Block.

January 06, 2006 | Legaltech News

Business software developer Computer Associates International Inc. has announced it will acquire venture-capital-backed software company Wily Technology Inc. for $375 million in cash. Islandia, N.Y.-based Computer Associates makes programs that help diagnose problems in corporate software applications while they run in real time. "Wily is the leader in this sector and the fastest-growing major company in a fast-growing market," said John Swainson, Computer Associates� chief executive, in a statement.

By Donna Block

2 minute read

June 19, 2006 | Law.com

Don't break out the flowers and champagne for the marriage of Constellation Energy Group and FPL Group just yet. Despite last week's vote by Maryland lawmakers that apparently resolved a dispute over rates charged by Constellation's utility subsidiary, some potentially deal-killing uncertainty will remain until a new lineup of state public service commissioners actually approves the merger.

By Donna Block

4 minute read

December 01, 2006 | Law.com

The U.S. has lost its competitive edge because the regulatory environment is driving businesses to overseas exchanges and private sources to raise money, a panel of entrepreneurs and academics, endorsed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, said in a report to the White House released Thursday. The report's recommendations include revising SOX; pursuing criminal cases against corporations in only exceptional circumstances; and allowing shareholders of certain companies to vote on so-called poison pills.

By Donna Block

4 minute read

June 21, 2006 | Corporate Counsel

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox on Monday named Federal Reserve Board Governor Mark Olson to head the auditor watchdog board created by Congress in 2002. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, officially a part of the SEC, is the nation's primary regulator of auditors. Among the issues facing the PCAOB is the SEC's rapidly growing investigation of possible stock option abuses at a number of public U.S. companies.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

May 31, 2005 | Law.com

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted by an overwhelming voice vote Thursday to include in a wide-ranging energy bill a provision repealing the Public Utility Holding Company Act, a 1935 law that restricts mergers and acquisitions in the power-utility sector. The Senate leadership has indicated the energy bill will go before the full Senate soon after members return from their weeklong Memorial Day recess. Three large power deals could hinge on whether the law is repealed.

By Donna Block

5 minute read

January 08, 2010 | New York Law Journal

Kenneth M. Block, a partner of Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt, and Hilary Semel, a senior associate of the firm, review the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, which was signed by Mayor Bloomberg on Dec. 28, 2009. The legislation, which is designed to reduce the city's carbon footprint by 5 percent, provides for the creation of a New York City Energy Conservation Code, the benchmarking of water and energy use performance, the upgrading of lighting during major renovations, and the conducting of energy audits and retro-commissioning.

By Kenneth M. Block and Hilary Semel

14 minute read

July 17, 2007 | Law.com

Legislation that would prohibit government prosecutors from pressuring companies to waive the attorney-client privilege was introduced Thursday in the House. The bill comes as a response to new guidelines issued by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty to federal prosecutors conducting investigations into suspected corporate fraud and other financial crimes. McNulty issued the guidelines after mounting pressure from Congress to ease aggressive tactics used to obtain cooperation from targeted companies.

By Donna Block and William McConnell

2 minute read

September 13, 2005 | Law.com

The Securities and Exchange Commission's chief accountant, Donald Nicolaisen, said that while valuing employee stock options using certain market-based approaches "should be possible," he still had "significant doubts" about using those methods. The statement is not an out and out rejection of a proposal by network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. that would provide a market value for options issued to all company employees, but it does not firmly support the approach.

By Donna Block

3 minute read

December 21, 2006 | New York Law Journal

The panel that oversees corporate accountants proposed Tuesday a new auditing standard meant to scale back audits of corporations' internal financial controls, as mandated under Section 404 of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law.

By Donna BlockThe Deal

5 minute read

June 04, 2007 | Legaltech News

Computer equipment retailer CDW Corp. struck a deal with Madison Dearborn Partners to take it private for $7.3 billion. The company expects to maximize shareholder investment while retaining its 5,640 employees, brand name and management team.

By Donna Block and Kelly Holman

3 minute read