While the California Financing Law defines "finance lender", it does so in a very open-ended and nonspecific manner. Cal. Fin. Code § 22009 ("'Finance lender' includes any person who is engaged in the business of making...more
Statutory time periods can be ambiguous. For example, what does "six months" mean when one month has 28 or 29 days, other months have 30 days and still others have 31 days....more
Beginning in January, "covered entities" will be prohibited from charging specified fees in connection with a commercial financing transaction with a "small business" or "small business" owner. Cal. Stat. ch. 881 (SB 666). ...more
11/13/2023
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Covered Entities ,
Fees ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Lending ,
New Legislation ,
Payment Processors ,
Small Business
In 2016, I wrote about the Nevada Supreme Court's refusal to "blue pencil" non-compete agreements so as to make theme enforceable. Golden Road Motor Inn, Inc. v. Islam, 132 Nev. 476, 488, 376 P.3d 151, 159 (2016). The...more
Yesterday's post concerned discussed Lagrisola v. North American Financial Corp., 2023 WL 7273708 (Nov. 3, 2023), in which the Court of Appeal held that a borrower had failed to plead a cause of action against an unlicensed...more
Section 22100 of the California Financial Code prohibits persons from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license from the California Commissioner of Financial Protection & Innovation. ...more
In the high and far-off times, physical delivery was the only option of providing documents to the other side. Before copy machines, an agreement would be written and then rewritten on the same page. The two copies would be...more
When the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed to adopt a rule a rule requiring issuers to report day-to-day share repurchase data once a quarter and to disclose the reason why the issuer repurchased shares of its own...more
California's Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 provides that a partner has a duty to refrain from competing with the partnership in the conduct of the partnership business "before the dissolution of the partnership". Cal....more
Neither California's nor Delaware's General Corporation Law expressly prohibits directors from being represented by proxy at board meetings. However, it appears to have been well settled in Delaware since at least 1915 that...more
The California Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation Law contemplates three different methods for members to take action: at a meeting, by ballot, and by unanimous written consent. Cal. Corp. Code §§ 7512(a), 7513 & 7516. ...more
Under the California General Corporation Law, a board of directors can take action in two different ways - at a meeting or by unanimous written consent. See Cal. Corp. Code § 307. Over a decade ago, I posed the question of...more
More than a decade ago, I remarked on the ahistoricity of California's adoption of English common law despite the fact that it had never been a colony of England.* Yesterday, the California Court of Appeal applied English...more
California's anti-SLAPP statute provides that a special motion to strike may be filed against "[a] cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person’s right of petition or free...more
In a state that classifies clams, crabs and bumblebees as "fish", the ruling in BioCorRx, Inc. v. VDM Biochemicals, Inc., Case No. G061535 (Oct. 23, 2023) should come as no surprise. The issue in the case was the "commercial...more
Recently, I wrote about the ruling in Cress v. Nexo Financial LLC, 2023 WL 6609352 (Oct. 10, 2023). Today's post covers a different issue addressed in that case - to what extent does California's securities law preclude...more
According to this article by Carta, nearly 40.7% of all venture capital raised on its platform in the first quarter of this year went to companies headquartered in California. This sounds impressive, but it represents a...more
Last week, I reported that Governor Newsom had signed SB 54 (Skinner) even while acknowledging in his signing message that it contained "problematic provisions". SB 54 requires "venture capital companies", as defined, to...more
Securities law practitioners know that Section 5(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 generally makes it unlawful to sell a security unless a registration statement is in effect, or the security or the transaction is exempt. ...more
A year ago, Governor Newsom vetoed a bill, AB 2269, which would have established a Digital Financial Assets Law. At the time, the Governor claimed that it was "premature to lock a licensing structure in statute". What a...more
Anyone planning to buy a loaf of bread or head of lettuce next year will need to plan ahead. Last weekend, Governor Newsom signed AB 853 into law. This bill provides that "no person shall acquire, directly or indirectly,...more
Many law firms have been issuing alerts of late discussing the enactment of The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253). As enacted, this act will require, among other things, "reporting entities" to disclose...more
This February post noted the introduction of SB 261 which aimed at imposing climate-related financial risk reporting. In the ensuing months, the bill was amended seven times and garnered numerous supporters and opponents. ...more
Venture capital investment has been instrumental in the creation of numerous high tech businesses that have quite literally changed the world. There is no gainsaying the importance of venture capital firms to California. ...more
The California Real Estate Law is decidedly standoffish when it comes to limited liability companies. While it allows corporations to be licensed as real estate brokers, it makes not such allowance for limited liability...more