Acting under the pressure put on it by the New York financial supervisory authority, German Commerzbank dismissed 4 German employees, but has now been upbraided by Frankfurt Labor Court for doing so. The US bank authority had demanded repercussions for the bank's lax anti money laundering checks: "The Authority is instructing the bank to take all necessary steps to dismiss the four employees who played a central role in the context of the inappropriate conduct (...), but who continue to...

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It may not be the Powerball, but the ship has come in for those who bet that the $3 billion Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town would pay off in full in January 2016. Ever since the sale of the complex was announced in late 2015, CMBS investors knew this day was coming; the only question was "when?” A lawsuit from a lender of mezzanine debt, followed by the trustee asking for clarification on the exact distribution for the repayment proceeds cast...

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On October 26, 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed State Assembly bill A07594, extending the expiration period of 2012 amendments to New York Labor Law §193, which had permitted employers to make deductions from employee wages in circumstances otherwise deemed impermissible by the New York State Department of Labor. Under this bill, the expiration period is extended from three years after the date that the amendments went into effect, which would be November 6, 2015, to six years after the...

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On October 28, 2015, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) published revised proposed regulations modifying its draft regulations (which were initially published on May 27, 2015) governing permissible methods of wage payment, including the use of payroll debit cards (also referred to as paycards). While the focus of the revised proposed regulations is on an employer’s use of payroll debit cards, they also codify guidance provided by the NYSDOL in the agency’s opinion letter pertaining to paychecks. The revised proposed...

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As we previously reported in July and June, New York City recently passed the Fair Chance Act (FCA), which becomes effective onTuesday, October 27, 2015, and is applicable to criminal background checks. Among other requirements, the FCA prohibits employers from inquiring about or making statements concerning criminal history, prior to a conditional offer of employment, including the following: asking an applicant* questions about his or her criminal record; searching public records on an applicant’s* criminal record; having an applicant* complete background check disclosure and authorization forms;...

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