On February 4, 2008, Fried Frank issued a client memorandum describing a recent Private Letter Ruling in which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reversed its previous position on the effect that certain termination of employment provisions have on payments which are intended to qualify as performancebased compensation" for purposes of section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code").

The UK Department for Business Innovation & Skills has today announced the Government’s proposals for a complete overhaul of the UK competition law regime.

For anyone following antitrust over the last few years, it should come as no surprise that the Obama Administration’s antitrust enforcers have been on the front pages lately.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) Chairman Gary Gensler announced on July 7 several initiatives which are directed at fostering market integrity and improving market transparency in response to Congressional concern about excessive speculation in the futures markets and recent volatility in commodity prices.

In 2008, the financial institutions industry experienced the most disruptive, exciting and precedential year in the history of the formation and operation of bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies.

On October 6, 2008, the Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") approved the proposal by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. ("Mitsubishi") to acquire up to 24.9% of the voting stock of Morgan Stanley, which indirectly controls two national banks and a federal thrift institution.

On Friday, September 19, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a trifecta of emergency orders that will remain in effect through October 2, 2008.

Washington partner and chair of the Firm’s Financial Institutions Transactions Group, Thomas P. Vartanian, is currently being featured in a broadcast by Bloomberg Law.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC") has requested public comments on all aspects of its proposal, announced on March 23, 2009, to remove troubled "legacy loans" and other assets from banks' and thrifts' balance sheets by creating Public-Private Investment Funds ("PPIFs") to purchase them.

We previously advised about significant uncertainties that exist with respect to Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts and related instructions (the “FBAR”) (most notably, with regard to whether US persons who hold interests in offshore hedge funds or offshore private equity funds are required to file FBARs with respect to such interests).

The Supreme Court of England and Wales, in the case of VTB Capital Plc v Nutritek International Corp rejected an appeal by VTB Capital Plc against the Orders of the Court of Appeal and the High Court dismissing their claim for US$330 million against Fried Frank client Marshall Capital and Mr. Konstantin Malofeev for want of jurisdiction on grounds of forum non conveniens.

On 20 January 2011, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred the contemplated acquisition by BATS Trading Limited (BATS) of its competitor Chi-X Europe Limited (Chi-X) to the Competition Commission (CC) for an in-depth investigation.

The UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today announced that it has reached the provisional view that online travel agents Expedia and Booking.com and International Hotels Group (IHG) have infringed UK competition law by agreeing to restrict the online travel agents' discount levels.

On February 9, 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "Commission" or "CFTC") announced its adoption of extensive amendments to the Part 4 rules, which govern the operations and activities of commodity pool operators ("CPOs") and commodity trading advisors ("CTAs") under the Commodity Exchange Act.

As we have recently noted, the federal banking agencies have worked together to expand the pool of investors eligible to bid to acquire failing depository institutions.

The ongoing turmoil in the financial markets has shaken the foundation of the banking world.

Attached are links to a collection of Treasury documents released on Monday, October 6, 2008.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released revised FAQs on April 23, 2010 (available on the FDIC website at http://fdic.gov/regulations/laws/faqfbqual.html), which supplement the FAQs it issued on January 7, 2010 regarding its Statement of Policy on Qualifications for Failed Bank Acquisitions (PE Policy Statement).

In a series of 21st Century Money, Banking & Commerce Alerts® and articles published by our attorneys throughout 2007 and 2008, we have traced developments in business structures and regulatory responses impacting investments in, or acquisitions of, healthy and failed banks by private equity and hedge funds.

On December 11, 2009, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding its Final Statement of Policy on Qualifications for Failed Bank Acquisitions (PE Policy Statement).