The Arbitration & Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 ("Ordinance") was promulgated on October 23, 2015 to introduce substantial changes to the [Indian] Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 ("Act").
November 10, 2015
We are pleased to present Gibson Dunn's third "Federal Circuit Year In Review," providing a statistical overview and substantive summaries of the 110 precedential patent opinions issued by the Federal Circuit over the 2014-2015 year.
November 9, 2015
Hong Kong recently commenced the final countdown towards implementing its new competition regime, many elements of which are inspired by competition rules in Western jurisdictions. On July 17, it issued a "Commencement Notice" for the introduction of a Competition Ordinance (the "Ordinance") which is scheduled to come into force in six weeks' time, on December 14, 2015.
November 3, 2015
On October 22, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC" or "Commission") Division of Corporation Finance (the "Division") issued Staff Legal Bulletin No.
October 26, 2015
This client alert is supplemental to our client alert dated March 11, 2015. In the March alert, we had advised that the Indian government had increased the ceiling on foreign investment in an Indian insurance company to 49% of its total outstanding share capital.
October 22, 2015
On October 8, 2015, the presidential campaign for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the candidate's prescriptions for further regulation of the U.S.
October 22, 2015
For the third successive Congress, we are releasing a table of authorities that summarizes the investigative powers of each House and Senate committee. We believe that understanding a committee's investigative powers is crucial to successfully navigating a congressional investigation. Congressional committees have the power to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to produce documents, testify at committee hearings, and, in some cases, appear for depositions. Although the Fifth Amendment applies in the context of a congressional investigation, standing committees nevertheless may appeal to the full House or Senate to hold in contempt any witness who refuses to appear, answer questions, or produce documents. Congressional contempt authority may take one of three
October 21, 2015
The Indian MarketThe Indian economy has emerged as an attractive investment destination despite the recent economic upheavals in other emerging markets.
October 21, 2015
Earlier today, the IRS released its cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) applicable to tax-qualified retirement plans for 2016. The vast majority of these limitations, including the elective deferral and catch-up contribution limits for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b) and 457 tax qualified retirement plans, remain unchanged from 2015 levels because increases in the cost-of-living index did not meet statutory thresholds that would trigger their adjustment.
October 21, 2015
This is the latest update of significant developments relating to qui tam, securities, and other lawsuits and investigations involving schools, especially private-sector schools. In this edition, we look at developments in, and the likely future of, cases alleging violations of the so-called incentive compensation provision of the Higher Education Act, as well as the expanding scope of federal and state investigations into private-sector schools.A. A Number of Significant Developments Relating to Compensation Cases As readers of this update well know, much of the litigation affecting the sector over the last decade has related to schools' compliance with the Higher Education Act's so-called incentive compensation provision, which prohibits schools from paying &quo
October 21, 2015
The UK has and continues to be an open market for international buyers (whether unsolicited or recommended). Between 2013 and H1 2015, an average of 65% of firm takeover offers for UK listed companies were made by international bidders. Data from the past decade shows that over half of hostile takeovers result in success for bidders. Notwithstanding these encouraging statistics, the rules governing UK takeovers, particularly for international acquirers, can appear opaque and a challenge to navigate. Reports in the press of parties being outed and subject to the "put up or shut up" regime, "being held to statements" or being required to issue "clarificatory statements" can deter the misinformed bidder. In this Alert we seek to u
October 20, 2015
October 18, 2015 marked Adoption Day, the latest milestone in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA") between the E3/EU+3 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the Islamic Republic of Iran to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program.
October 19, 2015
On October 7, 2015, the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it is "launch[ing] a rulemaking process" that is intended to impede the use of "pre-dispute arbitration agreements for consumer financial products and services." The proposal currently under consideration by the Bureau would (1) "prohibit companies from blocking group lawsuits through the use of arbitration clauses in their contracts;" and (2) "require companies to send to the Bureau all filings made by or against them in consumer financial arbitration disputes" and any resulting decisions, "which might be made public."
October 13, 2015
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled today in a case concerning rebates and when they fall foul of EU competition law. BackgroundThe case concerns Post Danmark and, unlike appeals against European Commission Decisions, came by way of a reference from the Danish High Court seeking formal guidance on the interpretation of EU law relating to rebates. This is the second of two such cases involving Post Danmark, the first having been decided in 2012.
October 6, 2015
The UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 ("the CRA") came into force on 1 October 2015, fundamentally transforming the cartel claims environment in the UK, and introducing class actions (as US litigators might understand the term) for the first time to English law.Schedule 8 of the CRA creates a new collective proceedings regime for damages claims before the Competition Appeals Tribunal ("the CAT").
October 2, 2015
On September 24, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had voted to propose amendments to rules governing its administrative proceedings.
September 28, 2015
When the Supreme Court issued its decision in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund, 135 S. Ct. 1318 (2015), plaintiff and defense counsel had warring views on what its practical impact would be, particularly at the motion to dismiss stage of securities class actions brought under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A recent decision from the Southern District of New York, City of Westland Police and Fire Retirement System v.
September 28, 2015
If you are contemplating entering into investments in foreign markets, early consideration of protections available under bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral investment treaties (MITs) is crucial. I. When should you be considering BITs and MITs?BITs and MITs protection should be considered where your investment involves a heavily regulated industry or agreements directly with a foreign state (or state-owned entity)."Investment" for these purposes, potentially covers a broad range of interests and transactions from mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, purchases of securities or assets, project financing, concession contracts, greenfield asset development, manufacturing plant construction and, in some cases, can also exte
September 25, 2015
In an opinion last week, the Delaware Court of Chancery, following other recent decisions from that Court, strongly signaled that stockholder lawsuits in Delaware attacking mergers may no longer be resolved by a corporate defendant providing additional disclosures to stockholders in exchange for a broad release of claims against all defendants. Signaling the end to what has become common practice in stockholder litigation routinely challenging mergers, Vice Chancellor Glasscock noted in his decision approving a settlement in In re Riverbed Technologies that, "in light of this Memorandum Opinion," expectations that the court will approve such broad releases in exchange for additional disclosures "will be diminished or eliminated going forward."The settlement arose
September 24, 2015
Last week Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez opened the agency's "Start with Security" conference series by describing three aspects of the agency's approach to assessing companies' data security practices. Chairwoman Ramirez highlighted that companies should (1) consider security when designing new products and services; (2) test their systems for security vulnerabilities; and (3) implement robust processes for reviewing, addressing, and internally escalating security-related red flags. Chairwoman Ramirez's comments provide further information regarding the data security practices the FTC views as "reasonable"--that is, the practices the FTC views as passing muster under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which forbids actions that a
September 15, 2015