Corporate documents provided to the government as part of an investigation of the company are not excepted from disclosure for “personal privacy” purposes under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In Federal Communications Comm. v. AT&T Inc., the Supreme Court held AT&T did not have a personal privacy interest in documents the company provided to the FCC during an investigation ...
In an action filed this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged three outside directors of a public company with securities fraud based on their alleged failures to fulfill their roles and responsibilities as Board members. The SEC contends that by their actions and inaction, the outside directors – Jerome Krantz, Cary Chasin, and Gary Nadelman – facilitated and assisted in a massive accounting fraud at DHB Industries, Inc., a body armor supply company ...
Creditors and debtors often enter into agreements with respect to the repayment of indebtedness. These forbearance agreements or “standstill agreements” are useful tools whereby both creditors and debtors can work together to reach a common goal without the immediate need for realization of assets in a formal insolvency proceeding. In contrast, a settlement agreement is designed to bring finality to all or some part of the credit arrangement with the debtor ...
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 ”) ...
The Business Corporations Act (Quebec) (the “QBCA” or the “Act”) comes into force on February 14, 2011. Described as innovative by many, the Act provides a new regime for legal persons currently governed by Parts I and IA of the Companies Act (the “QCA”). The last significant amendments to the QCA dating back to the early 1980s, the QBCA has been eagerly awaited by the legal and business communities ...
In a welcome bit of good news for lenders, U.S. District Court Judge Gold (Southern District of Florida) reversed the portion of the 2009 bankruptcy court decision in the TOUSA, Inc. bankruptcy cases that had ordered the disgorgement of $403 million plus interest based on the holding that the amounts were received by certain lenders to the TOUSA parent in connection with a pre-petition transaction that constituted a fraudulent transfer ...
On February 8, 2011, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion that will have a major impact on Chapter 11 plan confirmation. In consolidated appeals stemming from the In re DBSD North America, Inc ...
Renewable energy in the form of utility scale wind and solar are best sited in the areas where the load profile is best - the solar belt for solar generation, and areas with high capacity factors for wind generation. The best areas for development of these resources are remote areas that lack access to transmission ...
Straight dealing ...
As required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rules regarding shareholder approval of executive compensation and “golden parachute” arrangements on January 25, 2011. See Release Nos. 33-9178 and 34-63768 ...
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 ...
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals of Texas, Third District, Austin, reinstated a “control person” claim under the Texas Securities Act (“TSA”) against Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. related to a former broker’s allegedly fraudulent outside sales transactions. David Fernea v. Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, Inc., No. 03-09-00566-CV (Tex. App. –Austin, Jan. 7, 2011). Allegations ...
On January 24, 2011, the Commissioner of Competition (Canada) filed a notice of application with the Competition Tribunal for dissolution of a merger (or divestiture of assets or control) resulting from the completed merger of CCS Corporation and Complete Environmental Inc., the latter of which owns Babkirk Land Services Inc ...
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 ...
Effective as of July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) repeals a key exemption from investment adviser registration currently relied upon by many private fund managers and replaces it with several much more limited exemptions from registration ...
Blissfully unaware that its customer, a merchant, is on the brink of filing a bankruptcy petition, your client has delivered goods on credit. The likely unhappy result: when the customer files, your client is left holding a general unsecured claim, with little chance to be paid until the conclusion of the proceeding. That may be years down the road, and when it finally takes place may amount to no more than pennies on the dollar. But all may not be lost ...
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) finalized reporting requirements for the petroleum and natural gas industry sector under its Mandatory Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) Reporting Rule, which are located in Subpart W of 40 C.F.R. Part 98 (“Subpart W”) on November 8, 2010 ...
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)) ...
