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The Internal Revenue Service announced on February 8, 2011 the creation of a second special voluntary disclosure initiative for U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign bank and other financial accounts. This new program is a follow-on to the IRS’ original voluntary disclosure initiative that closed on October 15, 2009. The 2009 program reportedly attracted some 15,000 voluntary disclosures by taxpayers with previously undisclosed offshore accounts, and has been viewed within the government as a success in getting taxpayers "back into the U.S. tax system" by offering them the ability to avoid or significantly mitigate various the criminal and civil penalties that would otherwise have potentially applied had their failure to disclose been discovered by the IRS on audit.
 Continue Reading IRS Announces Second Special Voluntary Disclosure Initiative for Taxpayers With Undisclosed Offshore Accounts

By Curt Dombek

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has changed the I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Workers. This affects all H-1B, H-1B1 Chile/Singapore, L-1 and O-1A petitioners. Companies must certify compliance with the deemed export laws governing the release of controlled technology or technical data to foreign persons in Part 6 of the new form, which becomes mandatory on December 23, 2010.
 Continue Reading USCIS Makes Important Changes to I-129 Petition for Foreign Workers Effective December 23

By Neil A.F. Popović and Rachel Tarko Hudson

Context: The Chevron-Ecuador Litigation

A high profile and complex dispute involving a group of Ecuadorian residents, Chevron Corporation and the Republic of Ecuador is forcing courts and the media to focus on an arcane provision of federal law that authorizes federal courts in the United States to order testimony or the production of documents for use in a foreign or international tribunal. This once-obscure statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), authorizes, but does not require, U.S. courts to compel U.S.-style discovery in aid of non-U.S. proceedings. Federal courts on opposite sides of the United States recently ordered parties on opposite sides of the Chevron-Ecuador disputes to provide discovery under section 1782(a).
 Continue Reading US Courts Order Discovery for Use Overseas in Chevron-Ecuador Disputes

By Albert Lu

EB-5 Investor Visa Basics

Under Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individual investors (and accompanying spouse & minor children) seeking to obtain permanent resident "green card" status in the United States on the basis of their qualifying financial investment of at least $1,000,000 (or under certain circumstances $500,000 in defined Target Employment Areas) into a new commercial enterprise in USA, as well as their "management" role within the invested commercial enterprise that will create the jobs and employ at least 10 full-time U.S. workers. 
 Continue Reading EB-5 (Job Creation) Investor Green Card Pursuit, Regional Center Approach & TEA Designation Information

By Kevin R. Puvalowski

On September 22, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction and 42-month sentence of Mauricio Alfonso Mazza-Alaluf (“Mazza-Alaluf”), a Chilean national, for conspiring to operate and actually operating an unlicensed money transmitting business based upon his company’s use of bank accounts in the United States. United States v. Mazza-Alaluf, 09-3940-cr, 2010 WL 3666717 (2d Cir. Sept. 22, 2010). Mazza-Alaluf was convicted after a two-day bench trial in November 2008 in Manhattan federal court. See United States v. Mazza-Alaluf, 607 F. Supp. 2d 484 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law).
 Continue Reading Second Circuit Affirms Conviction for Unlicensed Money Transmitting Based on Chilean Company’s Use of U.S. Bank Accounts

By Larissa Calva-Ruiz

Mexico’s Federal Law for the Protection of Personal data (la Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares) (the "Law") protects an individual’s personal data by restricting its use and prescribing the way in which both private and public entities must treat the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data relating to Mexican citizens. The owner of the information has the right to decide who can access his/her personal data and in which ways it might be disclosed to others. The owner has the right to correct such information, control the transfer of the information and block or cancel its use. Also, the owner of the information has the right to access his own information regardless of the holder.
 Continue Reading Mexico Passes New Law on Data Protection

By Daniel L. Brown & Giselle Rivers

On May 27, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in part and remanded in part a district court’s decision certifying class actions against the Republic of Argentina and granting over $2 billion in damages to eight classes of plaintiffs.  Puricelli v. The Republic of Argentina, No. 09-0332, 2010 WL 2105132 (2nd Cir. May 27, 2010)("Puricelli"). While the Court of Appeals concluded that class certification was appropriate, it held that the district court erred in entering aggregate class-wide relief, as opposed to determining individual relief.Continue Reading Second Circuit Rejects $2 Billion Class Action Award Against The Republic of Argentina

By Jerry Gumpel & Larissa Calva-Ruiz

A few years ago, the Mexican government set its sights expanding it manufacturing capabilities in the aerospace industry. The preliminary results from this effort are in and the Mexican story is a story of success. Due to government’s efforts, Mexico has become an "emerging cluster" with more than 190 aerospace companies employing more than 20,000 workers and exported goods in excess $3,400,000,000 in 2008.[1] Indeed, in a survey of major manufacturing investments in the aerospace industry from 1990-2009 conducted by AeroStrategy Mexico emerged as the country with the most manufacturing investments of any country. (Exhibit 1). This article will explore some of the reasons why "setting up shop" in Mexico is so attractive.
 Continue Reading Aerospace Opportunities in Mexico

By Curt Dombek and Karin Johnson

With the award to Rio de Janeiro of two of the highest profile sports events in the world—the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics—many U.S. and multinational corporations will be looking for investment opportunities in Brazil. If the 2008 Olympics in China are to be any kind of guide, foreign investment in Brazil will dramatically increase over the next several years and Brazil will become an increasingly attractive market. Companies looking to do business or invest in Brazil, however, should also be aware of the risks they face under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and should ensure that they have a strong compliance program in place.
 Continue Reading Increased Opportunities for Foreign Investment in Brazil Also Bring Increased Risk for FCPA Violations