A recent Customs Headquarters decision approving a protest filed by our office calls into question the infallibility of Customs laboratory testing results. Ruling HQ H250948 involved a denial of a garment importer’s claim for duty-free treatment under the DR-CAFTA’s “short supply” provision.  Duty-free eligibility turned on whether the underlying fabric had been subjected to certain specific finishing processes (which the lab concluded were not performed). Customs agreed with our argument that the supposed lab testing actually involved subjective visual observations...

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Friday, August 22, 2014 | By Pepper Hamilton, LLP - A founding member of the EACCNY Following the July 31, 2014 decision of a New York federal judge in In re Warrant to Search a Certain E-mail Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corp., 1:13-mj-02814 (SDNY), U.S. companies should be aware that data they control now may be subject to the reach of a warrant issued pursuant to the Stored Communications Act (SCA), 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701 – 2712, even...

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Earlier today ISDA published the 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions Protocol, which will enable market participants to have their existing portfolio of credit derivatives transactions governed by the new 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions if they so choose.  The adherence period is now open and will run until September 12, 2014, only a few weeks away. Depending on market conditions, ISDA may consider re-opening the protocol for adherence.  However, market participants may not want to unnecessarily delay adherence on...

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Corporate inversions have been the target of regulatory or statutory tax proposals for many years. However, the recently attempted combination of Pfizer and AstraZeneca received prompt and more far-reaching attention in the U.S. Congress, both in the House of Representatives and Senate. Rep. Sander Levin and Sen. Carl Levin (both D-Mich.) proposed legislation to be known as the Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014. Aside from a specific end date for the legislation, which is contained in the Senate...

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On July 30, 2014, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to clarify and strengthen customer due diligence (CDD) requirements as a fifth pillar under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for banks and other covered financial institutions. Under the Proposed Rule, covered financial institutions would be required for the first time to identify and collect information on the beneficial owners of their legal entity customers. U.S. policymakers, including Treasury,1 seeking to balance...

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There has been a lot of talk lately about the pace of defeasances and the fact that many borrowers are increasingly willing to pay defeasance charges. Whether this is to lock in rates ahead of a potential Fed rate hike or because property values have rebounded so much that a would-be seller can afford to pay the charge, there is no denying that defeasances are on the rise. As the table below indicates, already over $3 billion in loans have...

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In a recent interview with The Deal’s Jon Marino, Pepper Hamilton LLP's Joan Arnold, a partner who heads the firm's tax group, says Pfizer’s play for AstraZeneca isn’t the only inversion deal being sought. There are no shortages of U.S. companies looking to buy a foreign asset and re-incorporate itself overseas to save on American tax bills. There are private equity firms, as well, that may consider making smaller moves to save a bundle on tax obligations as well. Elsewhere, in other sectors, investors...

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