Commercial Law

Will Your Company Be Prepared?

FATCA is an effort by the United States to curb tax evasion and incentivize Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) to report the overseas assets of U.S. persons. The U.S. encourages compliance by imposing a 30% withholding penalty on all U.S. source income and sale proceeds of non-compliant foreign financial institutions.

Where the borrower's default is not in dispute, the First Department appears to have recognized that there is little reason to delay the inevitable foreclosure. Discussion of a case in point.

Substantive non-consolidation opinion letters have long been a regular "check-the-box" item in large commercial real estate transactions. While substantive consolidation jurisprudence has not changed materially over the past decade, these opinion letters should not be treated lightly by borrowers or their counsel.

Parties in complex commercial cases that are accused of defaulting on or breaching a contract may invoke the defense of impossibility, arguing that performance of contractual obligations was rendered impossible by an intervening event. But under New York law, those arguments rarely make it past the motion stage.

Discussion of a case in which a trial court sided with the property owner/defendant where the tenant sought to terminate the lease early, but could not because it was not in compliance with one of the requirements for early termination.

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation has released its Q4 update to the 2017 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook, which increased its yearly equipment and software investment forecast to 4.3%, up from 3.6% forecast in the Q3 Outlook.

Hidden Liability for the Unwary Lessor

Much has been written in the industry about equipment lessors' cybersecurity practices for the protection of their information. The issue addressed herein is the equipment lessor's obligations and potential liability for information stored on equipment returned to the lessor at the end of a lease.

Can a creditor obtain a security interest in electricity under UCC Article 9? It covers security interests in fixtures and personal property. Clearly, electricity is not real property or a fixture. But what kind of personal property is it?