Recent Updates
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EU court puts limits on modified honey
Business Law 09/07/2011Honey that contains traces of pollen from genetically modified crops needs special authorization before it can be sold in Europe, the European Union's top court said Tuesday, in a judgment that could have widespread consequences on the bloc's policy ...
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Court signs off on Comcast takeover of NBCU
Business Law 09/02/2011A federal court has approved the government's conditions placed on Comcast's takeover of NBCUniversal.In an order Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., tacked on a two-year oversight period that aims to protect competitors w...
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Industry applauds ruling on city gas drilling ban
Business Law 08/16/2011A court ruling that invalidates Morgantown's ban on Marcellus shale gas drilling gives West Virginia's oil and gas producers the certainty they need to keep expanding operations, an industry leader said Monday. "We all along believed the city of Morg...
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Regulators shut 4 small banks in 3 states
Business Law 07/15/2011Regulators on Friday shut down four small banks in three states, boosting to 55 the number of U.S. bank failures this year. The overall pace of closures, however, has slowed this year as banks work their way through piles of bad debt. A slow, but imp...
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Bernanke: Fed ready to act if economy worsens
Business Law 07/13/2011Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday the Fed is ready to act if the economy gets weaker. He warned them that allowing the nation to default on its debt would send "shock waves through the entire financial system." Underscori...
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Legal questions raised on NY's gas-drilling rules
Business Law 07/12/2011While an energy industry economist says New York's proposal to place large areas off-limits to gas drilling is overly restrictive, an environmental lawyer says the proposed watershed protections don't go far enough. The Department of Environmental Co...
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Bank of America settlement faces challenge
Business Law 07/06/2011Bank of America's $8.5 billion settlement with investors over poor-quality mortgage bonds is facing a new challenge. On Tuesday, a group of bond investors calling themselves Walnut Place said they objected to the terms of the settlement. In a filing ...
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BofA Near $8.5B Deal to Settle Big Investors' Claims
Business Law 06/29/2011Bank of America Corp. is close to finalizing a deal to pay $8.5 billion to settle claims by a group of investors that the bank sold them poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market tanked, according to a person fami...
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Citigroup ex-VP arrested in NYC on fraud charges
Business Law 06/27/2011A former Citigroup vice president embezzled $19.2 million from the bank in a one-man "inside job" involving a series of secret money transfers, federal prosecutors said Monday. Gary Foster, 35, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., surrendered Sunday at John F....
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Prescription drug data mining law struck down
Business Law 06/23/2011The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states cannot limit drug manufacturers' use of information about which prescription drugs doctors like to prescribe.The court voted 6-3 to strike down a Vermont data-mining law aimed at boosting the use of generi...
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Banks lose battle to delay cap on invisible fee
Business Law 06/09/2011Merchants trumped bankers in a battle for billions Wednesday as the Senate voted to let the Federal Reserve slash fees that stores pay financial institutions when customers pay with debit cards. Whether consumers will see any of that money remains to...
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Court says university, company co-owners of patent
Business Law 06/06/2011Ownership of a patent for technology to detect HIV levels in patients' blood was correctly split between Stanford University and the pharmaceutical giant Roche, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.By a 7-2 vote, the high court upheld a lower court's decis...