Months of tortuous debate have come to an end as the U.S. Senate passed its version of financial regulatory reform on May 20, 2010.

On May 17, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued its Opinion in Power & Tel. Supply Co. v. SunTrust Banks, Inc., 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 12087, 2006 FED App. 166P (6th Cir. Tenn. 2006) addressing the duties owed by banks to their customers in derivative transactions.

In an unexpected development, the U.S. Senate recently passed legislation with a requirement for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") to create a greenhouse gas emissions registry for industries. This requirement was included in the omnibus spending bill passed by the Congress that also included additional funding for the Iraq War.

Effective today, March 6, 2008, FINRA is requiring all member firms to increase the margin they collect from customers with investments in auction rate securities that are backed by fixed income products such as municipal bonds and collateralized debt obligations.

On September 29, 2005, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (the "Service") posted on the Treasury website proposed regulations interpreting section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), the new rules governing nonqualified deferred compensation ("NQDC") plans enacted in October of 2004 as part of the American Jobs Creation Act.

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP ("SAB") here provides update files for the TAXINT computer program to compute interest on Federal tax underpayments and overpayments. To utilize such update files, it is necessary that you have previously obtained from SAB Version 1.0 of the TAXINT-2000 program or Version1.1 of the TAXINT-2000R program.

On January 1, 2007, the European Union will be enlarged to add Bulgaria and Romania as member states. Those who already own European Union applications or registrations will immediately enjoy trademark protection with the automatic extension of rights into Bulgaria and Romania and the grandfathering of earlier rights.

On May 29, 2006, the President signed the Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act,which liberalizes IRA and Roth IRA contribution limits for military personnel receiving combat pay.

On June 25, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") released Notice 2008-60 to provide interim guidance, pending the issuance of Treasury regulations, regarding the tax credit available under Section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code for electricity produced from open-loop biomass.

On May 6, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (CAL), chaired by Representative Steven Cohen (D-TN), held a hearing on state income taxation to explore what role, if any, Congress should play in developing apportionment uniformity.

On February 23, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Hertz Corporation v. Friend, __ U.S. __, No. 08-1107, which clarified the test for determining the "principal place of business" for corporations pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c).

On August 19, 2005, the Treasury issued proposed and temporary regulations governing the valuation of annuity contracts in conversions from traditional IRA’s to Roth IRA’s. Pursuant to Code sections 408(d)(1) and (2), and as provided in Treas. Reg. §1.408A-4, Q&A-7 as adopted in 1999, the amount converted from the traditional IRA is treated as distributed and taxable in the year of conversion

The Minerals Management Service ("MMS") on Friday, April 18, issued a notice ("the Notice") regarding proposed limited leases for alternative energy activities on the Outer Continental Shelf ("OCS").

On January 23, 2006, in Unitherm Food Systems, Inc. v. Swift-Eckrich, Inc., the Supreme Court continued its trend of requiring strict compliance with procedural litigation rules. After respondent ConAgra warned companies selling equipment and processes for browning precooked meats that it intended to protect its rights under its patent for that process, petitioner Unitherm, whose president had invented the process six years before ConAgra filed its patent application, sued ConAgra for a Walker P

On January 16, 2009, California State Controller John Chiang announced that California is facing a cash shortage issue that may result in a delay of more than $3.7 billion in outgoing payments, including payments of tax refunds.

On July 11, 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking ("ANPR") to regulate greenhouse gases ("GHG") under the Clean Air Act.