Earlier this year the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit added another take on “make-whole provisions” in bankruptcy law when it held that, absent language to the contrary, prepayment penalties may not be included in the claims of lenders who accelerate their borrowers’ notes.1 “Make-whole provisions”, and related “no-call provisions”, are important mechanisms…
Month: March 2014
Dilemma for Big Four Auditors in China in the Midst of Conflicting Laws
On January 22, 2014, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot censured Chinese affiliates of the “Big Four” accounting firms (Ernst & Young LLP, KPMG LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Deloitte LLP) along with BDO China Dahua CPA Co., Ltd. for willful violation of Section 106(e) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002…
Private Equity Funds’ New Tax Challenge: Tax Breaks Through Monitoring Fees
For years, regulators have scrutinized the tax practices of private equity firms on several fronts. One relatively recent example occurred in 2012 when the New York Attorney General led an investigation regarding private equity funds’ conversion of certain management fees into investments that are eligible for more favorable tax treatment, also known as fee waiver…