Recent Articles

SEC's Division of Corporation Finance to Review Foreign Private Issuer Reporting Requirements

March 16, 2012 16:27

Co-authored by David. S. Kravitz. On March 8, Meredith Cross, the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance, delivered a speech at a conference in London in which she stated that the SEC would review its approach to regulating foreign private...

Court Applies Alter Ego Doctrine to Deny Motion to Dismiss For Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

March 16, 2012 16:26

Co-authored by Jason F. Clouser. An Arizona district court recently relied on the alter ego doctrine to deny a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in a case involving breach of a partnership agreement and trademark infringement.The plaintiff, Activator Methods International, Ltd....

Missouri Court Holds That Economic Loss Doctrine Bars Plaintiff's Tort Claims

March 16, 2012 16:25

Co-authored by Jason F. Clouser. A Missouri district court recently ruled that a negligent misrepresentation claim was barred by the economic loss doctrine in a case involving a merchant-to-merchant sale of allegedly defective products.The plaintiff, Bruce Martin Construction, Inc. (Martin), a...

Federal Reserve Announces Stress Test Results

March 16, 2012 16:24

On March 13, the Federal Reserve announced summary results of the latest round of bank stress tests, which show that the majority of the 19 largest U.S. banks would continue to meet supervisory expectations for capital adequacy despite large projected losses in an extremely adverse hypothetical...

Federal Reserve Announces Mobile Banking Survey Results

March 16, 2012 16:24

According to the Federal Reserve, "one out of five American consumers used their mobile phone to access their bank account, credit card, or other financial account in the 12 months ending in January 2012 and an additional one out of five indicated they would likely use mobile banking at some...

Audits May Soon Require Even Greater Scrutiny of Executive Compensation

March 16, 2012 16:21

Co-authored by Ann M. Kim and Daniel B. Lange. Citing a concern about increased risk of fraud and material misstatement, on February 28, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the PCAOB) issued Release No. 2012-001 (the Proposal). The Proposal would amend public company auditing standards...

FSA Censures Bank of Scotland for Serious Systems Failures

March 16, 2012 16:20

On March 9, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced a public censure of Bank of Scotland plc in respect of failings of the bank’s corporate division relating to sub-investment grade lending.The FSA found that between January 2006 and December 2008, the bank had failed to comply...

HM Treasury Discussion Paper on Policy Options for Implementing AIFMD

March 16, 2012 16:17

On March 14, HM Treasury published a discussion paper on high level policy options for implementing the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EU) (AIFMD). The comment period lasts until May 4.The areas covered by the policy paper are: Whether the UK should continue to...

SEC and CFTC Propose Rules on Identity Theft Detection and Prevention

March 09, 2012 17:21

Please see “SEC and CFTC Propose Rules on Identity Theft Detection and Prevention” below linked here. 

FINRA Best Execution and Interpositioning Rule Effective May 31, 2012

March 09, 2012 17:14

Co-authored by Tanja Samardzija. As reported in the October 21, 2011 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proposed a rule change to adopt NASD Rule 2320 (Best Execution and Interpositioning) and Interpretive Material 2320...