The current credit crisis began in August of 2007, as the markets began to perceive the extent to which residential real property and mortgage-related assets were over-valued during the housing boom of 2002-2006.

The US SEC has announced that it is extending for most "foreign private issuers" the deadline for compliance with the internal controls reporting and certification process mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 to July 15, 2006.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has delayed the implementation of the December 17, 2008 interim final rule entitled "Documents Acceptable for Employment Eligibility Verification" until April 3, 2009.

The rules regarding how proxy materials are reviewed are up-dated.

Reform and Protection – On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law ("Dodd-Frank" or the "Act").

The Internal Revenue Service has granted employers welcome relief in their reporting and withholding requirements under section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code for calendar year 2005.

This is a decision concerning some of the benefits which attach to claimants who participate in group litigation orders as opposed to watching them from the sidelines.

UBS announced on February 9, 2006, that it had reached agreement to pay $89 million to settle a series of collective actions brought under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state law

In another potential challenge to longstanding assumptions about the nature of the relationship between companies and workers, the Treasury Department announced plans this month to study closely the standards, practices, and tax treatment currently applied to independent contractor work arrangements.

On October 4, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it would stay the effectiveness of the new proxy access rules pending resolution of a petition filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This is likely to be an unprecedented election year in terms of voter turnout and participation. With fewer than three weeks to Election Day, it's time to begin planning how you, as an employer, will handle employee requests for time off to vote.

On October 16, 2008, in light of the large number of companies facing delisting from NASDAQ as a result of “the current extraordinary market conditions,” NASDAQ temporarily suspended the requirements for continued listing which mandate that listed companies maintain a minimum bid price and market value of publicly held shares.

The French fiscal integration provisions give French groups of companies the right to an election which allows the ultimate parent to take into account all of the profits and losses of the group companies.

On March 21, the US Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to adopt new rule changes that will enable non-US issuers that meet specified conditions to more easily terminate the registration of their securities under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and more easily extract themselves from ongoing public reporting obligations in the United States.

From October 1, 2007, there was an important change in the way in which the U.K. Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) will examine U.K. national trademark applications and International (i.e., WIPO) and E.U. trademark filings designating the U.K.

In Finance Act 2006 the UK introduced changes to the group relief rules, ostensibly to ensure compliance with the judgment in the Marks & Spencer case. Many commented, including ourselves, that those changes reflected an overly restrictive interpretation of the judgment and would only give the ability to exercise group relief for cross border losses in extremely rare cases.

As we predicted from earlier enforcement efforts, the nation’s immigration enforcement agency is cracking down on employer compliance with employment verification laws through a bold new initiative to audit I-9 records.

The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, David Kappos, has issued a new rule rescinding widespread rule changes proposed earlier by the Office restricting the number of continuation applications, requests for continued applications, and claims that a patent owner could pursue.

Congress recently passed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 amending section 6039 of the Internal Revenue Code. The amendment is effective on January 1, 2007, but the new reports will not be due until 2008.

Congress recently passed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 amending section 6039 of the Internal Revenue Code. The amendment is effective on January 1, 2007, but the new reports will not be due until 2008.