Over the past decade, arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act1 (“FAA”) has been the subject of much debate and discussion among courts across the United States, including both the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (“the WVSCA”) and the Supreme Court of the United States (“the Supreme Court”). Historically, the Supreme Court has ardently favored the resolution of disputes through arbitration,2 while the WVSCA has been more cautious to embrace arbitration in the place of litigation ...
The Fourth Circuit has just released its highly anticipated keyword advertising decision in Rosetta Stone Ltd. v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007 (4th Cir. Apr. 9, 2012), vacating much of a district court order favorable to Google ...
The U. S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act Tuesday, March 27, after receiving it from the Senate. The President signed the bill April 5, 2012. The JOBS Act is best known for its crowdfunding provisions, which I will address shortly, but it also is a boon to many community banks. Community banks often are formed with many investors ...
Bankers confront the bankruptcy world regularly. It can be a world of somewhat unfamiliar, if not confusing, concepts and terms. Unfortunately, it can also be a world fraught with risk associated with taking actions (or not taking actions) that run afoul of the rules or jeopardize the bank’s rights against the borrower. Here are a few of the “truths” that bankers need to keep in mind in the bankruptcy world. 1. The automatic stay is, well, automatic ...
A creation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. Law 111-203 (“Dodd-Frank Act”), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is charged with regulating consumer lending activities of financial institutions and, in partnership with state attorneys general, enforcing numerous federal consumer protection laws ...
E-DISTRIBUTION OF INSURANCE PRODUCTS: THE AMF WANTS YOUR INPUT!On February 24, 2012, the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) published, on its website, a notice of consultation entitled Notice and Request and Comment on Internet Insurance Offerings in Québec (the “Notice”). This process follows the AMF’s analysis, initiated a few years ago, on the issues relating to e-distribution of insurance products ...
On December 20, 2011, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, and Army General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, welcomed home the final group of United States troops from Iraq. After more than twenty years and two wars with Iraq, this long-awaited homecoming symbolized the end of an era for many ...
On 6 January 2012, Bank Indonesia issued Regulation No. 14/2/PBI/2012 on the Amendment to Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 11/11/PBI/2009 on Card-Based Payment Instrument Activities (“New Regulation”). The New Regulation is aimed at re-evaluating the role of credit cards as a means of payment and to promote consumer protection when using credit and debit cards as a method of payment. The New Regulation is also aimed at limiting the provision of loans through credit cards ...
Bank Indonesia has issued Regulation No. 13/25/PBI/2011 regarding The Precautionary Principle to Delegate Some Commercial Bank Work to Third Parties (“Regulation”). Under the Regulation, banks should be more selective in selecting outsourcing companies in order to maintain the level of service provided to customers ...
Among other matters, this law establishes the use limitation principle in the treatment of personal data. This law will supplement our legislation on this matter, in particular Law 19,628 on Data Protection. This law specifically focuses on the collection and treatment of personal data of an economic, financial, banking or commercial nature by data banks, distributors of personal records or personal data banks ...
Today, Google have made the very interesting (but arguably provocative) move of completely rejecting the French data protection regulator's request to put a hold on the implementation of proposed changes to its privacy policies. In doing so it has become the subject of a Europe-wide investigation. What has changed? Up until today, the information collected by Google on each of its platforms, such as Gmail and YouTube, was kept separate ...
The scope of additional hypothecs was examined by the Superior Court of September 6, 2011 in the case of Banque Nationale Du Canada v. Larouche. At issues in this case was whether the additional hypothec provision contained in the deed of hypothec granted by Mr ...
Bank Indonesia (BI) issued a new Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 13/2011 on 30 September 2011 on Receipt of Export Earnings in Foreign Exchange and Withdrawal of Offshore Loans in Foreign Exchange. The new regulation will be effective as of 2 January 2012 ...
The Law on the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan – “OJK”) was passed by the House of Representatives on 27 October 2011 and has been ratified by the President. The Law establishes the OJK as a new independent financial institution, which will take over several regulatory and supervisory authorities presently held by Bank Indonesia and the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Body (Bapepam-LK) ...
Starting tomorrow, organizations may start submitting applications for new gTLDs (generic Top Level Domains). The application window will close on April 12, 2012. The new gTLDs move well beyond the core group of generic top level domains of .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, and .edu. Specifically, they can consist of any combination of three or more letters that an applicant chooses ...
In its judgment in the case of Banque Nationale Du Canada v. Agence Du Revenu Du Quebec, 2011 QCCA 1943, issues on October 21, 2011, the Court of Apperal of Quebec discussed two grounds of dispute that might be of interest to the hypothecary creditors of tax debtors when the tax authorities rely on provincial statutory provisions pertaining to deemed trusts, namely: 1. The limits of the scope of the deemed trust; and 2. The Estoppel ...
In its judgement in the case of Banque Nationale Du Canada v. Agence Du Revenu Du Quebec, 2011 QCCA 1943, issues on October 21, 2011, the Court of Appeal of Quabec discussed two grounds of dispute that might be of interest to the hypothecary creditors of tax debtors when the tax authorities rely on provincial statutory provisions pertaining to deemed trusts, NAMELY: 1. THE LIMITS OF THE SCOPE OF THE DEEMED TRUST; AND 2. THE ESTOPPEL ...
Subsidiary guaranties, also commonly known as upstream guaranties, are instruments used for the benefit of lenders and borrowers alike. Upstream guaranties benefit borrowers and lenders because they enable borrowers to obtain more favorable terms and enable lenders to lend based upon a larger asset pool to secure debt ...
Unfortunately, as we all know, foreclosures are necessary. But foreclosures, by their nature, involve a certain degree of unpleasantness and challenges. A particularly thorny set of challenges arises when the foreclosure involves income producing property, especially residential rental property. The Problem. Imagine this all too familiar real world scenario: as security for a loan, the borrower grants the bank a deed of trust lien against the borrower’s apartment building ...
The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC, formerly known as the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA)) is a self-regulatory organization recognized by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), which mainly deals with disciplinary complaints against its members. For this purpose, the IIROC has supervisory and investigative powers as well as the power to impose disciplinary sanctions. It can impose various penalties on its members, including fines ...
Last quarter, we focused on the available defenses to West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, W. Va. Code § 46A-1-101 et seq. (“WVCCPA”) claims. This article, we will focus on the potential damages that a consumer can recover - actual damages, statutory penalties, and attorney’s fees. First, a consumer would be entitled to actual damages – physical and/or emotional – that a creditor’s or debt collector’s alleged violations of the WVCCPA may have caused the consumer ...
Defined Benefit Pension Plans: i) The Temporary Funding Relief Measures Will Likely Be Extended! ii) A New Statutory Framework for Federal Not-For-Profit Organizations iii) Conversion of Debt Into Shares By a Corporation in Financial Difficulty; Pay Attention to the Tax Consequences! iv) Conflicting Rights of Hypothecary Creditors and Tenants DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLANS: THE TEMPORARY FUNDING RELIEF MEASURES WILL LIKELY BE EXTENDED! François Parent fparent@lavery ...
A creation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. Law 111-203 ("Dodd-Frank Act"), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") is charged with regulating consumer lending activities of financial institutions and, in partnership with state attorneys general, enforcing numerous federal consumer protection laws ...
