On November 5, 2024, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute (“SCC”) announced an important change to its policy regarding seat selection “to make every effort to ensure an arbitral award rendered under the SCC Rules is legally enforceable.”[1] Unless the parties agree otherwise, “[i]n investment treaty arbitrations between parties based in the [European Union (“EU”)], and/or a state that is a candidate or potential candidate for EU membership, the Board will not decide that Stockholm, or any other city, or any other judicial district within the EU, or within a state that is a candidate or potential candidate for… Read more
In vigore dal 1° gennaio 2024, il Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) impone sia alle società di nuova costituzione sia alle società esistenti di fornire informazioni sulla proprietà effettiva (beneficial ownership information – “BOI”) allo U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN – United States Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | FinCEN.gov), mediante il deposito di un report specifico. L’obiettivo del CTA è affrontare e prevenire attività illecite, come ad esempio quella del riciclaggio di denaro e l’evasione fiscale, raccogliendo ulteriori informazioni sulla proprietà di soggetti di diritto che operano o interagiscono con il mercato statunitense. In… Read more
Effective: January 1, 2025 The IRS has released the 2025 cost-of-living adjustments applicable to the dollar limitations on benefits and contributions of retirement plans and health and welfare benefit plans. We recommend plan sponsors update their systems and formulas to include the limits that have been adjusted. For a printable version of this chart, click here. For more information on these cost-of-living adjustments, contact your SGR Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits counsel.
Entities in existence prior to January 1, 2024, that are non-exempted “reporting companies” under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), must make initial filings with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury (“FinCEN”) by no later than December 31, 2024. Time is running out to comply with these initial filing requirements. We have previously written about the CTA and its requirements on newly formed companies (What You Need to Know About the Corporate Transparency Act), but now we are focused on the CTA’s requirements for pre-existing companies, which account for the majority of entities… Read more
On October 16, 2024, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its latest decision in Hidroeléctrica Santa Rita S.A. v. Corporación AIC, SA, a long-running dispute over the potential vacatur of an arbitral award.[1] The court’s earlier decision in the case held that the grounds for vacatur in Chapter 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) apply to all arbitral awards governed by the New York Convention.[2] In its most recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit examined whether one of the vacatur grounds in Chapter 1 of the FAA—that the arbitrators exceeded their authority—provided a basis to vacate the arbitral… Read more
On October 7, 2024, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a memorandum (the “Memorandum”) to all NLRB Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers (i) expanding upon the General Counsel’s previous conclusion in a May 30, 2023 memorandum (See NLRB Non-Compete Alert dated June 13, 2023) that most non-compete provisions contained in employment agreements and severance agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”), (ii) concluding that so called “stay-or-pay” provisions, under which an employee is obligated to pay their employer if they separate from their employment, also violate the Act, and (iii) outlining the… Read more
The False Claims Act (“FCA”) imposes civil and criminal liability on parties that knowingly present or cause to be presented a false or fraudulent “claim” to the government.[1] Enacted during Reconstruction in 1863, the scope of the FCA is broad, impacting persons and businesses in numerous fields. Claims subject to the FCA include direct requests to the government for payment, reimbursement requests under federal benefits programs, and various payments made to the government pursuant to various statutory or contractual obligations. Although civil claims under the FCA may be asserted by the Government,[2] the Act also authorizes private parties, called “Relators,” to… Read more
Frontier Airlines, Inc. (“Frontier”), AMCK Aviation Holdings Ireland Limited (“AMCK”) and Carlyle Aviation Management Limited (“Carlyle”), together with some of its affiliates are involved in a series of three related litigations, the first of which began back in March 2020. In late June of this year, a decision came down in the first of the three litigations. In that decision (which is on appeal), the judge found in favor of Frontier against AMCK for breach of contract in respect of a sale leaseback arrangement and found former AMCK subsidiaries, now subsidiaries of Carlyle, also liable for AMCK’s breach of contract. … Read more
As Hurricane Helene makes landfall in the Southeastern United States, contractors will be halting work on projects throughout the region while awaiting the passage of the severe weather event. When the rain and wind subside, disputes may arise on construction projects due to the damage and after-effects that come with a severe weather event. In the event a dispute does arise on a project following a severe weather event, the first place the parties should look to determine obligations is a contract’s Force Majeure Clause. Force Majeure Clauses typically allow a contractor to request a time extension due to the… Read more
On September 9, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released much-anticipated final rules under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (the Mental Health Parity Act, or Act), specifically addressing the requirement that plans document their compliance with the Act through a detailed written comparative analysis of each nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) that applies to mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits. The final rules generally apply to group health plans on the first day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2025. However,… Read more
