Client Alerts & Publications Archive

Two recent bankruptcy court decisions from the District of Delaware and Eastern District of Virginia raise serious concerns for secured lenders and purchasers of secured loans in the secondary market.

In this issue:

• Proposed Amendments to Mortgage Rules
• CFPB Fair Lending Report
• Update on City of Chicago Vacant Property Ordinance

While the common law has long held that an individual is liable for those tortious acts he or she personally commits, the Illinois Appellate Court’s decision in Dass v. Yale, 2013 IL App. (1st) 122520, appears to insulate limited liability company members from liability for torts personally committed while acting within their role for the LLC, unless the articles of the organization contain a contrary provision and the member has consented in writing to adoption of the provision or to be bound to the provision.

On February 18, 2014, the Federal Reserve issued the final version of new Regulation YY establishing “enhanced prudential standards” for large bank holding companies and large foreign banks operating in the United States.

A bill that would allow a taxing district subject to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law to seek referendum approval to increase its aggregate extension has passed the Illinois State Senate and is now being considered by the House of Representatives.

In this issue:

• Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices
• Remittance Transfer Rule
• CFPB Advisory Encourages Student Loan Borrowers to Request Co-Signer Release
• FFIEC Joint Statement - Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Cyber-Attacks

An article by Chapman partner Larry White was published in the Late Winter 2014 issue of IGFOA's Dispatch newsletter.

As providers of utility service to federal government offices, most investor owned utility companies are “federal contractors” subject to the Equal Opportunity rules established and enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision released its final Supervisory Framework for Measuring and Controlling Large Exposures (Large Exposures Framework) today.

In this issue:

• Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments
• Coming Up - Prepaid Card Fee Disclosures
• CFPB 2013 Consumer Response Annual Report

On April 8th, each of the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC (collectively, the "Agencies") voted to adopt a final rule that strengthens supplementary leverage ratio standards for large, interconnected U.S. banking organizations (the "Final Rule").  

On April 8, the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC (collectively, the "Agencies") adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking (the "Proposed Rule") to implement revisions to the denominator measure for the supplementary leverage ratio ("SLR"). 

On April 7th, the Federal Reserve Board (the Board) announced that it intends to allow banking entities two additional one-year extensions to conform their ownership interests in and sponsorship of certain collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) covered by the Volcker Rule.  

The thought of more litigation can be intimidating, but through awareness of the process, working with your attorney to focus the issues, and analyzing the possibility of a recovery, the process can be mastered and work in your favor to turn your paper judgment into cash.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. recently filed proposed advertising rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On March 29, Governor Herbert signed into law 2014 Senate Bill 179, which amends various provisions of the Utah Procurement Code, Title 63G, Chapter 6a, Utah Code Annotated.

The FDIC has announced that the Board of Directors will meet in open session at 2:00 PM on April 8th to discuss, among other things, a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement revisions to the denominator measure for the supplementary leverage ratio (“SLR”). 

Today, the SEC has extended the comment period on Regulation AB to April 28, 2014. 

Last month, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board published its first standards calling for financial institutions to voluntarily collect, quantify and report data relevant to their environmental, social and governance performance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s rule proposals that focus on fair dealing obligations of dealers in municipal securities.

The Court in the City of Detroit municipal bankruptcy proceeding has issued a decision granting the City’s motion to disband the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors that had previously been appointed in the case by the U.S. Trustee.

Both House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp and President Obama have recently released proposed changes to certain pension and retirement plans in the Internal Revenue Code.

The following is a summary of certain proposed changes to the Real Estate Investment Trust provisions of the Internal Revenue Code included in recent legislative proposals.

Legislative proposals by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp would expand the scope of the unrelated business taxable income rules so that state and local pension funds would be subject to tax on certain investment income, including, in some instances, income from investment funds.

Recently proposed legislation would generally (i) require sale treatment when a C corporation elects to become a regulated investment company or transfers assets to a RIC, (ii) treat certain RIC shares as United States real property interests subject to tax by non-U.S. persons on disposition, and (iii) provide that RIC dividends received through foreign corporations would not be eligible for a dividends received deduction.

On March 10, the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative.

Both Representative Camp, Republican Ways and Means Committee Chair, and President Obama have recently released far reaching proposed changes to the U.S. taxation of cross-border financial transactions.

Plaintiffs in a recent California Federal district court decision and in lawsuits in process against large health care systems in four other jurisdictions have argued that the ERISA exemption for “church plans” should be limited to plans of actual churches.

The Tax Reform Act of 2014 intends to simplify and consolidate the individual taxation scheme by consolidating, changing, or eliminating a variety of current tax benefits and the tax rates.

In March 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released its general explanation of the tax proposals in the Obama administration’s proposed fiscal year 2015 budget.

Federal income tax reform has been the subject of numerous congressional discussions and committee hearings over the last year.

Legislative proposals by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp would repeal the 4% LIHTC and change the way LIHTCs are allocated by the States.

In this issue:

• Financial Literacy
• OCC Guidance Regarding Secured Consumer Debt Discharged in Bankruptcy
• Mortgage Rules Update

On February 26, 2014, Representative David Camp, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, released draft legislation referred to as the Tax Reform Act of 2014 that proposes to amend major portions of the Internal Revenue Code to provide for comprehensive tax reform.

On February 26, 2014, Representative David Camp, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, released draft legislation referred to as the Tax Reform Act of 2014 that proposes to amend major portions of the Internal Revenue Code to provide for comprehensive tax reform.

If your firm is a registered investment adviser that has never been examined by the Securities and Exchange Commission, you might want to prepare to see SEC examiners in the near future.

Without reaching a consensual agreement with its various creditors, on Friday, February 21, 2014, the City of Detroit filed its Chapter 9 Plan for the Adjustment of Debts with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

This afternoon, Commissioner Michael S. Piwowar released a Statement supporting the SEC's decision to re-open the comment period on Regulation AB II, noting that market practices have continued to evolve since the financial crisis and the importance of obtaining the most recent data and information possible to inform and guide the SEC's decision-making process.  

Today, the SEC announced that it is re-opening the comment period on Regulation AB II to solicit further public comment on an approach to disseminate potentially sensitive asset-level data.

For the first time in its history the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has proposed a “best execution” rule for municipal securities transactions.

The Banking Law Journal published a Chapman-authored article. The article outlines the reasons website disability access should be addressed by banks—not only as good business practice, but to mitigate litigation risk, reputational damage, regulatory enforcement action and the potential new Department of Justice regulations expanding the coverage of the Americans with Disabilities Act to websites.

In this issue:

• Making a Virtual Bank ADA Compliant
• Incident Response Plan for Privacy and Data Security Breaches
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act Update
• FinCEN Issues New Guidance on Virtual Currencies

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently published a notice seeking comments on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s rule proposal on fair pricing obligations of dealers in municipal securities.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued a no-action letter providing that brokers that facilitate certain merger and acquisition transactions of privately-held companies could receive transaction-based compensation without being required to register with the SEC as a broker-dealer.

The right of a secured creditor to “credit bid” (i.e., to bid the amount of debt owed rather than cash) in a debtor’s sale of assets, once thought to be rock solid, is again under attack.

On February 12, 2014, 17 members of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, including the chair, Maxine Waters, wrote a letter to the federal regulators implementing the Volcker Rule asking that interpretive guidance be issued with respect to the treatment of certain CLO debt securities.

The SEC has announced that it is removing Regulation AB II off the agenda for its February 5th open meeting.  

Equity sponsors holding a controlling interest in a distressed portfolio company have sometimes purchased substantial amounts of the company’s debt in order to gain advantage or profit.

In this issue:

• Mortgage Rules Update
• FFIEC Issues Final Guidance On Social Media