The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (the "Act") received Royal Assent on 12 November 2009. Among other things it introduces a new statutory right for employees to request time off from work to study or train. From 6 April 2010 the new right only applies to employers with 250 or more employees. It is expected to apply to all other employers from 6 April 2011 ...
As the tax-exempt environment continues to become increasingly complex and focused on compliance and governance, it becomes more important to be aware of issues significant to the IRS. We have highlighted below a few of the issues on the IRS’ radar for 2010. Employment Tax Examinations ...
On January 1, 2010, the Texas Business Organizations Code (“TBOC”) became applicable to all Texas entities and foreign entities required to register to do business in Texas ...
A landmark High Court decision handed down yesterday will have a significant impact on how regulators approach prosecutions of employers for breaches of occupational health and safety laws (OHS laws) across Australia ...
On January 19, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its annual adjustment to the pre-merger notification filing thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (HSR), and for the first time in history, the HSR thresholds were decreased. The new thresholds became effective February 22, 2010 ...
When a governmental entity believes that information requested from it under the Texas Public Information Act (“PIA”) is exempt from disclosure, the PIA requires the entity to request an attorney general’s opinion within 10 business days after receiving the request. However, the PIA also allows the governmental entity to ask the requestor to clarify a request it finds to be unclear ...
Historically, a significant number of states had a general policy of respecting the form of a transaction chosen by a taxpayer and applied their sales tax laws based on that form of transaction ...
The increased scrutiny on company directors means there is an onus on them to be aware of their roles and responsibilities. As the recent Residence receivership case showed, company directors are facing greater scrutiny than ever by the courts. While many cases arise because of personal borrowings or guarantees, many relate to whether a director has acted honestly and responsibly as a director ...
By Igor Svechkar, Partner with AstersLatest Developments Despite great expectations, 2009 has not seen any major legislative developments, the most noticeable changes relating to unfair competition regulation – in early 2009 the restatement of the Unfair Competition Act 1996 took effect to exclude a number of rudiments and bring the law into procedural conformity with the Competition Act 2001 ...
Since the start of 2009, there have been material changes to the form and content of periodic reports and proxy statements. This memorandum outlines the changes in the federal securities laws and New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) rules since January 2009 that impact the form and content of 2009 Forms 10-K and 2010 proxy statements for domestic issuers subject to Regulation S-K.Topics included in the guide are as follows: I ...
The decision by an employer to off er a pension plan to its employees is an important one. Various types of pension plans may be off ered, and the financial risk of the employer depends on the type of plan chosen.While unions and employees generally prefer defined benefit pension plans,(1) employers are now very reluctant to implement such plans because of the financial liability they entail ...
By Armen Khachaturyan, Senior Partner and Iryna Pokanay, Partner at Asters2009 was a difficult year for Ukrainian capital markets. The Global Recession badly affected the real sector of Ukrainian economy and practically froze activities on raising debt or equity capital. The doors of international debt and equity capital markets remained closed for Ukrainian borrowers throughout the year. Raising debt on the domestic market proved to be not less difficult ...
Dear Sirs, We would like to present you a brief overview of tax legislation updates concerning transfer pricing and VAT on services upon importation of goods into the territory of the Russian Federation. Draft law On Transfer Pricing We would like to pay your attention to the fact that draft law “On transfer pricing” was accepted by the State Duma in the 1st reading ...
By Oleksandr I. Vygovskyy, Associate with AstersThe world financial crisis seriously affecting the Ukrainian economy became an "endurance test" for a greater part of Ukrainian companies at various sectors of national economy. Outstanding corporate debts are menacingly zooming up, and many companies, unable to service their debt burden, appeared next door to bankruptcy ...
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The Texas Business Organizations Code (the “TBOC”) – enacted in 2003 and generally effective January 1, 2006 – combined the laws found in a number of Texas statutes (including the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act and the Texas Unincorporated Non-Profit Association Act), standardized filing requirements and fees for Texas entities, made other substantive changes, and implemented new terminology ...
Dear Sirs, We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation has drafted the Federal law “On amending the Civil Ñode of the Russian Federation, the Federal law “On joint stock companies” and some other legal acts of the Russian Federation” (hereafter – “the Draft law”) ...
Academics are often called to give evidence as expert witnesses and use the name of their employer institution in doing so. Indeed, an association with a well-known tertiary institution is often a drawcard when selecting an expert witness. As the discussion below demonstrates, an expert's role is not necessarily straightforward ...
Once again, Congress has extended the period during which an individual must be involuntarily terminated (as defined for purposes of the COBRA subsidy, an “Invol Term”) to be eligible for the COBRA subsidy. Invol Terms occurring through March 31, 2010 will be eligible for the COBRA subsidy. This change is effective retroactively, so that those persons with an Invol Term on March 1, 2010 are still eligible for the COBRA Subsidy ...
CONTENTS *Major Reform to Quebec Corporate Law *Contesting Property Assessment *Basic Notions About Foreign Workers or Business Immigration 101 On October 7, 2009, the Minister of Finance of Quebec tabled Bill 63 entitled the Business Corporations Act (the “Bill”). The Bill was assented to on December 4, 2009 by the National Assembly and will come into force some time in 2011 ...
As we navigate the waters of these tough economic times, appraisal districts faced with massive city, school and county revenue losses caused by declining property values will most likely try to stem the tide by not voluntarily lowering taxpayers’ 2010 property values to their fair market values ...
A new wrinkle in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy cases emerged recently when a U.S. bankruptcy judge issued an opinion directly at odds with the decisions previously rendered by certain English courts regarding priority of payment provisions (the “Priority Provisions”) with respect to collateral under the “Dante Program ...
by Dr. Martin Imhof The District Court of Frankfurt has recently issued a crucial decision in which the court casted reasonable doubt on the effectiveness of the notarization of an assignment or a pledging of shares in a German limited liability company (GmbH) by a Swiss notary ...
The Texas franchise tax (also known as the “margin tax”) is so expansive that it can apply to private trusts administered in Texas. Every taxable entity is subject to the franchise tax, and the term “taxable entity” generally includes trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. If the franchise tax applies to a trust, the amount of franchise tax will typically be 0.7% of the trust's federal gross income that is apportioned to Texas (i.e ...
The Department of Labor issued new model notices that reflect the most recent extension of the COBRA subsidy, which covers involuntary terminations that occur through March 31, 2010. The following updated model notices are available here ...
