In a recent opinion, the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) disagreed with a Texas franchisor that claimed rent and other fees received from its franchisees were mandated by fiduciary duty to flow through to other entities and therefore not taxable revenue.
The Franchise Agreement and the Franchise Disclosure Document of the franchisor,
More and more states are launching online portals allowing franchise systems to file initial registrations, exemptions, renewals and amendment applications electronically. The Indiana Secretary of State, Securities Division launched the Indiana Securities Portal exactly one year ago. According to the Indiana Division, the implementation has been very successful and the feedback over the past year
New York passed a cybersecurity and data breach law, effective October 23, and it expands many cybersecurity requirements to not only businesses operating in New York, but also those operating outside of the state. The SHIELD Act, as it is called, expands the scope of the current law by requiring covered entities to adopt a
On May 19, 2019, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) adopted new state cover sheets and state effective dates page for franchise disclosure documents. Beginning on January 1, 2020, the FDD must now include three specific cover sheets prepared in accordance with the instructions and samples promulgated by NASAA.
All of these new pages
Submitted by Odia Kagan, Partner & Chair of GDPR Compliance and International Privacy.
Does the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply to my brand? This is a question with which many U.S.-based franchisors have been grappling since the GDPR took effect on May 25th. Six months later, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
In our last post, we examined some of the types of risk that come with growth. In this post, we discuss some forms of diligence that may be used to better manage that risk.
Diligence on Legal Matters
Are there operating hour ordinances that might affect the business? How about limitations on operating hours or
Change is inevitable in a franchise system, and disclosure then becomes a concern. Disclosure may be a business issue for the existing franchisees, but it becomes a legal issue in the offer and sale of franchises. The question is whether the information would be considered by a hypothetical purchaser of a franchise as significant. Case
On Fox’s Immigration View blog, my partner Alka Bahal provides a detailed exploration of the I-9 inspection process, in the wake of a recent surge in I-9 audits carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. All employers in the United States are required to have a Form I-9 on file for
The North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. (“NASAA”) is proposing to revise the instructions in the NASAA Franchise Registration and Disclosure Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) that outline policies and procedures regarding the preparation of a franchise disclosure document (“FDD”). Specifically, NASAA has set forth a proposal for public comment that replaces the “State Cover Page” to
Almost every year at the IFA Annual Legal Symposium in Washington D.C., a panel of distinguished franchise attorneys and state regulators will discuss best practices in drafting a franchise disclosure document in compliance with the FTC Franchise Rule. This year was no different and the workshop “Thorny FDD Disclosure Issues” offered