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Tax Dashboard
Visit our new Tax Dashboard where we gather important tax resources and developments from our lawyers as well as industry outlets.
The Fifth Circuit Holds Bankruptcy Code Can Impair Claims and Make-Whole Provision May Not Be Enforceable
On January 17, 2019, the Fifth Circuit held that a creditor is not impaired for the purpose of voting on a plan if it is the Bankruptcy Code (as opposed to plan treatment) that impairs a creditor’s claim. The court...
End User of Electricity Forward Contract Found Not To Be Forward Contract Merchant Under Bankruptcy Code Safe Harbor Provisions
On January 15 th , 2019, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio held that the end user of an electricity forward contact was not entitled to the benefits of the safe harbor provisions under Section 556...
IRS Provides Long-Awaited Guidance for Partially-Regulated Energy Companies under Code Section 163(j)
On November 26, 2018, the Treasury Department and IRS released proposed regulations (the Proposed Regulations) interpreting the limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense (Interest Expense) under Code Section 163(j), enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the...
Supreme Court Rules That Arbitrators Must Decide Whether A Dispute Is Arbitrable, Not Courts, When The Contract So Provides
Yesterday, in the first opinion issued by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the United States Supreme Court held that courts may not use a “wholly groundless” exception to disregard contractual provisions delegating the question of whether a dispute is arbitrable to the...
SEC Penalizes Issuer for Presenting Non-GAAP Financial Measures Without Giving Equal Prominence to GAAP Measures
In a cease-and-desist order dated December 26, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission enforced rules regarding the disclosure of non-GAAP financial measures, resulting in a $100,000 penalty to the violating issuer. With earnings season approaching, this enforcement action provides a...
Spotlight on Public Finance: Rule 15c2-12 Amendments
On February 27, 2019, significant amendments to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 15c2-12 will become effective. Join former SEC attorneys Paul Maco and Ed Fierro as we discuss the impact of the amendments on the (i) initial offering and...
IRS Reporting Requirements – 2018 Employee Stock Transactions
Now that 2019 has begun, corporations should be aware of IRS reporting requirements regarding certain 2018 stock transactions with their employees. Section 6039 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), requires a corporation to report (i)...
SEC Adopts Final Rules for Disclosure of Hedging Policies
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved final rules to require disclosure of hedging practices, implementing a Dodd-Frank Act mandate. New Item 407(i) of Regulation S-K requires a company to describe in its proxy statement any employee or director hedging...
It's Official! Final Public Approval Regulations Now Reflect the 21st Century
Treasury has released final regulations (the “ Final Regulations ”) relating to the public approval requirements for private activity bonds (aka the “TEFRA approval” process). The Final Regulations effectively track the proposed regulations issued in 2017 (the “Proposed Regulations”), but...
May the Stars Align: Finding Symmetry in International Tax Reform
While U.S. corporations largely have been viewed as the big winners of tax reform under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA or Act), they were left to contend with the asymmetry the Act created, particularly with respect to international...
Department of Defense's "Other Transaction Authority"
The Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, recently replaced its Other Transactions Guide for Prototype Projects (Version 1.2, dated January 2017), with the Other Transactions Guide (Version 1.0, dated November 2018)....
Changes to the Dubai International Financial Centre's ("DIFC") Legal and Regulatory Framework relating to DIFC registered Companies
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as president of the DIFC, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (“ UAE ”) and Ruler of Dubai, has recently enacted a new set of...
Webinar: Disability Law Developments 2018 – What Employers Need to Know
Speakers: Jim Kizziar and Chris Jaynes Info: Please join labor and employment lawyers Jim Kizziar and Chris Jaynes for a complimentary webinar to address four significant developments in disability law. The webinar will analyze recent court decisions and provide practical...
Sophisticated International Hackers Continue to Target the Public Sector
On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had secured an indictment of two hackers for using ransomware to extort over $6 million from municipalities, hospitals, and other public institutions. The very next day, a federal...