AttorneysEd Center

Later this year, companies doing business in the United Kingdom will become subject to its new and expanded Bribery Act, which is in several ways broader than the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Although the Bribery Act imposes strict criminal liability on companies for improper payments made on their behalf, it also enables companies with effective corporate compliance procedures to avoid that liability. Join our presenters from K&L Gates LLP, Robert Hadley (London), Matt T. Morley (Washington, D.C.) and Laura Atherton (London), as they review key provisions of the Bribery Act, and UK guidance as to the elements of “adequate procedures” that will provide a defense to corporate liability. Among other things, our presenters emphasize adjustments that will be required to FCPA-based compliance programs to tailor them to provisions of the Bribery Act. This program will be of interest to any company doing business in the

If your practice involves the representation of companies with operations in the European Union, you won’t want to miss this important program by Vanessa Edwards, a partner in the London office of K&L Gates LLP. Our presenter covers recent EU developments in ethics and hot topics in antirust law, including: • Legal Professional Privilege: Akzo Nobel v. Commission (Court of Justice of the EU’s expected September 2010 judgment concerning the extent of legal professional privilege). This important judgment will settle the question of whether communications between a company and its in-house legal advisers is covered by privilege in the context of an EU antitrust investigation. • New Draft Horizontal Guidelines: In May 2010 the Commission published draft guidelines applicable to horizontal co-operation agreements to update the Commission's original guidelines that were adopted in 2000. The draft guidelines present an analytical framework that is intended to assist businesses in self-assessing the compatibility of

Our ongoing series on technology start-up companies continues. In this program, Peter Townshend, David Beckwith and Monique Ho of McDermott Will & Emery LLP discuss what constitutes intellectual property and how to protect it. Topics include, among others, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, patents, what is patentable and what is not, obtaining patents in the United States, in the EU and around the world, and in-bound and out-bound licensing of intellectual property by the company.

The potential infestation of the Great Lakes by invasive Asian carp species has precipitated a battle between environmental, shipping, tourism, and governmental interests in the United States and Canada over proposals to physically separate Lake Michigan from the rivers where the fish have been found. Join Steven Pflaum, a partner at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, who provides an overview of the overlapping laws, regulations, executive orders, and treaties applicable to efforts to respond to the threat posed by Asian carp, with emphasis on the “pressure points” that can be expected to serve as the battleground for those advocating or opposing physical separation as the solution. Subjects covered by this program include: • The Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework being developed by the Obama Administration’s Asian Carp Workgroup • Application of key environmental laws to the Asian carp controversy, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act • Application of

Changes in the regulatory approach to the short selling of listed securities have recently been announced in both the United States ("U.S.") and the European Union ("EU"). In the U.S., rule amendments were recently adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission that generally restrict market participants' ability to sell short listed securities whose price has dropped by at least 10% in a single day. In the EU, a new regulatory proposal would (to the extent adopted by the EU member states) require private disclosure of net short positions above a 0.2% threshold to the applicable regulator, and public disclosure to the market of such positions above a 0.5% threshold. Join Kay Gordon and Philip Morgan of K&L Gates LLP, who provide brief histories of regulatory developments in the area of short selling under both the EU and the U.S. regimes and summarize what the changes entail and what each

Asset protection practitioners should be well-versed in all applicable tax issues related to their clients’ planning. In this program, Barry Engel and Edward Brown provide a comprehensive overview of tax issues specific to asset protection planning, including a discussion on topics such as income, gift and estate tax implications for consideration, grantor trust issues, tax neutrality, select state and local tax issues, and the use of qualified personal residence trusts and/or foreign irrevocable life insurance trusts as asset protection techniques. Filing requirements and other compliance issues are also discussed.

Asset protection practitioners, clients and trustees should endeavor to keep themselves abreast of current trends and developments in the asset protection planning arena. In this program, Barry Engel discusses current trends and developments both legislatively and from a case law point of view. Topics include domestic asset protection developments (including a discussion of the Bryan case which held that a Colorado spendthrift trust was invalid), applicable portions of the recently enacted Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (“HIRE Act”), and recently enacted asset protection planning related developments in the State of Nevada. Mr. Engel also discusses offshore asset protection developments, including case law in the marital area and the updated tax treaty between the United States and Switzerland.

As time is often of the essence with respect to litigation challenges or other types of threats, asset protection practitioners and trustees must know how and when to spring into action in the event a litigation challenge or other threat arises against an integrated estate planning trust (“IEPT”) or a related underlying entity. In the third part of his new 3-part series, Barry Engel provides an in-depth discussion related to the protective measures process. Topics include: • a comprehensive introduction and overview of the concepts of protective measures • specific protective measure techniques • when, where and why to use a foreign bank and foreign funds manager • contempt of court issues • an overview of cases involving litigation challenges.

Asset protection practitioners, their clients, and their client’s trustees need to understand how to properly fund and then administer an integrated estate planning trust (“IEPT”) on a day-to-day basis in order to assist with maintaining the plan’s integrity in the event the plan is ever challenged, whether in litigation or otherwise. In the second of his new 3-part series, Barry Engel covers the following topics: • federal and foreign tax compliance and reporting • anti-money laundering compliance • trustee and third-party due diligence • documenting property transfers • the differences between, and properly documenting, outright distributions and loans • the payment of taxes due on phantom income from an IEPT • whether real estate should be held in an integrated estate planning structure • advising on where in the overall structure title to property should be transferred • refinancing mortgages • suggestions on how to protect one’s professional practice or operating business as part of the overall

Asset protection practitioners need to be well-versed in the relevant core concepts before endeavoring to assist their clients with a plan’s design and implementation. In the first of his new 3-part series, Barry Engel provides an in-depth introduction to the conceptual design and implementation of a client’s overall integrated estate plan. Areas of discussion include: • balancing protection with flexibility • how much of the client’s overall estate should one set out to protect • an overview of available integrated estate planning techniques • whether an integrated estate planning trust (“IEPT”) should stand alone or be integrated with the client’s overall estate plan • the trustee selection process, and whether an IEPT’s settlor(s) should act as the protector(s) of the IEPT • a comparison of domestic trusts versus foreign trusts for both asset protection and U.S. tax purposes • a comparative analysis of which domestic and foreign jurisdictions are