Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Consumer Data Privacy in the Merger/Acquisition Context: What's an Acquiring Mind to Do?
Current wisdom favors non-disclosure of the private data related to consumers held by companies that obtain such data in the course of doing business. This sentiment is in full blossom in a wide variety of contexts, not the least of which are the provision of medical services and of financial services. In these heavily regulated industries, protection of consumer data is the subject of complex regulatory schemes aimed at ensuring data privacy and security while, nonetheless, allowing business to be conducted in its ordinary course.
This principle of nondisclosure includes prohibitions on selling consumer private data to third persons or companies. Factual information that can be associated with individual consumers and one or more elements of their potential buying or other business habits are in great demand by almost all companies that sell products and/or services. Prohibitions on sales of such information can thus im-pose costly restrictions on companies that would like to leverage that data for alternative gains. Conversely, a company's substantial database of consumer data can greatly increase the company's net worth. Companies with rich portfolios of consumer data clearly have a more robust ability to market their goods and services, and to do so in a more intelligent, focused, and rational manner. The question presently posed is whether acquirers of all (or substantially all) of the voting securities and/or assets of a company possessing such consumer data may gain access to that data. In other words, is a sale of the company a prohibited transfer of consumer data?
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.