On May 21, 2018, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in the consolidated cases Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285; Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, No. 16-300; and NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA, No. 16-307. In a 5–4 opinion by Justice Gorsuch, the Court held that courts must enforce arbitration agreements requiring employees to bring employment-related claims in individualized arbitration proceedings, and barring them from pursuing those claims as a collective or class action. The Court explained that absent a contrary congressional directive, arbitration clauses… To read the full article in Jenner & Block, click: The Supreme…
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While the Comcast/Time-Warner merger is pending with the FCC, another mega deal has fizzled out. Toy giant Hasbro got cold feet in its $3 billion bid for DreamWorks Entertainment after its stock slid five percent after investors deemed the price way too high. Not to worry though, a new report from Ernst & Young showed 40 percent of media executives surveyed said they expected to make a buy sometime in the next 12 months. If the deals come to fruition, that would be the highest M&A rate for the media sector in three years, although one expert expects most…
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The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found 123 audit deficiencies related to fair-value estimates and asset impairments in 2010, making asset valuation the most common audit problem. Market volatility always makes it tough to value assets fairly based on market prices. But that doesn’t mean management forecasts—and the assumptions and methodologies of financial modeling used in corporate pricing—couldn’t benefit from additional scrutiny. Emily Chasan reports at the Wall Street Journal’s CFO Report blog: The Big Number: 123 That’s the number of audit deficiencies related to asset-valuation problems found among clients of the Big Four accounting firms in 2010. Market volatility…
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The International Accounting Standards Board plans to establish a formal network to give standard-setting bodies a voice when their countries switch to International Financial Reporting Standards. There is conflict, however, over how the network will operate and whether it would dilute IFRS as a single set of reporting standards. Advocates of such a network say the U.S. will not commit to IFRS without it. In an article called “Long Push for Accounting Standards” sub-titled “The United States is Seen to Be Dragging its Feet in Choosing to Come on Board,” Star Publications (Malaysia)/Reuters reports: SHAREHOLDERS and regulators have long wanted the…
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M&A Will Likely Pick Up in New Year An Ernst & Young survey indicates longer term appetite for deals has increased, reports Anthony Noto at Mergers & Acquisitions. Private equity firms are more confident in the worldwide economy, suggesting an increase in M&A activity for the New Year, according to a report Ernst & Young released Wednesday. In the longer term, the appetite for M&A increases as companies are less likely to feel inhibited by the volatile economy and political unrest in Washington DC, the survey said, with 68 percent of larger cap respondents believing credit availability is either stable…