Your Commercial Law Updates

Follow Other Topics » Email to Colleague »     Commercial Law   Legal intelligence from leading lawyers and law firms     Race to the Bottom: Wal-Mart's FCPA Investigation and the Houston Astros   So who do you think had the better day – the Houston Astros Monday or Wal-Mart Tuesday? Yesterday, the Astros announced the signing of Carlos Pena to be their Designated Hitter (DH) for the 2013 season. Pena’s 2012 average – a whopping ‘buck ‘97’;... By: Thomas Fox     Reinsurance Redux - December 2012   In This Issue: - Southern District of New York Orders Arbitration Panel to Proceed with Umpire Selection: Finding the Federal Arbitration Act mandates that a provision in a reinsurance agreement establishing a method for umpire selection must... By: Saul Ewing LLP     A Recent Off-The-Clock Case Should Not Breed Complacency   It might sometimes seem from the parade of headline-grabbing, employee-favoring court decisions that employers are destined to lose in so-called "off-the-clock" cases under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.... By: Fisher & Phillips LLP     New SEC Chair: What It May Mean for the Municipal Securities Market   Participants in the municipal securities market should take particular interest in the appointment of Elisse B. Walter as chair of the SEC. Her close association with regulation of the municipal securities market makes it likely that actions directed... By: Foley & Lardner LLP     Keep Sticking to the Four Corners - Extrinsic Evidence of Parties' Prior Conduct Cannot Alter the Interpretation of an Unambiguous Contract   In BDCM Fund Advisor, L.L.C. v. Zenni, No. 602116/08 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Nov. 15, 2012), Judge Eileen Bransten granted a motion for partial summary judgment for the defendants/counterclaim-plaintiffs, James J. Zenni (“Zenni”) and his group of investment... By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP     CFPB's "Paying for College" site continues to evolve   Last week Peter Jackson, the Senior Advisor for Communications at the CFPB, put up a post on the CFPB’s blog describing the CFPB’s “Paying for College” web tools, which are currently in a beta stage and which are still continuing to evolve.... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     Small Scale Food Businesses Consider Whether Nutritional Labeling Is Worth The Investment   Most food manufacturers are required to label products with nutritional information, but those who aren’t required must decide whether to do it anyway.... By: Varnum LLP     Integrating Employees' Smart Devices Into the Workplace   Originally published in The New York Law Journal on December 10, 2012. Companies are increasingly permitting employees to BYOD, or bring (and use) their own smart devices. Being able to use the latest, fastest, sleekest, coolest device promotes a... By: Mintz Levin - Employment, Labor & Benefits     Fannie Mae Updates Maximum Allowable Attorney Fees, Provides Standard Short Sale FAQs   On December 13, Fannie Mae issued Servicing Guide Announcement SVC-2012-26 to update the maximum allowable foreclosure attorney fees for mortgage loans, participation pool mortgage loans, and MBS mortgage loans serviced under the special servicing... By: BuckleySandler LLP     Financial Services Report -- Winter 2012   In This Issue: Bureau Report; Operations Report; Beltway Report; Arbitration Report; Mortgage Report; Privacy Report; Preemption Report; and Plastics Report. Excerpt from the Bureau Report: World’s Most Expensive Blue Sky - On October 1,... By: Morrison & Foerster LLP     Congress Acts On Several Banking Bills, Two Set For President's Signature   On December 11, the U.S. Senate passed by voice vote two bills impacting bank supervision and compliance. The first, H.R.4014, amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to protect information submitted to the CFPB as part of its supervisory process.... By: BuckleySandler LLP     Immigration Compliance: Seven Deadly Mistakes for Employers   Based on information provided by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and various year-end publications about the actions brought against employers for immigration violations in 2012, we have compiled a short list of exposures that employers... By: Ronald Shapiro     Don't Get Fried by Davis-Bacon   Web sites abound advising employees they can make “millions” by blowing the whistle on their employers for alleged violations of laws, rules, or regulations. The federal law known as the False Claims Act (FCA) also contains antiretaliation provisions... By: Foley & Lardner LLP     Hot Market, Cool Reactions - Aggressive pursuit of solar energy and local property-tax revenue pits town officials against local NIMBYs   Originally published in the Boston Business Journal on December 6, 2012. Orlando Pacheco is a rarity in the Bay State's budding green-energy sector, having managed to navigate a phalanx of local zoning laws and traditional NIMBYism to establish... By: Mintz Levin - Energy & Clean Technology     Delaware Chancery Court Strengthens First-Filed Action Rule   The Delaware Court of Chancery recently stayed a Delaware action in favor of an earlier-filed Texas case because they dealt with substantially similar facts, even where the two lawsuits did not contain identical claims. The ruling emphasizes that... By: Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP     CFPB Proposes Consumer Disclosure Experiments   On December 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) issued a proposal that would allow banks to test their own consumer disclosures, with Bureau approval, to see if the disclosure is effective. Known as the “Policy to Encourage Trial... By: Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP     € 20M Euro fine for failing to notify JV shareholding change to EU merger authority   The General Court of the European Union (the "General Court") has upheld the substantial €20 million fine imposed by the European Commission (the "Commission") on Belgium's largest electricity supplier, Electrabel, for its failure to notify and... By: Reed Smith     Investment Management Legal + Regulatory Update -- December 2012   In This Issue: Regulatory Updates - FSOC, FSB Turn Up Heat on SEC on Money Market Fund Reforms; SEC Staff: Beware of BDC Joint Transactions; SEC Reports 3,000 Whistles Blown in FYI 2012; Over 1500 Private Fund Advisers Registered with SEC since... By: Morrison & Foerster LLP     EU/ European Commission imposes record fines for CRT cartels   The European Commission recently fined seven international company groups with a total fine of around 1.47 billion EUR for two distinct cartels related to cathode ray tubes (CRT) used in colour television sets and computer monitors. The investigation... By: Karanovic & Nikolic Law Office     Cross-Border Resolutions: FDIC and Bank of England Release White Paper   On December 10, 2012, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the Bank of England released a white paper, Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions, describing how each would resolve a materially... By: Morrison & Foerster LLP     The corporate 'shield' is not impenetrable - Directors and Officers of Ontario business corporations take note   Under Ontario’s Business Corporations Act, a corporation has the rights, powers and privileges of a natural person. This means that a corporation can sue and be sued and will own assets and incur liabilities. Operating a business through a... By: Lerners LLP     FINRA Guidance on Suitability Rule   On December 10, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 12-55, which provides regulatory guidance in the form of a FAQ regarding customer suitability issues under FINRA Rule 2111.... By: Orrick - Structured Finance Group     Overriding Interest - Winter 2012   Highlighting developments and issues in the real estate industry - Winter 2012. In this issue: - Not Waving But Drowning - Client/Sector Focus - Our Residential Investment Practice - Case Summaries - New Offices - Events and announcements... By: K&L Gates LLP     CFPB reorganizes supervision staff   The CFPB is reorganizing its headquarters staff for supervision so it will no longer be divided into separate offices for nonbank and large bank supervision.... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     Immigration Reform Needed to Alleviate Doctor Shortages   As a spate of recent media reports have noted, patients in the U.S. are waiting longer and longer to get medical care as newer patients gain insurance under state and federal health care reforms.... By: Ronald Shapiro     See more Commercial Law advisories ›     Follow popular law news & updates with JD Supra on LinkedIn Today   Follow JD Supra » Forward to Colleague »  |  Follow Other Topics »   You received this email because you opted to do so via JD Supra. To stop receiving this digest, manage your subject subscriptions or unsubscribe from all.   JD Supra 10 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 300 Sausalito, CA 94965 Phone: 800-506-6010 (toll free)