On 1 December, the Swedish Parliament resolved on the delayed legislative amendments to the Swedish Companies Act which, among other things, concern the mode of convening general meetings, on which we reported in previous newsletters (October 2009 and June 2010). The new rules take effect on 1 January 2011 ...
Public Service Review – Local Government and the Regions Recession breeds new rules and a new approach to procurement The recession and the need for public sector budget cuts have uncovered a twin track for procurement policy in the UK. There is a clear need to cut public sector expenditure – of that we can be in no doubt both in terms of the unit cost of supplies and services ...
In an October 19, 2010 opinion arising out of the Scotia Pacific bankruptcy cases, the Fifth Circuit ruled that reorganized Scotia and its affiliate Pacific Lumber Company were obliged – nearly 2½ years after Scotia’s reorganization plan was consummated – to pay Scotia’s former secured lenders approximately $30 million on account of a mistake made by the bankruptcy judge in calculating the amount owed to the secured lenders for the use of their collateral during the bankruptcy cases ...
Introduction From the seller's perspective, knowing the outcome of the sale process in terms of the price that it will obtain for a company is always of great importance. Usually, a buyer will make an offer to buy a company on a 'cash and debt-free' basis, meaning that the purchase price offered (ie, the enterprise value) will be adjusted up or down depending on the company's financial position at a given time to reach the actual purchase price ...
The concurring opinion in a recent Third Circuit Court of Appeals case1 suggests that trademark licensees may be able to retain their rights in bankruptcy cases, even if licensors reject the license agreements. The majority did not consider whether the licensee could retain its rights. Instead, the majority held that the trademark license was not an executory contract; therefore, it could not be rejected under the Bankruptcy Code ...
Are you planning to carry out a transaction? Does it involve a party that is related to your company? If so, you may be forced to obtain an independent valuation and the approval of your minority shareholders, file a geological report, and disclose detailed information. The costs engendered by these requirements can escalate rapidly or turn into a procedural nightmare that could considerably delay your transaction ...
On September 30, 2010, in In re American Safety Razor, LLC, et al., Case No. 10-12351 (MFW), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ruled that the debtors’ proposed bid procedures for the sale of the business were unfair and unreasonable. The bid procedures, among other things, provided too much discretion to the debtors in the auction process. 363 Sales in General Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code provides authority to sell a debtor’s assets ...
On October 5, 2010, Judge Bruce Black of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois (the “Bankruptcy Court”) issued a ruling in the River Road Hotel Partner LLC, et. al. (the “Debtors”) bankruptcy cases denying the Debtors’ bid procedures motion incident to plan confirmation. The bid procedures motion, among other things, sought the denial of secured creditor’s right to credit bid ...
On Monday, in Versata Enterprises, Inc. and Trilogy, Inc. v. Selectica, Inc ...
Charitable fundraising activities in multiple states—and even in multiple cities, municipalities, and counties within Texas—can potentially create a compliance risk. Although not regulated by the IRS, many state and/or local authorities have adopted charitable solicitation registration and reporting requirements. In addition, the revised Form 990 requires a disclosure regarding compliance with state rules ...
On October 4, 2010, less than six weeks after approving new rules to facilitate shareholders’ rights to nominate directors, the SEC postponed the effectiveness of the rules. As a result of this postponement, in the upcoming proxy season companies most likely will not have to address the new shareholder proxy access rules. In the Order granting the postponement, the SEC granted a request by the Business Roundtable and the U.S ...
IT projects: It’s a team game 28 September 2010 IT projects have a knack of over-running for significant periods, requiring ‘out-of-scope’ changes half way through, and consequently going over budget. Although any project will develop and evolve over time, such problems can be minimised through sensible project management methods. It is not uncommon for IT projects to last several months, if not years, from conception to completion ...
* Disclosure Rules Applicable Prior to the Sale of Additionnal Warranties * Attornment of Jurisdiction Clause set Aside in Bankruptcy Proceedings * What to do When Your Lessee Declares Bankruptcy DISCLOSURE RULES APPLICABLE PRIOR TO THE SALE OF ADDITIONNAL WARRANTIESLUC THIBAUDEAUlthibaudeau@lavery ...
Getting the Deal Through - e-Commerce 2011 Getting the Deal Through published a fully revised and updated seventh edition of e-Commerce, a volume in GTDT's series of annual reports published by Law Business Research. This publication provides international analysis in key areas of law and policy for corporate counsel, cross-border legal practitioners and business people ...
The Bribery Act 2010 is due to come into force in April 2011, with significant implications for organisations incorporated or formed in the UK. It also affects those carrying out their business or part of their business in the UK wherever in the world they were incorporated or formed. The Act goes much further than the existing legislation and similar foreign legislation, such as the US Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act ...
Dubai: Afridi & Angell - Stuart Walker, Partner quoted in this article: There are still a number of challenges which start-ups should be well aware of. These include, but are not restricted to, getting the financing through, the relatively high operational costs and labour considerations. Image A belief of sorts exists that only those with a long and direct exposure to the local marketplace can set up and successfully run a business here ...
Although the Obama administration and Senator Reid (D-NV) have not altered their position to keep used nuclear fuel out of Yucca Mountain and the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission continues to meet to develop a nuclear waste strategy (even though a coherent strategy was enacted in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has reaffirmed its confidence in the ability of licensees to be able to safely store high-level nuclear waste ...
Social networks: Hype and its legal consequences published in: WirtschaftsBlatt,Author: Dr. Axel Anderl, LL.m., Mag. Martina Schmid Social networking platforms like Facebook, MySpace or XING are an increasing popularity. It has never been so easy to operate social networking ...
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed changes to the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR”) and to the Premerger Notification and Report Form (“Form”) required to be filed by companies with the FTC or Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“Agencies”) for their review of certain proposed transactions with a value in excess of $63.4 million (the current size of the transaction threshold) ...
In two actions released last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) signaled its new focus on credit rating agencies and foretold the seriousness with which it will approach the expanded regulatory authority granted to the SEC by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”). On August 31, 2010, the SEC released a Section 21(a) report on its investigation of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc ...
Companies are now required to grant proxy access to director nominees submitted by shareholders pursuant to new rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on August 25, 2010. The series of amendments to the federal proxy access rules, passed by a 3-2 vote, is designed to facilitate shareholders' rights to nominate directors by requiring a company to include shareholder nominees in the company's proxy materials ...
When a business owner has entered into a confidentiality agreement and a letter of intent (“LOI”) and has provided a potential buyer with requested due diligence materials, it is time to document the sale of the business with the transaction documents, including a purchase agreement, a bill of sale, and many other items (often the transaction documents are negotiated on a parallel basis while the due diligence process is underway) ...
When a donor attempts to cancel or withdraw from a charitable pledge, many organizations choose not to enforce the pledge in the spirit of donor and public relations. However, it is important to understand that charitable pledges can be legally enforceable obligations. Following is a summary of Texas law regarding enforceability of pledges ...
The use of hydraulic fracturing, sometimes called "fracking," has made it economically possible to produce hydrocarbons, mainly gas, from the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Shale gas development from the Marcellus Shale is focused in four states: New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. These states are now facing environmental and surface-use issues which may be unfamiliar to developers from outside the region ...
INITIATING THE SALE PROCESS – THE LOI When a business has located a potential buyer and is presented with a purchase offer (sometimes referred to as a letter of intent or “LOI”), many issues arise from that offer, including (i) the necessity of entering into a confidentiality agreement, (ii) the evaluation of the purchase offer, and (iii) the navigation of the due diligence process ...
