Newsletters

Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws

Bylaws are written provisions describing how day-to-day operations of a corporation will be conducted. A corporation's activities are governed, in order of precedence, by statute, corporate charter, and bylaws.

SIPC Protection for Investors

Investors who engage in securities transactions through a brokerage firm that is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (or SIPC) receive protection for cash and securities held by the brokerage firm for the accounts of the investors. The SIPC covers up to $500,000 in losses of such cash and securities per investor with a $100,000 limit on the amount of cash in an account that is covered.

Insurance Law

(Variable Annuities)

Premerger Notification Under Section 7A of the Clayton Act

Section 7A of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 18a, requires advance notice to federal antitrust enforcement agencies of mergers and acquisitions over a certain size. Pre-merger notification rules must be complied with and notice must be given to the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice before the merger or acquisition may become effective. Those agencies have the option upon receiving proper notification to impose an additional waiting period upon the parties to the transaction in order for the agencies to evaluate any potential effect on competition or tendency toward a monopoly that would suggest an enforcement action to have the merger or acquisition enjoined.

Federal Trade Commission Competition and Consumer Protection Authority

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is given broad authority in the areas of competition and consumer protection law by Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 45. Section 5 declares unlawful any "[u]nfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce," and Section 5 gives the Commission authority to prevent use of unfair methods of competition and deceptive acts or practices.