by Ronald W. SchulerAccording to insiders, with regard to a Pennsylvania severance tax, Governor Corbett will be holding firm on “no state tax, no local fee,” although it is likely that the legislature will nevertheless offer up a “local impact assessment” bill ...
by Andrew B. McCallisterAs the West Virginia Legislature passes the midway point of the 2011 Regular Session, oil and gas issues remain hot topics with several bills having the potential to directly impact Marcellus Shale operators. Perhaps most significantly are two bills (SB 258/HB2878 and SB 424/HB 3042) that would substantially alter the current regulatory regime for Marcellus Shale permitting in West Virginia ...
by Allyn G. TurnerOn February 8, 2011, the EPA sent a draft copy of its plan for studying the impact of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water to the Science Advisory Board for review and comment. As proposed, EPA’s plan would involve a “cradle to the grave” study of the practice, from the impacts of the withdrawals of water used to fracture a well to the ultimate disposal of the frac water flowback ...
Pooling. This word is on the lips of almost every operator working in the Marcellus Shale. Depending on where you stand on the issue, pooling is either a necessity to allow for the efficient recovery of the resource or a dastardly scheme meant to allow big operators to run roughshod over small operators and small mineral owners ...
A overview of natural Gas Sector and a brief outline of Nigeria’s natural gas sector, including a general description of: natural gas reserves; natural gas production including the extent to which production is associated or non-associated natural gas; import and export of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and export facilities, and/or receiving and re-gasification facilities (“LNG facilities”); natural gas pipeline
Tax treatment of different acquisitions What are the differences in tax treatment between an acquisition of stock in a company and the acquisition of business assets and liabilities? The main difference from the acquirer’s perspective is that there is only a step-up in the tax basis on an asset purchase, while a stock acquisition as a general rule does not allow for a step-up on the basis of the target’s assets ...
Effective September 1, 2010, the Texas Railroad Commission issued new regulations for oil and gas operators related to inactive onshore wells and associated equipment pursuant to House Bill 22591 which dramatically changed requirements for extension of plugging obligations for inactive wells. Certain aspects of the regulations and the original law currently are under review, and amendments to HB 2259 are expected to be introduced in the current legislative session ...
The case of the arrangement respecting White Birch Paper (the “White Birch Group”) was one of the most significant matters brought before the Commercial Division of the Superior Court of Quebec in 2010. Not only did this matter receive a lot of attention on account of its crossborder aspect and the number of parties involved, it also constituted a precedent for sales of assets under the new provisions of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Ac t (the “CCAA ”) ...
On November 29, 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) announced that FINRA Rule 5131 will take effect on May 27, 2011.1 FINRA Rule 5131 is intended to sustain public confidence in the initial public offering (“IPO”) process by regulating the allocation, pricing and trading of IPOs of equity securities (“New Issues”) ...
Located on an island in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is a growing destination for U.S. businesses seeking to establish or expand overseas operations. An economically and politically stable country organized as a representative democratic government, it is the Caribbean's largest democratic country. The Dominican Republic had an inflation rate during the past year of only 4 ...
The European Parliament recently passed the Alternative Investment Funds Directive («AIFMD»). The AIFMD is focused on managers rather than investment funds and will implement broad regulatory measures on both fund managers located within the European Union («EU») and those established outside of the EU that provide asset management services to European alternative investment funds. The Swiss fund industry will have to closely examine the details of the AIFMD ...
In an effort to recover more than $2.5 billion, the FDIC announced earlier this month that it had authorized lawsuits against more than 100 directors and officers of failed banks. It wasted no time in showing it was serious. On January 14, 2011, the FDIC filed lawsuits against certain directors and officers of failed Integrity Bank, of Alpharetta, Georgia, and 1st Centennial Bank, of Redlands, California ...
In the wake of recent judicial decisions by the North Carolina Business Court and Eastern District Bankruptcy Court that "muddied the waters" for contractor lien rights, the North Carolina Bar Association Construction Section Lien Law Committee is drafting proposed legislation to reform North Carolina’s lien and bond laws contained in General Statutes Chapter 44A ...
The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (the “SAFE” Act), enacted on July 30, 2008, mandates a federal registration system for employees of banks, credit unions and their subsidiaries who engage in the business of residential mortgage loan origination ...
Overview of the lending market 1. Please give a brief overview of the main trends and important developments in the lending market in your jurisdiction in the last 12 months. On 27 April 2010, Parliament abolished certain restrictions introduced by the Law On Amendments to certain Ukrainian laws to overcome the negative consequences of the financial crisis ...
The 2011 Session of the West Virginia Legislature promises to be one of the most interesting in the state's history. The passing of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd in 2010 has led to a series of corresponding leadership changes in West Virginia's state and federal delegations. Further, perceived incongruities between state succession laws and West Virginia's Constitution have led interested parties to seek input and clarification from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ...
In the 2011 legislative session, Pennsylvania's new Republican governor, Tom Corbett, and its largely Republican legislature are likely to pick up where the last session left off with regard to Marcellus Shale issues ...
In a recent case by the Swedish Supreme Court (Sw. Högsta domstolen) (T 4904-08), the burden of proof of payments made by the debtor in relation to a negotiable promissory note was placed on the creditor.Since the borrowers had not confirmed that the debt had not been paid, the transferees were not in good faith in relation to the payment of the debt ...
As of 1 August 2010, two new pieces of legislation governing payment services came into force; the payment Services Act (Sw. Lag (2010:751) om betaltjänster) and the Act on Unauthorised Transactions with Payment Instruments (Sw. Lag (2010:738) om obehöriga transaktioner med betalningsinstrument) ...
A new Consumer Credit Act (Sw. Konsumentkreditlagen (2010:1846)) came into effect on 1 January 2011. The Act implements the Consumer Credit Directive (Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC). The Directive’s purpose is to enhance consumer protection by addressing some of the indebtedness problems caused by text message loans (Sw ...
Until now, several of the provisions of the Credit Information Act (Sw. Kreditupplysningslagen (1973:1173)) that protects the integrity of individuals were not applicable when credit information was shared on the Internet. The reason for this was that such information was protected by the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (Sw. Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen (1991:1469)) ...
In a move that indicates significant regulatory changes may be coming to deepwater operations, federal authorities are eyeing new rules curtailing venting of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico ...
In line with the national long term program to improve the mining and energy sectors to support the development of the country, as well as to ensure that the supply of energy and mineral resources to the domestic market can be met, the Government of Indonesia has been working hard to expedite the process to issue new regulations in the mining and energy sectors ...
