SEC Codifies New Disclosure Requirements for Banking Registrants

SEC Codifies Disclosure Requirements for Banking Registrants
Oct14

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri For the past 30 years, the rules and requirements for banks and savings & loan registrants for making disclosures to investors have been a mess as they simply duplicated other rules and requirements of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).[1] This failed to take into account major changes in financial reporting since 1986 when the last substantive update to Industry Guide 3, Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies, the guide published by the SEC’s Division of

October 14, 2020
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EB-5 To The Rescue

EB-5 TO THE RESCUE by Taher Kameli
Oct09

Written by Taher Kameli America needs help, here comes EB5? The “EB-5 Program” refers to employment-based immigration under section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (codified as 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)).  The EB-5 Program has been in existence since the 1980’s, and until recently, long-term stakeholders in the community thought that they had seen it all. But with the pandemic continuing to impact every sector of the U.S. and global economy, industry experts are now required to speculate as to how the EB-5 Program will be impacted.   Based on this introduction, one would expect the next couple paragraphs to

October 9, 2020
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How The Department of Labor’s New Definition of “Independent Contractors” Can Wrongfully Exclude Workers From Federal Labor Protections

Independent Contractor Might Recieve New Proposed Definition
Oct07

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In what could be seen as a boon to employers, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed regulation setting out a new definition of who was or was not an “independent contractor.”[1] This regulation, if approved and finalized, would make it easier for employers to classify much of their workforce as “independent contractors” and be excused from providing them labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.[2] On the other hand, however, it may affect the security of workers as they could lose considerable protections and benefits

October 7, 2020
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Illegal Profits From False Claims About COVID-19 Vaccines

False Claims on COVID-19 Vaccine Making Illegal Profits
Sep28

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri Due to the need for a vaccine in light of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, biotechnology companies developing vaccine candidates have become the source of immense profit to stockholders investing in these companies.[1] Investors are betting on companies with promising candidates for successful vaccines, hoping to make millions, if not billions, off of the sale of these drugs. Already insiders from 11 small companies dependent on drug success or failure have sold over $1 billion in shares since March, in response to announcements of positive test results from heads of pharmaceutical

September 28, 2020
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Supreme Court Conditionally Recognizes the SEC’s Right to Disgorgement

SEC Right to Disgorgement Recognized by The Supreme Court
Sep25

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long argued that as part of penalties sought from parties accused of unlawful activities in violation of securities laws, the SEC had a right to disgorge from the profits of the liable party as part of the remedies it could seek.[1] Disgorgement refers to a remedy by which parties who profited from illegal or wrongful conduct (“ill-gotten gains” so to speak) must return those profits that they made from that conduct to those they harmed in order to make them whole.[2]

September 25, 2020
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Your patient and/or lawyer won’t pay for your services, how did you get here?

Physicians having issues with medical debt payments
Sep24

Written by Taher Kameli & Eso Akunne Physicians having issues with medical debt payments often fall into two categories: (1) Patients who were injured in an accident lacking good health insurance who subsequently hire an attorney to file an insurance claim against the responsible party. OR (2) Chiropractors, doctors or physical therapists who provide treatment, on a lien basis, agreeing to wait for payment of their services when the case is settled.   How do you ensure payment? Physicians have often come to attorneys asking for payment for services rendered when a case settles or a judgment is made, to receive news that the attorney argues

September 24, 2020
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Businesses Sue Insurers for Their Refusal to Pay Claims During COVID-19

Businesses Sue Insurers For Not Paying Claims During COVID
Sep14

Written by Taher Kameli & Julie Seong The long-term effects of the Coronavirus pandemic continue to reveal themselves in various ways. A United States Chamber of Commerce report shows that more than eight in ten small businesses have had to plan for changes made in response to the pandemic. The June report also shows that business owners’ negative sentiments toward the U.S. economy are slowly changing. However, the financial hit the majority of businesses took since March remains a reality. Although there have been multiple legislative proposals, bills, acts, and grants made available to both individuals and businesses in

September 14, 2020
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The Supreme Court’s Confirmation of SEC’s Disgorgements in Liu v. SEC

Confirmation of SEC’s Disgorgement in Liu v. SEC
Aug31

Written by Taher Kameli & Julie Seong A recent the United States Supreme Court decision confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can seek disgorgement of ill-gotten gains as an equitable remedy in SEC enforcement actions in federal court. Liu v. SEC was a case involving the SEC and married couple Charles Liu and Xing Wang, who was ordered to pay the $26.7 million they had collected from immigrants and misappropriated. On June 22, 2020, the Supreme Court’s Liu v. SEC ruling upheld the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to recover ill-gotten gains from those who commit financial

August 31, 2020
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The Economic Effects of COVID-19 on Businesses

The Economic Effects of COVID-19 on Businesses
Aug27

Written by Taher Kameli According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, there are 5,176,018 reported cases of  COVID-19 in the United States alone as of August 13, 2020. As a result, the lives of caretakers, family, and employers of the affected individuals have also been changed. The unemployment rate in the United States is estimated to be at 13 percent and counting, and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ended on July 25, 2020. This is the highest unemployment rate Americans face since the Great Depression. People and businesses have taken drastic measures to keep afloat. Several new laws

August 27, 2020
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EPA Approves 1-Bromopropane For Use in the Workplace

EPA Approves 1-Bromopropane For Use in the Workplace
Aug24

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a final risk evaluation on the substance 1-Bromopropane (1-BP), as per the Toxic Substances Control Act.[1] It sought to inquire about the safety of 1-BP for general use and the environment.[2]  On August 11, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released this report.[3] Although it found that 16 out of 25 conditions of use presented an unreasonable risk to workers, occupational non-users, consumers and bystanders, the EPA still found that none of these conditions made 1-BP pose any unreasonable environmental

August 24, 2020
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