Features
The Credit Agency Reform Act: What Leasing Companies Need to Know
Any equipment leasing or finance company desiring to access the debt capital markets must quickly become adept at dealing with a unique feature of that world: the credit rating and its gatekeeper, the credit rating agency. Entering this realm can be a jolt for finance officers used to the relationship-friendly, competitive environment of commercial banks. Dominated by two monoliths, Standard & Poor's and Moody's, the rating agency process is steeped in the clinical analytics of credit modeling. Rating agencies are viewed by many as academic in perspective and, to some, remote and obscure in their approach.
Features
Ninth Circuit BAP Holds Lease Payment Streams Are Not Chattel Paper
In August 2006 the U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit rendered a decision in a case titled <i>In Re: Commercial Money Center, Inc.</i> (<i>Netbank, FSB v. Kipperman</i>), U.S. Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit, BAP No. SC-05-1238-MoTB; Bk.No. 02-09721-H7; Adv. No. 03-90331-H7, holding that payment streams stripped from equipment leases are payment intangibles, not chattel paper, and thereby overturning the bankruptcy court decision. Accordingly, the assignment of the payment streams could be automatically perfected under '9-309(3) of Revised Article 9. Additionally, the court agreed with the bankruptcy court and held that the transactions in this case were loans, not sales, so there was no automatic perfection. Finally, the court held that there were unresolved factual and legal issues as to whether the lender had perfected its security interest in the leases by taking possession through a third-party agent, and therefore remanded the case for further proceedings.
Features
Cooperatives & Condominiums
A Look at a recent Donnelly Act claim.
Features
Managing the New Company Thief
It used to be that an employee desiring to steal $2 million from your company would have a hard time doing so unnoticed. Today, that employee can do so undetected while having a casual conversation with you in the office. Unfortunately, in the current environment, the legal system is not forgiving toward companies that take a more relaxed approach with respect to protecting their own sensitive information.
Features
ERISA Amendments Effective Dec. 31
On Sept. 26, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor (department) issued proposed regulations implementing amendments to ' 404(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Securities Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA).(The proposed regulations are at 29 CFR ' 550.404c-5.) These amendments were made by ' 624 of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the act) and provide relief to fiduciaries of participant-directed individual account plans where, in the absence of investment directions from a participant, the plan invests such participant's assets in a 'qualified default investment alternative.'
Features
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Recent cases in e-commerce law and in the e-commerce industry.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Law Firms and the Rise of HospitalityThe law firm office cannot remain unchanged, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when the terms and meaning have all changed. In fact, the office must now provide benefits or an experience the lawyers and staff cannot get at home.Read More ›
- Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe 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.Read More ›
- Lack of Logo Placement At Center of Ruling Over Meat Loaf Album PackagingTo build visibility for its brand, a record label or production company will want its logo included on products containing its master recordings manufactured and distributed by third parties. This will be addressed in the agreement between the label or production company and manufacturer/distributor. The failure to include the logo may raise a host of issues, from the breadth of the logo-placement obligation ' such as whether it includes Internet downloads ' to the proper theory on which to base any damages and just which album-sales figures are subject to evidentiary discovery. A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ' in a long-running dispute between Cleveland International Records and Sony Music Entertainment ' illustrated how these issues may be argued and decided.Read More ›