New Law Lets A Thousand Rules Bloom, But Only Quarterly
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Office of Administrative Law is responsible for the review of regulations promulgated by over 200 state agencies. In 2011, reportedly 103 different agencies proposed 467 new rules. If the OAL determines that a proposed rule or amendment meets the standards prescribed by the APA, the OAL files the regulation with the Secretary of State’s office. In the Read more...
Phishing Scam Uses California Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund As Lure
Earlier this month, the California Secretary of State warned of yet another phishing scam. Criminals typically phish by associating themselves with legitimate businesses. Their goal is to obtain personal information that can be used to steal your identity. This particular scam mentions the California Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund, a real fund that is administered by the Secretary of State. See Read more...
Bill Illustrates Ills Besetting Corporate Fraud Fund
In 2002, the Legislature enacted AB 55 creating the victims of corporate fraud fund. Since the fund was created, it has collected about $15 million and nearly 800 claims have been submitted. In a devastating article published last fall by the Sacramento Bee, Dan Morain reported that only 10 people had been paid with a total payout of $112,496. His verdict Read more...
Bill Seeks To Mandate Corporate Political Disclosures
The fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Com’n, 130 S. Ct. 876 (2010) continues. Earlier this week, California State Senator Noreen Evans introduced a bill, SB 982, to require corporations to issue a report on planned political spending as well as expenditures for the previous fiscal year. The report must include the following: Read more...
What To Do When Your Business Entity Has Been Wrongfully Terminated
People make mistakes. Some mistakes, such as dialing a wrong number, can be fixed with no lasting damage. Other mistakes, such as Fred Merkle’s base running error in 1908, can never be undone. What if your business entity has been terminated by mistake? Is this a correctable or a permanent error? In Catalina Investments v. Jones, 98 Cal.App. 4th 1 (2002), the Court of Read more...
Secretary Of State Proposes Rule Changes / AB 657 Set For First Hearing
Regulations Proposed Pursuant to Corporations Code § 1502, every corporation organized under the California General Corporation Law must file a Statement of Information with the Secretary of State within 90 days after filing of its initial Articles of Incorporation. Thereafter, the corporation must file a Statement of Information during the “applicable filing period”. The “applicable filing period” is the calendar Read more...
Secretary Of State’s E-Mail Notification Bill To Be Amended
The Secretary of State is sponsoring AB 657 to allow both foreign and domestic corporations to indicate that they would like to receive notification from the Secretary of State’s office by email. As discussed in this post, I submitted a comment letter asking that the bill be amended to make it clear that a corporation will only be required to Read more...
Governor Says No To Bill To Combat “Official” Mailings
Many lawyers have received calls from clients asking about notices that they have received regarding state and local government filings. Sometimes, these notices warn that corporate minutes must be prepared. Other notices request information necessary to complete required filings. These notices appear to be from the government but are actually solicitations by private companies. Last year, the Secretary of State’s Read more...
SOS Changes Document Certifications
Historically, the California Secretary of State has certified copies of filed documents by attaching a separate cover page. Last week, the Secretary of State announced that effective July 23, 2010 her office would stamp the back of the last page of the instrument being certified in lieu of providing a separate cover page. The stamp will contain the date on which the document was Read more...
Bay State Security Breach – Implications for the Golden State
Broc Romanek recently posted an item from Alan Parness concerning a security breakdown at the Massachusetts Securities Division. Alan raises an excellent question about whether a state agency would be as forgiving of someone that it regulates. Privacy would seem to be a very important issue in California. In fact, the very first article and section of the California Constitution Read more...
