Regulators Already Working to Implement Key Goals of Pending Financial Reform Bills

NEW YORK—Key components of pending financial industry reform legislation are already being addressed by federal regulators without the enactment of the legislation, financial specialists told BNA in March and April.

SEC’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Increasingly to Target Finance Departments, Report Says

In its enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission increasingly is focusing on the role of finance departments, according to a new report by law firm Shearman and Sterling LLP.

Former IBM Executive Pleads Guilty to Role in Galleon Hedge Fund Insider Trading Case

Robert Moffat Jr., a former International Business Machines Corp. executive, pleaded guilty March 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to conspiracy and securities fraud for tipping Galleon defendant Danielle Chiesi to material nonpublic information in what prosecutors said is the largest hedge fund insider trading case in history.

Brocade’s Reyes Convicted in Options Backdating Scheme

Gregory Reyes, the former chief executive officer of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (BRCD) who allegedly implemented a fraudulent options backdating scheme at his company…

Supreme Court Adopts ‘Gartenberg’ Standard for Deciding Whether Fund Fees Are Excessive

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court concluded March 30 that “Gartenberg,” a 1982 appeals court decision, supplies the proper standard for determining whether investment advisory fees are excessive within the meaning of 1940 Investment Company Act Section 36(b)

U.S., Switzerland Sign Tax Treaty Protocol to Allow Handover of UBS Account Holder Names to IRS

The United States and Switzerland March 31 announced a new protocol to a U.S.-Swiss treaty, adding technical amendments that would allow the Swiss government to provide information on U.S. account holders in Swiss banking giant UBS, following a defeat on the issue in that country’s courts.

New Jersey Supreme Court Backs Employee Privacy in E-mails with Lawyer on Company Laptop

A New Jersey health care executive who used a company laptop to exchange messages with her attorney on a personal password-protected e-mail account had a reasonable expectation of privacy that was violated when her employer retrieved and read the messages from the computer’s hard drive, a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed March 30.

IRS Chief Counsel Advice Addresses Interest Expense Allocable to Foreign Firm’s U.S. Insurance Business

The Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel, in a chief counsel advice memorandum released April 2, said a foreign taxpayer conducting a U.S. life insurance business must use the allocation method set forth in Treasury Regulations Section 1.882-5 to determine interest expense allocable to its U.S. branch for purposes of computing its U.S. income tax liability for 2001 and 2002 tax years.

ANALYSIS: When Will Preliminary Distributions Impact Continuity of Interest?

In order for a transaction to qualify as a “reorganization,” it must, among other things, exhibit “continuity of interest” (COI); in fact, Treasury Regulations Section 1.368-1(b) provides that “requisite to a reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code are a continuity of business enterprise …

EPA, NHTSA Announce Final Standard to Limit Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Vehicles

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks will be limited to an average of 250 grams per mile of carbon dioxide in 2016, federal officials announced April 1, the first nationwide greenhouse gas emissions limits to be adopted by the U.S. government.

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