BLT: June 2016

     

    Articles

    Business & Corporate

    Understanding Your Role as a Compliance Advisor

    Alan S. Gutterman

    When companies run afoul of laws and regulations the publicity can be intense and the adverse reputational and financial consequences to the company are generally quite significant. The post-mortem brings the board of directors to “center stage” and judges, regulators, investors, and pundits in the financial press will all be asking whether the directors were paying attention, asking the right questions, adopting and enforcing appropriate policies and procedures, and making it clear that “compliance matters” when setting goals and allocating rewards.

    Business & Corporate

    The ABA Model Principles: Not Only a Tool for Compliance, but Also One to End Slavery and Child Labor in Supply Chains

    Enforcement in the United States has commenced under the recently enacted Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, where goods tainted with labor trafficking and child labor can be seized, forfeited, and destroyed. Therefore, it is important for business enterprises to seriously consider how these developments can potentially impact their business and reputation.

    Articles

    Real Estate

    FinCEN Continues Emphasis on “Know Your Customer” Money Sources – This Time, Secret Real Estate Buyers

    On January 13, FinCEN announced new rules targeting secret buyers of high-end real estate properties. From March 1 through August 27 of this year, FinCEN is requiring U.S. title insurance companies to report the identity of the beneficial owners of LLCs and other shell companies who exclusively use cash to purchase high-end real estate in two locations—Manhattan and Miami. This is the first time the federal government is requiring real estate companies to disclose the identities of purchasers in all cash transactions.

    Business & Corporate

    How Multijurisdictional Bribery Enforcement Enhances Risks for Global Enterprises

    Lindsay B. Arrieta

    The emergence of multijurisdictional bribery enforcement presents complex challenges and increased operational risk for multinational corporations. Aggressive enforcement of the FCPA by DOJ and the SEC has encouraged non-U.S. authorities to pursue cross-border investigations and enforcement actions. As more foreign authorities begin to vigorously enforce their respective anti-bribery laws, companies and their in-house counsel should consider how these developments could impact their operations and their ability to resolve cases involving alleged bribery.

    Departments

    Business & Corporate

    CYBER CENTER: The Continued Hijacking and Ransoming of the Domain Name System by Modern-Day Corporate Privateers

    Tamara Kurtzman

    The inability of a company to acquire a meaningful domain can directly influence the success or failure of that business. The effort by many businesses to stake a claim within the World Wide Web is being waylaid by online privateers who register and hold domain names in the hopes of later ransoming them to companies who wish to utilize the names for legitimate and productive purposes. Despite efforts by both ICANN’s Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy and the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act to curtail cybersquatting, the practice continues to flourish, especially the practice of anticipatory cybersquatting.

    Business & Corporate

    CYBER CENTER: Cybersecurity as an Unfair Practice: FTC Enforcement under Section 5 of the FTC Act

    William R. Denny

    In spite of growing concern about cybersecurity, Congress has not yet adopted broad federal legislation. Instead, companies today face a patchwork of laws and regulations pertaining to corporate cybersecurity practices, including 47 states and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal agencies. Many federal agencies involved in cybersecurity regulation are industry-specific, focusing, for example, on financial services, health care, insurance, or publicly traded corporations. However, the FTC has taken a broad mandate to extend its oversight over all companies operating in the United States. Since 2002, the FTC has assumed a leading role in policing corporate cybersecurity practices. In that time, it has brought more than 60 cases against companies for unfair or deceptive practices that endanger the personal data of consumers.

    Business & Corporate

    DELAWARE INSIDER: Genuine Parts Co. v. Cepec: The Delaware Supreme Court Examines General Jurisdiction as Applied to Foreign Corporations

    Samuel L. Moultrie

    The Delaware Supreme Court recently overturned, in a 4–1 decision, a long-standing precedent set in Stenberg v. O’Neil, and held that merely registering to do business in the state and have a registered agent appointed to receive service of process does not subject a foreign corporation to Delaware’s general jurisdiction for claims unrelated to Delaware.

    Business & Corporate

    MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: An Interview with Roberta S. Karmel

    Roberta S. Karmel’s career trajectory is nothing less than remarkable. From being told by law firms and judges that women need not apply to becoming the first female commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1977. In fact, her path is punctuated by many firsts. The first woman partner at her law firm, Rogers & Wells; the first woman to serve as chairman of her law firm’s financial services department and the executive committee. Along the way, she built a multimillion dollar Wall Street practice, specializing in international and domestic securities regulation. In 1986 she become a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School. She graduated from New York University Law School cum laude in 1962. She is the author of over 50 articles in books and legal journals and writes a regular column on securities regulation for the New York Law Journal.