The second quarter of 2011 was an action packed three months for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), which included judicial opinions, jury verdicts, and a Congressional hearing.

Pursuant to Section 502 of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 ("CARD Act"), the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection ("CFPB") is conducting a review of the consumer credit card market.

On Friday, July 29, 2011, the Federal Circuit issued a decision reversing the District of New Jersey's ruling that patent claims covering the use of tomoxetine (marketed as Strattera®) to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (''ADHD'') are invalid for lack of ''enablement/utility.

The last thirty years have witnessed a dramatic rise in bank adoption of the bank holding company ("BHC") structure. Inherent in this trend is an apparent accepted orthodoxy about the need of such structures from both a business and regulatory perspective.

A discussion on the subject of a new tax on the value of the transfer.

The NYSE and NASDAQ have recently finalized changes to their listing standards addressing compensation committee independence and committee responsibilities.

On April 27, 2011, in "AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion", a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") preempted California’s judicially created "Discover Bank" rule, which found waivers of class arbitration in most consumer contracts to be unconscionable and therefore unenforceable.

On November 29, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") issued a bulletin ("Bulletin") warning that Nationwide Specialty Consumer Reporting Agencies ("NSCRA") who are not compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s ("FCRA") Regulation V must "take immediate steps to comply."

A year in the making and on the eve of a major FCPA conference, on November 14, 2012 the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued a joint publication called the Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("Guide") which outlines the government’s interpretation of the law, provides insight into the government’s enforcement priorities, and provides a tangible and concrete understanding of how the government exercises its discretion

On March 30, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") issued the final rule to amend its Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") regulations concerning the reasonablefactors- other-than-age ("RFOA") defense to disparate-impact claims.

We outline the key forthcoming and recent legislative developments in UK employment law for 2012 and summarize the new rates and limits. We also take a look at what is on the horizon so you can stay ahead and we identify the key employment cases due before the European court, the UK courts and the employment tribunals this year.

Critics of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), which prohibits U.S. individuals or businesses from bribing foreign officials to gain a commercial advantage, have long criticized the law’s broad scope, arguing that its vague terminology and lack of interpreting case law can leave international corporations operating in a grey zone with respect to who is and is not a "foreign official" covered by the law.

On December 9, 2011, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") issued proposed regulations (the "Proposed Regulations") to implement Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended ("Section 503").

The 2010 health care reform act requires all but small employers to offer affordable, minimum value, minimum essential health coverage to at least 95% of their full-time employees or to pay significant excise tax penalties.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("DFA") is having a significant impact throughout the financial services industry, but its effects are particularly acute for the U.S. thrift industry.

On September 25, 2012, the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC ("NASDAQ") proposed rule changes1 addressing the independence of compensation committees and their advisers.

Throughout September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed hundreds of bills amending existing laws or enacting new laws.

The federal banking laws require that appropriate regulatory approvals must be obtained before an individual or company may take actions to directly or indirectly "control" a bank or savings association.

The United States has some of the most comprehensive and robust export controls on Earth, yet many are holdovers from the Cold War era that no longer adequately address the unique national security threats of the twenty-first century.