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FTC v. Employers: Do Banks Have a Dog in the Fight?

FTC v. Employers: Do Banks Have a Dog in the Fight?

On January 5, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Proposed Rule”) that would effectively prohibit noncompete clauses in contracts between employers and workers. The FTC’s authority to issue regulations prohibiting...

Uniform Commercial Code Amendments: Correcting Misconceptions

Uniform Commercial Code Amendments: Correcting Misconceptions

What is the UCC? The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a comprehensive set of laws governing all commercial transactions in the United States. It is not a matter of federal law, but rather a set of universally adopted state statutes. The uniformity of state adoption of...

Credit Card Penalty Fee Proposed Rule – Additional Considerations

Credit Card Penalty Fee Proposed Rule – Additional Considerations

Under current Regulation Z, card issuers are prohibited from charging a penalty fee on credit cards unless they have either (1) determined that the dollar amount of the fee represents a reasonable proportion of the total costs incurred as a result of the consumer’s...

Counterfeit vs. Altered Checks

Counterfeit vs. Altered Checks

According to most history texts, checks were first used sometime in the early 1500s in the Netherlands, and likely, check fraud was not far behind. In 1762, the Court of the King’s Bench in England decided Price v. Neal, establishing the fundamental principles and...

Suspicious Activity – Will You Know It When You See It?

Suspicious Activity – Will You Know It When You See It?

The Federal Bank Secrecy Act is aimed at preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism or other criminal activity, and suspicious activity reporting is a key component of the BSA framework. A bank’s failure to file suspicious activity reports or its...

Ashley Brost Awarded SDDLA Associate Lawyer Award (Rising Star)

Ashley Brost Awarded SDDLA Associate Lawyer Award (Rising Star)

The 2022 South Dakota Defense Lawyers Association (SDDLA) Awards were held November 3. The SDDLA Associate Lawyer Award (Rising Star) was awarded to Ashley Brost, of Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith, LLP in Sioux Falls. The SDDLA Associate Lawyer Award (Rising...

A Primer on Permissible Bank Investments

A Primer on Permissible Bank Investments

Banks are creatures of limited powers under both state and federal law and are tightly constrained when it comes to the types of investments they may hold. Those constraints apply to both debt securities a bank may hold for investment, and also equity securities,...

2023 Estate Gift Tax Exclusions

2023 Estate Gift Tax Exclusions

The lifetime estate exclusion amount (also sometimes called the estate tax exemption amount, the applicable exclusion amount, or the unified credit amount) has been increased for inflation beginning January 1, 2023. Applicable Exclusion Amount Under the 2010 Tax...