Trust the Leaders

Issue 15 / Spring 2006

• The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Beware. As more U.S.—based companies seek to do business in foreign markets, they need to know that what is acceptable and commonplace elsewhere may be a violation of U.S. law. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA or the Act), § 15 U.S.C. 78, et seq., makes it unlawful for U.S. persons and businesses, and certain foreign issuers of securities, to make a payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person. The U.S. Department of Justice is the Act’s chief enforcement agency, with a coordinating role played by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
• Eminent Domain “Ain’t that America, home of the free little pink houses for you and me.” John (Cougar) Mellencamp’s sentiment in his 1984 hit Pink Houses may be precisely what has fueled the controversy following the United States Supreme Court ruling on June 23, 2005 that local governments may exercise eminent domain powers to take private property for economic development.
• STORM RISING: Preparing for Hurricanes and Other Natural Disasters Lifelong Florida residents will tell you that there have been some bad hurricanes to hit the state, and can name them by heart: Miami 1926, Labor Day 1935, Donna 1960, Andrew 1992. But for the most part, life on the peninsula has been balmy and beautiful, with plenty of sunshine, and with summertime heat and thunderstorms being the only real weather-related annoyances.
• The Ticktock of the Section 409A Clock For more than 25 years, the rules governing nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements remained relatively unchanged. In the Revenue Act of 1978, Congress directed that amounts deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan were required to be taken into income as provided by applicable law in effect on February 1, 1978. Both businesses and tax practitioners knew and understood the rules (and in some cases, how to work around them). Peace and stability prevailed in the land of nonqualified deferred compensation.