A federal jury in Nevada recently convicted 22-year-old David Ray Camez of violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) for his association with a “carder” website, Carder.su. The Department of Justice is touting this conviction as the first RICO conviction arising from computer-related crimes, and we anticipate that RICO will become an effective tool for prosecutors and private businesses to use in combatting cybercrime going forward. RICO (18 U.S.C ...
On June 12, 2013, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered a decision in the case of Fers et Métaux Américains S.E.C. et als v. Picard et als1 (“Fers et Métaux Américains S.E.C.”) confirming that the courts can issue Norwich-type orders in Quebec. This decision is consistent with the judgment rendered by the Quebec Court of Appeal, in 2002, in Raymond Chabot SST inc. v. Groupe AST (1993) inc.,2 which recognized that Anton Piller-type orders could be validly issued in Quebec ...
In Jaffé v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., et al ...
The federal Endangered Species Act is designed to prevent the taking of endangered species and imposes a regulatory program geared toward the protection and conservation of federally listed species and their critical habitat ...
Jorge Carey:“Analyzing the repeal or modification of DL600 is an issue that can bediscussed” Jorge Carey, who has been involved in several businesses with foreigninvestors, has doubts about a reform, believing that it is not a good idea thatthis type of changes are implemented by a left or center-left governmentsbecause it risks to bring unnecessary (political) noise ...
On October 23, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued proposed rules to effect Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startup (JOBS) Act, enacted on April 5, 2012. Title III and the proposed rules provide the framework for companies to raise capital through securities offerings using crowdfunding. Below is a summary of the proposed rules ...
A recent court order in favor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (or CFTC) and new rules issued by CFTC establish a standard of liability for depository institutions that fail to fulfill their customer funds protection obligations under the Commodity Exchange Act (or CEA) and, thus, requires them in certain circumstances to monitor the activities of clients that are registered with CFTC as futures commission merchants (or FCMs), commonly known as commodity brokers ...
THE 1979 STATUTE It is well known that, under the legal regime for the protection of agricultural lands, the acquisition of agriculturally zoned lands with a surface area of four hectares or more by a person not residing in Quebec is subject to the authorization of the Commission de protection des terres agricoles. This is the object of the Act respecting the acquisition of farm land by non-residents (CQLR chapter A-4.1) (the “Act”), which has been in force since December 21, 1979 ...
Purchasers and lessees of commercial or industrial properties know to obtain Phase I environmental site assessments to identify the presence of contamination - so-called recognized environmental conditions (RECs) - because of the very substantial liabilities these conditions may create. And their lenders generally require them. The industry standard for Phase I’s is based on EPA regulations that flesh out Superfund’s “all appropriate inquiry (AAI)” standard ...
In In re KB Toys,1 a recent decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court held that a claim that is disallowable under § 502(d)2 if held by the original claimant is also disallowable in the hands of a purchaser or subsequent transferee ...
In October 2013 the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) published a consultation on company filing requirements as part of its Red Tape Challenge (RTC) to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden. The consultation aims to consider where opportunities may exist to improve and simplify the current requirements for companies to file certain information with the Registrar of Companies at Companies House ...
The FCA has published a consultation paper CP 13/15. The paper sets out a series of amended Listing Rules in near-final form, along with some new and revised proposals based on feedback from a previous consultation (CP 12/25). The paper contains a package of measures designed to strengthen minority shareholder rights where they are at risk of being abused ...
Introduction Last week, the federal government took a big step toward bringing the Fisheries Act (Canada) and its application into line with the federal government’s responsible resource development plan ...
The Colombian government, aware of the need to improveinfrastructure in order to reduce logistical costs and thereby promote the country’s growth and development, is currently in the process of selecting contractors for the fourth generation road concessionprogram, which envisages the award of approximately 25 concession contracts, with total investment of close to €18,300 million ...
The European Parliament’s Auken Report made it clear that Spain is coming up short as far as protecting its coastline is concerned. Application of Coastal Law 22/1988, of July 28, 1988, fast-tracked in recent years, not only brought with it no little confusion for all concerned, it also failed to contribute to the protection of the coastline, which clearly leaves a great deal to be desired along certain stretches of the Spanish coast ...
On October 31, 2013, the Supreme Court rendered three judgments with respect to class actions at the authorization or certification stage, one from the Province of Quebec1 and the other two from the Province of British Columbia.2 In all three cases, the facts raised issues with respect to the price fixing of consumer products in contravention of the Competition Act,3 notably through a conspiracy ...
In this article, we provide a brief overview of some of the changes in the rules governing Hungarian public procurement procedures, changes which entered into force on 1 July 2013 and which are of a larger practical relevance. The Act no CXVI of 2013 on the amendment of the Act no CVIII of 2011 on Public Procurement Proceedings brought about some important changes effective as from 1 July 2013. Below, we will briefly discuss two of these changes ...
On 3 October 2013, DG Environment of the European Commission published its final report following the public consultation on ‘Unconventional fossil fuels’ (e.g. shale gas). Since this is an important stage in the legislative process, the purpose of this note is to provide you with a brief outline of its findings and follow up. Importantly, the European Commission has announced that in December 2013 the impact assessment will follow ...
BackgroundOn June 12, 2013, the Canadian government announced its intention to introduce new legislation requiring the disclosure of payments made by Canadian extractive resource companies to domestic and foreign governments. While the United States and European Union have both already taken steps towards implementing mandatory payment reporting requirements for their mining, oil, and gas companies, Canada has now also joined the global movement towards transparency in this regard ...
The Second Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by the former general counsel of a clinical laboratory because the counsel disclosed confidential information in violation of state ethics rules. In Fair Labor Practices Associates v. Quest Diagnostics Inc., 2013 WL 5763181 (2nd Cir. Oct ...
The art of listening sometimes escapes even the most intelligent people. A person who does not listen often brings an uncomfortable feeling to a relationship – whether professional or personal. Listening is a vital piece of excellent client service delivery. It requires you to be silent but very aware of what the client says are his or her needs ...
On October 17th, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-awaited decision in Castonguay Blasting, commonly referred to as the fly-rock case. To summarize, Castonguay was doing some blasting work and rock was unexpectedly projected outside the work site, landing on someone’s property and damaging a home and a vehicle. No one was hurt and there was no environmental damage ...
Each summer, I review judgments dealing withcontract law issues looking for decisions of relevance to commercial lawyersand business leaders.[1] Contract law principles typically do notchange overnight; rather, they are modified incrementally. Where I find a case that illustrates anincremental change, I use it as a springboard for discussing the state of thelaw on the particular issue and how it affects commercial practice ...
The United States Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this month in three important securities cases regarding the preemptive scope of the federal securities laws. At issue is the meaning of the phrase “in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security” under the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”) ...
