New Leasing Rules under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004
November 30, 2004
On Oct. 22, 2004, the President signed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA), one of the most significant pieces of tax legislation in recent years. AJCA makes a number of major changes to the tax rules applicable to capital-intensive businesses in general and to the leasing industry in particular. AJCA's major provisions include: 1) limitations on tax-exempt leasing structures; 2) improvement to the rules relating to offshore aircraft leasing and incentives for domestic manufacturing and production activities; 3) the application of "bonus" depreciation to non-commercial aircraft and syndicated lease transactions; 4) increased "Section 179" expensing; and 5) limitations on the depreciation of sport utility vehicles.
In The Marketplace
November 30, 2004
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Title Insurance for the Mezzanine Lender
November 30, 2004
Present-day real estate financing is significantly more complex than traditional financing. Sobered by borrower bankruptcies and compelled by rating agency requirements in the modern day era of mortgage securitizations, lenders are now looking to "mezzanine loans" to bridge the gap between senior debt and borrower equity. A mezzanine loan will often cover 50% to 90% of the equity required to acquire a property. In order to secure the repayment of a mezzanine loan, a lender customarily requires a pledge of the partnership or membership interests of the property owning entity.
'Follow the Settlements' Doctrine: Implications on a Reinsured's Allocation and Aggregation of Losses
November 30, 2004
The applicability of the bedrock reinsurance principle of "follow the settlements" is at the core of an increasing number of recent reinsurance disputes concerning whether a reinsurer must follow the manner its reinsureds allocate and aggregate underlying losses. Over the last 5 years, a number of courts have addressed whether the doctrine of "follow the settlements" precludes a reinsurer from second-guessing its reinsured's determination of how it allocated and/or aggregated losses in resolving disputes with the underlying insured. As discussed more fully below, reinsureds typically argue that under the "follow the settlements" doctrine, a reinsurer must defer to the allocation and aggregation decisions of its reinsured, provided those decisions are made in good faith. Reinsurers on the other hand, typically argue that "follow the settlements" is not unlimited, but that the reinsured's decisions must be consistent with the language of the reinsurance agreement.
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