Killing the Golden Goose: The Declining Health of State Unclaimed Property Programs

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States are becoming ever more zealous in their pursuit of unclaimed property as a way to secure steady and reliable funding for their budgets. Unclaimed property is thus a “golden goose” for state budgets. However, this aggressive pursuit—especially through private contractors compensated through a contingency fee—may kill the golden goose. This article offers a diagnosis and some suggestions for states’ treatment of unclaimed property.

Fate of Chain Restaurants: Spring of Hope or Winter of Despair

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COVID-19 has undoubtedly impacted the restaurant industry. Many iconic chains have been forced to close their underperforming locations. Huge franchisees of these chains have also reorganized under Chapter 11. But there is still hope. With reduced competition, bidding wars and increased merger-and-acquisition activity of restaurant chains have developed

The Compliance Monthly: The Outlook for Enforcement Actions Under a Biden Administration

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There was a perception in 2017 when then President-elect Trump took office that white collar enforcement actions under the US Department of Justice (DOJ) might drop dramatically. Many expected the Republican administration to effect policy changes or resourcing decisions that would keep corporations out of the spotlight when it came to major investigations and massive penalties. But, in surveying the last four years, the opposite happened.

SEC Adopts Modernized Framework for Fund Valuation Practices

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On December 3, the SEC adopted Rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Under Rule 2a-5, determining fair value in good faith with respect to what a fund will require: (1) the periodic assessment and management of material risks associated with the determination of the fair value of the fund’s investments,

There’s An App (But Maybe Not A Copyright) For That

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With the software copyright case Google LLC, v. Oracle America, Inc. now being decided by the Supreme Court after hearing oral arguments on October 7, 2020, software developers and the general public may wonder about the potential impact a decision in the case may have on the tech industry. At stake for the parties are the copyright protections afforded to Oracle’s application programing interface (API) previously used by Google to provide the functionality of Google’s highly popular Android mobile operating system installed on billions of mobile devices worldwide.

Nasdaq Files Rule Requiring Diverse Representation on Boards of Listed Companies

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On December 1, 2020, The Nasdaq Stock Market filed a proposed rule with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which, if approved, will require listed companies to disclose the racial, LGBTQ+ status, and gender makeup of their boards of directors and have a minimum number of diverse directors or explain why they could not—or elected not to—achieve the established targets.