News

"MSRB Proposes Professional Qualification Requirements for Municipal Advisors; Approves New Consolidated Registration Form"

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

Proposed Professional Qualification Requirements for Municipal Advisors - On March 17, 2014, the MSRB proposed draft amendments to Rules G-2 and G-3 which would, among other things, establish professional qualification requirements for municipal...

D.C. Circuit Denies Rehearing on Nuclear Waste Fee Decision

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

The D.C. Circuit last week denied the Department of Energy’s (DOE) petition for en banc review of the court’s November decision holding that the DOE could not continue to collect nuclear waste fees from utilities. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)...

Newlywed gets 30 years for pushing her husband off of cliff in national park

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

A Montana woman convicted of murder for pushing her husband of barely more than a week off of a cliff in Glacier National Park last summer was sentenced Thursday to 30 years and five months in federal prison.

FDA to Revisit “Evaporated Cane Juice” Draft Guidance

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

Earlier this month, the FDA announced that it would reopen the comment period on its draft guidance for the industry concerning use of the term “evaporated cane juice” (ECJ). Draft Guidance for Industry on Ingredients Declared as Evaporated Cane...

Supreme Court Rules that Severance Payments Are Taxable Under FICA

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

I have to admit, when I read the news that the Supreme Court had ruled earlier this week that severance payments are “wages” subject to payroll taxes, I thought I was on crazy pills: Didn’t we already know that? But, apparently, the IRS had received...

US Supreme Court Rules Severance Pay Subject to FICA Taxes

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that severance pay is subject to FICA tax. There had been uncertainty about whether FICA taxes were due on severance payments following disparate circuit court rulings in two cases: CSX Corp. v. U.S....

H-1B Lottery: How Will it Work if the Quota is Filled?

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

April 1, 2014, is the first day USCIS will accept H-1B petitions for quota/cap-subject cases for FY 2015, commencing October 1, 2014. Only 65,000 H-1Bs are available nationwide per year for new jobs for foreign workers requiring Bachelor’s degrees,...

Florida Supreme Court’s Decision in McCall v. U.S:

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

- Determined that the statutory caps on wrongful death non-economic damages (i.e., mental pain and suffering) provided in Section 766.118, Florida Statutes were unconstitutional because they violated the right to equal protection under Article I,...

Pemex Requests E&P Areas from SENER

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

On March 21, 2014 Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) submitted its round zero proposal to the Secretaría de Energía (SENER), Mexico’s department of energy. Although the details of the proposal are not yet public, SENER has indicated Pemex seeks to retain...

Kahn v. MF Worldwide Corp. The Delaware Supreme Court Affirms In re MFW Holding That a Going-Private Transaction May Gain the Benefit of Business Judgment Review

By EsqSocial Corporation 27/03/14

On March 14, 2014, the Delaware Supreme Court decided Kahn v. MF Worldwide Corp. and unanimously affirmed the Chancery Court’s ruling in In re MFW. As we discussed previously, in In re MFW, then-Chancellor (now Chief Justice) Strine ruled that a...

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