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New Legislation Will Curb How Multinationals Can Use Foreign Tax Credits | National Law Journal

August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

International tax lawyers are scrutinizing a state and local funding bill signed by President Barack Obama on Aug. 10 that significantly curbs how U.S. multinational corporations can use foreign tax credits.

The administration bills the changes as closing international tax loopholes for multinational companies. In practice, they’ll significantly change big companies’ tax decisions and have a far-reaching impact on foreign corporate transactions.

The provisions’ effective dates range from immediately to the tax filer’s first taxable year that starts after Dec. 31, 2011.

via New Legislation Will Curb How Multinationals Can Use Foreign Tax Credits.

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Changes Coming: FCPA, Bribery Bill and OECD-Part III | Thomas Fox – JDSupra

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

At its April 7, 2010 meeting the United States Sentencing Commission approved amendments to its Sentencing Guidelines. The next day on April 8, 2010, the UK Bribery Bill received Royal Assent. These two events follow the December 9, 2009 release by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) Recommendation for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, when the OECD marked the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

These three releases, which comprise of two changes in the legal schemes by two of the world’s largest economic players and the proposal of one of the largest Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) dedicated to ending corruption across the globe portend significant changes in how companies will be structured and transact business going forward in the new decade. This is the third and final of three postings which have discussed the changes that companies, with any US or UK presence, will be required to implement. In the initial post we considered the changes to the US Sentencing Guidelines; we then discussed the changes required by the UK Bribery Bill; and in this third and final post in this series, we will end with the recommendations regarding facilitation payments as found in the OECD’s Recommendation for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials.

via Changes Coming: FCPA, Bribery Bill and OECD-Part III | Thomas Fox – JDSupra.

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Changes Coming: US Sentencing Guidelines, UK Bribery Bill and the OECD on Facilitation Payments | Thomas Fox – JDSupra

April 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

At its April 7, 2010 meeting the United States Sentencing Commission approved amendments to its Sentencing Guidelines. The next day on April 8, 2010, the UK Bribery Bill received Royal Assent. These two events follow the December 9, 2009 release by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s (OECD) Recommendation for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, when the OECD marked the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

These three releases, which comprise of two changes in the legal schemes by two of the world’s largest economic players and the proposal of one of the largest Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) dedicated to ending corruption across the globe portend significant changes in how companies will be structured and transact business going forward in the new decade. This article will discuss the changes that companies, with any US or UK presence, will be required to implement. The initial post will be on the changes to the US Sentencing Guidelines; we will then consider the changes required by the UK Bribery Bill; and we will end with the recommendation as found in the OECD’s Recommendation for Further Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials.

via Changes Coming: US Sentencing Guidelines, UK Bribery Bill and the OECD on Facilitation Payments | Thomas Fox – JDSupra.

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UK Bribery Bill Update | Thomas Fox – JDSupra

April 8, 2010 By

It has been reported that the UK Bribery Bill, introduced in March 2009, made it out of Parliament before the upcoming general election. The Bribery Bill is a significant departure for the UK in the area of foreign anti-corruption. It is significantly stronger than the FCPA. Many internationally focused US companies have offices in the UK or employ UK citizens in their world-wide operations. This legislation could open them to prosecution in the UK under a law similar to, but stronger than, the relevant US legislation.

via UK Bribery Bill Update | Thomas Fox – JDSupra.

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Britain’s FCPA Plus – The FCPA Blog

April 5, 2010 By

The U.K. Bribery Bill, introduced in March 2009, is still on track to pass out of Parliament before the upcoming general election, expected to be in June. The Bribery Bill is a major shift in the U.K.’s overseas anti-corruption regime — and it goes even further than the FCPA.

Because so many U.S. companies have offices or operations in the U.K., or employ U.K. citizens in their world-wide operations, this legislation exposes them to new risks of prosecution.

Unlike the FCPA, the Bribery Bill has no exception for facilitation payments. It creates strict liability for the failure of a corporate official to prevent bribery, prohibits bribery not just of government officials but also private citizens, and has criminal penalties of up to 10 years prison per offense (not 5 years as under the FCPA).

via The FCPA Blog – The FCPA Blog.

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A Bad Day for Tort Reform, Georgia High Court Strikes Med-Mal Caps – Law Blog – WSJ

March 23, 2010 By

In the annals of the tort-reform movement, Monday, March 22, 2010 will probably not go down as one to be celebrated.

For starters, on Monday the world awakened to the reality of a new huge piece of legislation — the health care bill. And it’s a health-care bill without significant movement on medical-malpractice reform.

But the movement suffered another blow on Monday when the Supreme Court of Georgia struck down the state’s caps on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases. The vote was 7-0. Click here for the opinion, here for the story, from the Fulton County Daily Report.

Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein, in writing for the court, emphasized the separation of powers, that the state’s legislature had encroached on judges’ and juries’ turf. “The very existence of the caps, in any amount, is violative of the right to trial by jury,” she wrote.

The ruling follows a similar decision made last month in Illinois, in which the state’s Supreme Court held unconstitutional the state statute that placed caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Click here for a writeup on the Illinois case from Illinois-Kent law professor Ralph Brill.

via A Bad Day for Tort Reform, Georgia High Court Strikes Med-Mal Caps – Law Blog – WSJ.

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Proposed UK Bribery Bill: It’s Implications and Contrasts to the FCPA | Thomas Fox – JDSupra

February 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In March 2009, the United Kingdom introduced into Parliament a Bribery Bill drafted to consolidate and bring into the 21st Century the various UK anti-corruption and bribery laws. As stated by Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, in her speech of November 18, 2009, the purpose of the Bribery Bill is to “Provide a modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences to equip prosecutors and courts to deal effectively with bribery at home and abroad.” As of February 9, 2010, the Bribery Bill had its third and final reading in the House of Lords, where no changes were proposed, and the bill has now been presented to the House of Commons for the first reading.

With wide cross-party support it is anticipated that the Bribery Bill will pass the House of Commons and become law by May, 2010. The Bribery Bill amends and repeals existing anti-bribery offences under the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and the Prevention of Corruption Act 1916 and abolishes the UK common law offenses of bribery and embracery (bribery of jurors). This proposed legislation represents a long awaited simplification of the law on corruption and makes the UK compliant with its international obligations under the OECD. It will have a major impact on the way businesses connected to the UK manage their international business.

via Proposed UK Bribery Bill: It’s Implications and Contrasts to the FCPA | Thomas Fox – JDSupra.

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Australia’s position as an International arbitration centre to be enhanced – Deacons

December 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The Australian position in relation to international arbitration has always been complicated by virtue of its federal system of laws which allows parties to choose to resolve their dispute “under arbitral laws other than in accordance with the internationally accepted Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).” This creates confusion and not insignificant legal difficulties concerning the interaction of different laws. Additionally, the finality sought by parties to an international arbitration is not always certain by virtue of the appeal/review powers contained in the State and Territory Commercial Arbitration Acts.  As well, there has been in recent years a general concern about the trends surrounding the nature of international arbitration with the widespread view that arbitration has become too litigious with proceedings increasingly resembling those of a court. Such complications and trends had led many to believe that Australia was unlikely to establish itself as a major player in the field of international arbitrations. In light of a new Bill currently before Parliament, all of this could now change.

In an effort to counter such trends, overcome the difficulties with Australia's federal system and in a bid to promote Australia as a centre for international arbitration and dispute resolution, the International Arbitration Amendment Bill 2009 was introduced into Parliament on 25 November 2009, following the Commonwealth Government's year long review of international commercial arbitration in Australia.

via Legal update: Australia’s position as an International arbitration centre to be enhanced – Deacons.

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New Bill Could Bring Chapter 11 to Hong Kong

October 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Efforts to introduce a Chapter 11-style corporate restructuring law in Hong Kong have been revived, the South China Morning Post reports subscription required.

In Hong Kong and in much of the rest of Asia, failing companies typically end up in the hands of liquidators. By comparison, Chapter 11 proceedings under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code famously permit troubled companies to enter a court-supervised period of reorganization, during which they are sheltered from creditors and can seek ways of boosting their finances, often by selling off assets.

The government of Hong Kong has been proposing such a law for over a decade but two previous versions of the Corporate Rescue Bill have foundered over a provision requiring employees be paid in full before a company can file a restructuring plan.

via New Bill Could Bring Chapter 11 to Hong Kong.

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