridge Bank CEO Pressley Ridgill, prepared me for the role. That said, I believe the biggest surprise in the new role was how quickly issues came at you ...
In a judgment rendered in the case of9210-6905 Québec Inc. (proposal of),1the Superior Court of Québec held that an interim receiver is not required to obtain a clearance certificate from the tax authorities before proceeding with the distribution of a debtor's property, and is not subject to personal liability for this reason ...
The May 2015 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner Maria Jennifer Z. Barreto on “Electronic tax return controls.” The Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently required the mandatory use of electronic tax return forms by the non-electronic Filing and Payment System (non-eFPS) ...
On July 6, 2015, in response to an executive order signed by President Obama, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule that could significantly impact overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Among other changes, the proposed rule will increase the minimum salary threshold to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions to $50,440 per year, which could affect an estimated 4.6 million workers ...
Ukrainian banking sector reform process promotes transparency and greater accountability. The ongoing geopolitical and economic turmoil in Ukraine, which started back in 2013, has revealed the multiple drawbacks of Ukrainian banks and the vulnerability of the country's banking system as a whole. This exposure has led to a major reform effort across the banking sector that remains ongoing, with one of the key focuses being efforts to increase the transparency of Ukrainian bank ownership ...
On 28 July 2015 the newly enacted “Law on Conversion” (the “Law”) which sets out the procedure for converting the right of use into ownership rights over construction land for a fee (the “Conversion”), will come in force. The Law outlines the rules for the Conversion procedure and specifies the particular list of entities that are eligible to file for the Conversion ...
Attractive Real Estate Business in the Czech Republic The Czech property market has developed considerably in recent decades and this optimistic trend continues. According to statistical figures, the volume of commercial investment during the last twelve months to Q1 2015 in the Czech Republic reached EUR 2.6 billion, representing 90.8 % increase ...
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed significant changes to the overtime pay regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) ...
Last year California passed the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (the “Act”), which requires employers to provide paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked starting on July 1, 2015. Recognizing some of the ambiguities of the Act, this month California passed Assembly Bill No. 304, which clarifies and amends certain aspects of the Act. The amendments of AB 304 took effect on July 13, 2015 ...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has issued Proposed Rules (the “Proposed Rules”) to implement Section 953(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, addressing what has been commonly referred to as “pay-versus-performance ...
Continuing a trend of increased scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new guidance to employers warning that "most workers" should be classified as employees and not independent contractors ...
Continuing a trend of increased scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new guidance to employers warning that "most workers" should be classified as employees and not independent contractors ...
For those of us who commonly represent lenders, there is nothing more unsettling than hearing the words “course and pattern of conduct” or “dominion and control” or some variation of the same. Any suit where someone seeks to impose liability on a bank for something above and beyond the amounts loaned and repaid is a scary one for lenders (and ultimately should be a scary one for anyone who may need to borrow money in the future) ...
Standard real estate brokerage contracts generally stipulate the obligation for the seller to pay a commission to the broker in the event that an agreement for the sale of the property occurs during the term of the brokerage contract or where the seller voluntarily prevents the free performance of the contract. It is not unusual, even in the absence of an actual sale, that real estate brokers claim the payment of the commission stipulated in the brokerage contract ...
On June 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a rule bringing non-bank automobile finance companies under its supervisory authority. Auto finance companies were already subject to the enforcement and regulatory authority of the CFPB, but under the new rule, certain auto finance companies are also subject to routine and cause-based examinations by the CFPB. The rule goes into effect on August 31 of this year ...
1. Introduction In recent years, the Belgian Parliament hascodified substantial parts of Belgian economic legislation into a new Code ofEconomic Law (“Wetboek van economischrecht” / “Codedu droit economique”). The Code of Economic Law consists of 18Books, including one on payment and credit services (“Boek VII. – Betalings- enkredietdiensten” / “LivreVII. – Services de paiement et de crédit”, “Book VII”) ...
