Personnel Season is fast approaching for county boards of education. Personnel offices are busy ensuring proper notices are sent to impacted employees, employees are afforded hearings before a reduction or transfer is acted upon by the board, and board of education agendas are legally compliant. At the same time, personnel offices are receiving early notice of year-end retirements from classroom teachers. W. V a ...
Companies looking to purchase non-operating working interests will review longstanding operating agreements, or negotiate the terms of new operating agreements, to ensure that appropriate non-operator rights are present and enforceable ...
On January 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Interior ("Department") announced its draft proposal of the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf ("OCS") Oil and Gas Leasing Program that would reopen nearly all federal waters to offshore leasing for new oil and gas operations ...
In January 2018, Mexico’s Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) published several Guidelines as part of the applicable rules for the Wholesale Power Market (“WEM”) in the Federal Gazette. This Haynes and Boone alert is important to all participants of the WEM, including qualified users, suppliers, marketers, non-suppliers and generators. 1 ...
The end of 2017 saw a number of changes in the regulatory framework of the Rwandan financial sector, the most significant of which included a change in the law governing the regulator of the financial sector (the National Bank of Rwanda) and the enactment of the New Banking Act governing the organisation of banking, both of which were gazetted in October 2017 ...
MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI) and Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), announced last week the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the Committee) failed to approve their proposed merger. CFIUS is an inter-executive agency committee which reviews, and has the authority to reject, certain transactions that may affect the national security of the United States ...
A new requirement will be introduced shortly that will affect all applications for employment visas. At the start of 2018, a Good Conduct and Behavior Certificate must be submitted along with the other supporting documents when an employer seeks to sponsor a residence visa for a new employee who is not a UAE national. It appears that the requirement will apply throughout the UAE, including the nation’s many free zones ...
On November 27, 2017, at the 34th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a revised FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy, which purports to lend certainty for companies grappling with the question of whether to voluntarily disclose violations. This new policy comes on the heels of the year and-a-half long FCPA Pilot Program ...
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX), along with co-sponsors Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Burr (R-NC), Sen. Peters (D-MI), Sen. Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN), introduced the “Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017” (FIRRMA) November 8, 2017. This proposed bill, and a companion bill of the same name introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep ...
The Serbian Competition Commission (the "Commission") recently fined four undertakings for bid rigging in the public procurement for the maintenance of train wagons. The contracting authority, the "Nikola Tesla" power plant, which represents the largest electricity-producing complex in Serbia, informed the Commission about possible collusion in public procurement for repair services for the train wagons it uses in coal transportation ...
Why is April 2, 2018 Important? April 2, 2018 is the first day on which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept H-1B specialty worker petitions for the next fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018 ...
Parents seeking to enroll their children in schools located in another county are required to comply with the statutory requirements of W. Va. Code 18-5-16(b) and WVDE Policy 7212. Step One: The parent must first obtain the consent of the sending county board and the receiving county board. The WVDE in the past has recommended parents make the requests to the sending and receiving counties at the same time. Step Two: The sending county must approve the request ...
The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently issued guidelines to address safety and health issues faced by workers who, by the nature of their work, have to stand or sit for long periods. The DOLE noted that the wearing of high heeled shoes and/or standing at work for long periods or even frequent walking lead to health issues such as strain on the lower limbs, aching muscles, hazardous pressure on the hip, knee and ankle joints and sore feet ...
As seen in Bank Director The process of establishing a de novo bank always has been complicated and time-consuming, and occasionally even painful. But since the beginning of the financial crisis, it seems that obtaining deposit insurance for a de novo bank has become a nearly impossible task. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. received 1,738 applications for deposit insurance from 2000 through 2008, and approved 1,258 of those applications—an approval rate of 72 percent ...
Earlier this week, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published draft amendments to EMIR-related regulatory technical standards (RTS) that align the treatment of variation margin (VM) for FX forwards with the supervisory guidance applicable in other key jurisdictions. More specifically the draft amendments propose that the requirement to exchange VM for physically settled FX forwards shall only target transactions between institutions (credit institutions and investment firms) ...
The UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) is undergoing a review by the Financial Regulatory Council (FRC) in the UK. A consultation process was announced by the FRC earlier this year, with a view to making changes to the Code to reflect the changing business environment in the UK ...
The national competition authorities in South Eastern Europe are evidently increasing and strengthening their cross-border cooperation and communication, allowing for a more effective regional approach in the protection of competition. Taking into account common challenges and economic interdependence, as well as similar goals in EU integration, the authorities appear to have recognized significant merit in a broader regional framework for competition enforcement ...
As of late this year [1], the Agency of Natural Resources and Energy announced that it has issued deadlines for the submission of renewable energy application documents, etc. based on the FIT Act in FY 2017. Upon submission of these applications, etc. they will be reviewed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), however, every year, the review process tends to be stalled because of the large number of applications submitted at the end of the fiscal year ...
Mexico maintains a minimum strategic storage inventory of crude oil and refined oil products, such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, to guarantee market supply for a determined period of time. Under Article 80 Section II of the Hydrocarbons Law, the Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) has the authority to issue public policies to determine the required strategic storage volumes ...
On December 7, 2017, the Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) announced the first bidding process for the financing, installation, maintenance, management, and operation of the Baja California Electric System interconnection with the National Grid (“National Grid”). This is the first power transmission project allowing private participation in power transmission lines in Mexico. The estimated investment will be US$1.1 billion ...
The draft laws implementing AMLD 4 set out strict rules to allow for protection against improper access to the information on BOs. At the of 2017, the Luxembourg Parliament published two draft laws to implement new transparency measures provided by Directive 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (“AMLD 4”) ...
As part of the implementation of the Mexican energy reform of 2013, several new regulations and administrative guidelines affecting the hydrocarbons and power industries were issued during November 2017. These are of particular importance to oil and gas producers, midstream companies and power generators, traders and others looking to invest or expand operations in Mexico’s dynamic energy sector. I. Hydrocarbons November 8, 2017 ...
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed dismissal of an FCA complaint that failed to meet the FCA’s stringent pleading requirements. See United States ex rel. Ibanez v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., No. 16-3154, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 21328 (6th Cir. Oct. 27, 2017) ...
With less than 30 days to go before the new MiFID II regime will be rolled out, funds and management companies/AIFM are increasingly concerned as to how they will be impacted: product governance inducements and payment for research increased client information requirements complex and non-complex products classification How will you be impacted by the new regime? We can help you to get ready! At Arendt, we have built up significant expertise in assisting clients
The Romanian Government has recently approved a draft law on mining activities that is intended to replace the existing law. In order to be enacted, the draft law needs to pass the Parliament test, which means that it will not come into force this year. In addition, the draft can suffer many changes in the parliamentary proceeding ...
