Many are familiar with the “Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Standard” issued by ASTM, used for satisfying “All Appropriate Inquiry” for environmental contamination. Last week, ASTM issued a revised standard, Phase I ESA Standard E1527-13, with...
The US Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a new rule that modifies the "use it or lose it" rule for health flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and provides clarification regarding transition relief available for...
Several years ago, the SEC sent shockwaves through the private equity and hedge fund industries. The SEC launched an industry investigation focused on the legal principle that foreign sovereign wealth funds were a part of foreign governments and led...
Now that the recession appears to be fading into memory, Section 1031 Exchanges are on the rise. Section 1031 of the Federal Tax Code allows property owners to defer taxes by exchanging the sale property into one or more other real properties....
Anti-abortion activist Ryan Bomberger of The Radiance Foundation thought he had an unassailable First Amendment defense. After all, his use of the phrase “National Association for the Abortion of Colored People,” in order to criticize the National...
The CFPB will hold a forum on auto finance in Washington, D.C. on November 14, 2013. According to the CFPB, the forum will include a discussion with consumer groups, industry representative and members of the public. The forum comes on the heels of...
The Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) are focusing their examination and disciplinary efforts on the investment adviser community....
Recently, in IBEW Local 90 Pension Fund v. Deutsche Bank AG, No. 11-cv-4209, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155136 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 29, 2013), District Judge Katherine Forrest declined to certify a class of securities plaintiffs and granted the defendant,...
Recent developments - The High Court of Australia (High Court) recently took a very practical approach to resolving a dispute relating to the inadvertent disclosure of privileged documents. The decision, ordering the documents to be returned, was...
