This is the latest update of significant developments relating to qui tam, securities, and other lawsuits and investigations involving schools, especially private-sector schools. This quarter was an eventful one with the establishment of helpful precedent in the Eleventh Circuit as well as several key district court decisions on the merits and on discovery obligations. But, as detailed below, the waters remain choppy, especially on the government enforcement side. A. Two Wins for Kaplan (and the Sector)This past quarter was a successful one for Kaplan, Inc.
April 23, 2015
On March 25, 2015, in a unanimous vote, the U.S.
April 22, 2015
Since January 2012, the U.S.
April 22, 2015
One of the lesser noticed changes in the new Basel III capital regime for U.S. banks is the super-capital charge for so-called "High Volatility Commercial Real Estate" (HVCRE) loans. Effective January 1, 2015, HVCRE loans carry a capital charge that is 50 percent higher than the capital charge for other commercial real estate loans. Because the final Basel III capital rule and accompanying preamble did not contain much gloss on how to apply the HVCRE test to particular transaction structures, the U.S.
April 17, 2015
On April 10, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued its much-anticipated en banc decision in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ford Motor Company. In the decision, the Sixth Circuit ruled that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), physical attendance is an essential function of most jobs and thus employers generally need not provide unpredictable telecommuting arrangements as an accommodation. In affirming the District Court's opinion granting summary judgment to Ford, the Sixth Circuit clarified that an employee's subjective testimony alone is insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material dispute, and confirmed that an employer's judgment regarding essential job functions will be respected when it is "job
April 13, 2015
Implementation of the derivatives market reforms contained in Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) may fairly be characterized as a herculean effort. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has finalized dozens of new rules to implement Title VII's provisions governing "swaps." Although Title VII requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) to implement similar provisions for "security-based swaps" (SBSs), the SEC's rulemaking process has lagged the CFTC's.Earlier this year, the SEC finalized two of its required rules: one (Final Regulation SBSR) governs the reporting of SBS information to registered security-based swap data repositories (SDRs) and r
April 8, 2015
The new UAE Commercial Companies Law ("New CCL") will come into effect in the next 3 months. Here is a list of 10 things you need to know about the New CCL.
April 7, 2015
On April 1, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced its first enforcement action against a company for including "improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements," SEC Press Release 2015-54, which the SEC asserted "impede[d]" employees from reporting possible securities violations to the Commission.
April 2, 2015
Earlier today, the Internal Revenue Service published in the Federal Register final regulations under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"). Code Section 162(m) limits the ability of public corporations to deduct compensation paid to any covered employee to the extent that such compensation exceeds $1,000,000 in any taxable year. For purposes of this rule, a public company's "covered employees" generally include the company's named executive officers (other than the company's chief financial officer) as reported to the company's shareholders under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.Code Section 162(m)(4)(C) provides an exception from the $1,000,000 deduction limit for "performance-based" compensation that meets the requirem
March 31, 2015
On March 24, 2015, a divided Supreme Court (7-2) reversed the Eighth Circuit's determination that the defendant in an infringement action could relitigate a finding by the Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB") that the defendant's mark was confusingly similar to the plaintiff's.
March 26, 2015
On March 24, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited decision in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund, 575 U.S.
March 25, 2015
The Bureau of Land Management at the Department of the Interior issued a final rule on March 20, 2015 updating the regulations governing hydraulic fracturing on public lands.
March 24, 2015
Los Angeles associate Vanessa C. Adriance is the author of "Complying with California’s Proposition 65 in the age of online commerce" which appeared on March 18, 2015 on the Fashion Law and Business Report blog.
March 18, 2015
In private company transactions, dealmakers often spend significant amounts of time talking about how to treat the cash held by an acquisition target. For example, if the buyer and the seller are negotiating price on the assumption that the target will be sold on a cash-free, debt-free basis, how does the purchase price get adjusted for cash that the target continues to hold at the time of closing? If the deal includes a working capital adjustment, how will cash and cash equivalents be taken into account? What are the procedures for measuring how much cash the target holds at closing? In cross-border deals, the issues about how to deal with target cash often become significantly more complex. Businesses that operate around the world may have cash in seve
March 16, 2015
The following Gibson Dunn alert, which originally was distributed on March 9, has been updated to reflect recent developments announced by the Indian Government.The Government of India had recently promulgated the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, dated December 26, 2014 ("Ordinance"), which substantially amended the existing Insurance Act, 1938, including in relation to foreign investment in Indian insurance companies.
March 11, 2015
In keeping with the explosive growth of regulatory oversight of business activities over the past decade, including in areas such as criminal cartel enforcement, antitrust and competition enforcers around the world have continued to closely scrutinize the competitive consequences of mergers and acquisitions.
March 11, 2015
The following Gibson Dunn alert, which originally was distributed on March 9, has been updated to reflect recent developments announced by the Indian Government.The Government of India had recently promulgated the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, dated December 26, 2014 ("Ordinance"), which substantially amended the existing Insurance Act, 1938, including in relation to foreign investment in Indian insurance companies.
March 11, 2015
Since 2012, France has imposed the so-called French social taxes (CSG, CRDS and prélèvement social) at a rate of 15.5% to gains and rental income derived from French real estate.
March 6, 2015
Munich partner Martin Schmid and associate Eike Grunert are authors of “Challenges and Compliance Risks of the new OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for Financial Institutions” [PDF] published in the April 2015 issue of the German publication Compliance Berater.
March 3, 2015
Munich partner Benno Schwarz and research assistant Nikita Malevanny are authors of “Country Report Russia” [PDF] published in the March 2015 issue of the German Compliance-Berater.
March 2, 2015