The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently increased enforcement efforts against employers believed to have discriminated against armed forces members returning from active duty and seeking to reenter the civilian workforce. Here's what you need to know.
Over the last ten years, U.S. corporations conducting business outside the country have witnessed a dramatic increase in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the severity of the financial penalties assessed. Now the DOJ and SEC have upped the ante.
The dishonored act of bribery is a basis for doing business in many places, and continually forces those who operate in the international marketplace to choose between risking the loss of business opportunities and engaging in activity that can easily come under the scrutiny of governmental authorities.
Regular readers of blogs and other Internet-based sources of news and information know it's not unusual to see product reviews in these virtual venues. While the reviews sometimes appear to be careful, impartial journalism, other times the writer seems just a bit too enthusiastic about the post's subject matter. Of course, readers have good reasons to question just how impartial the authors of these reviews might be.
The FTC's new guidance makes it clear that companies that are involved in encouraging a message about their products or services in non-traditional media, such that they are essentially sponsoring the messages, even if by consumers or celebrities, will be responsible as the advertiser for the message. Although the FTC acknowledges the limited ability in social and other evolving media to clear and control these types of messages, it places the burden of the risk on both the sponsor and the speaker.
Over the past several months, the DOJ has begun investigating several leading technology companies for possible violations of the antitrust laws. One focus of the multi-faceted investigation is whether certain companies have violated antitrust laws by agreeing among themselves not to recruit one another's employees.
This edition of the Quarterly State Compliance Review looks at some legislation of interest to corporate lawyers that went into effect from Aug. 1 through Oct. 1, including amendments to Delaware's corporation and LLC laws. It also looks at two recent decisions of interest from the Delaware Chancery Court.
Our Incisive Media affiliate, New Jersey Law Journal, published the following commentary on the New Jersey legislature's attempt to react to the "sexting" issue by making Web site operators liable for what users write.
Complex and systemic, the current financial crisis is nearly certain to yield extensive legislation regulating everything from the financial markets to mortgage brokers to ratings agencies. Any such legislation may raise interpretive issues similar to those that have arisen in recent Federal Court decisions interpreting section 304 and section 1514A(a)(1) of the sweeping Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX").
On May 20, 2009, the SEC proposed amendments to the existing proxy rules that would, among other things, allow shareholders to nominate directors in a company's proxy materials. Chairman Mary Schapiro strongly encourages interested parties to participate in the Commission's comment process that will end on Aug. 17, 2009.
