According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (“USCIS”) most recent count of H-1B Petitions received that are subject to the FY 2012 cap, as of April 29, 2011 USCIS had received 9,200 petitions subject to the 65,000 annual cap. Additionally, USCIS has received approximately 6,600 petitions for foreign workers with advanced degrees, […]
FinCEN Proposes Regulations to Implement Section 104(e) of CISADA
Yesterday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rules”) to implement section 104(e) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010 (“CISADA”), imposing certain reporting requirements upon U.S. banks that maintain a correspondent account for a foreign bank. The Proposed Rules will require such banks to […]
USCIS Continues to Accept Fiscal Year 2012 H-1B Petitions
April 1, 2011 marked the first day the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) began accepting H-1B petitions filed on behalf of nonimmigrant workers for the 2012 fiscal year (“FY 2012”). On April 8, 2011, USCIS released its first accounting of the number of petitions received that count toward the congressionally mandated annual cap. The […]
Effects of Shutdown on the S.E.C.
Assuming that Congress and the President cannot agree on either a continuing resolution to fund the operations of the United States’ government or a budget prior to midnight, the SEC will immediately suspend most of its operations. According to the SEC’s contingency plan, of its 3,969 employees only 332 will report to work during the […]
FinCEN Issues Mortgage Loan Fraud Report and Commercial Real Estate Financing Fraud Suspicious Activity Report Analysis and Advisory
This week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued two (2) news alerts (collectively, the “News Alerts”) to announce the issuance of FinCEN’s report on Mortgage Loan Fraud Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) Filings In Fourth Quarter and Calendar Year 2010 (the “Mortgage Loan Fraud Report”) as well as the Commercial Real Estate Financing Fraud SAR […]
REMINDER: It’s Right Around the Corner… H-1B Filing Period for Fiscal Year 2012 Commences April 1, 2011
This is a reminder that April 1, 2011 is the first day the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will begin accepting H-1B petitions filed on behalf of nonimmigrant workers for the 2012 fiscal year (“FY 2012”). Over the last several years, with the exception of 2009 and 2010, H-1B filings have greatly exceeded the […]
Guidance on Accepting Accounts from Foreign Embassies, Consulates and Missions
Last week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, together with all of the federal functional regulators, jointly issued an Inter-Agency Advisory providing Guidance on Acceptance of Accounts from Foreign Embassies, Consulates and Missions (“Advisory”). The Advisory discusses various actions to be taken in mitigation of BSA/AML/OFAC risks associated with the acceptance and maintenance of such accounts, and […]
FinCEN Warns Consumers of Fraudulent Correspondence and Phone Calls
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently issued an alert to warn consumers about two (2) fraudulent schemes that were recently reported (the “FinCEN Alert”). One scheme is conducted via telephone and consists of the caller representing himself/herself as an employee of FinCEN and asking for the victim by name, usually at the victim’s telephone […]
Gunster Closes $32.5 Million Public Offering for 1st United Bancorp, Inc.
Partners Mike Mitrione and David Scileppi of Gunster’s Securities and Corporate Governance Practice Group, represented long-standing client 1st United Bancorp, Inc. (listed on NASDAQ under the symbol “FUBC”), the holding company for 1st United Bank, a Florida chartered commercial bank, in negotiating and closing last week a public offering of 5,000,000shares of its common stock […]
Two New Documents Issued by DHS: The combined “Advance Parole EAD” and Updated Handbook for Employers
USCIS has announced that it has begun issuing Advance Parole EADs (an annotated Form I-766) when USCIS concurrently approves a foreign national’s applications for an Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) and Advance Authorization to be Paroled into the United States upon return from travel outside the United States. A foreign national who has applied for adjustment […]
