Investment into the United States, notably from China, will remain strong in 2016 as international investors search for higher returns and market stability. That’s according to a survey released today in O’Melveny’s 2016 Foreign Direct Investment Report. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Trustees of pension schemes should be aware of their data protection obligations. This briefing seeks to remind trustees of the relevant data protection principles, including those relevant to choosing and documenting relationships with administrators, and certain developments affecting schemes which have relied previously on the US safe harbour network. Read more.

The Federal Trade Commission announced revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) Act filing thresholds on January 21, 2016. The HSR Act requires annual adjustment of the thresholds based on the change in the U.S. gross national product.

On 15 June 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that a law firm could not recover fees it incurred in defending its own fee application. The ASARCO Case The case involved the copper company ASARCO LLC that filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2005 to deal with cash flow and environmental issues, among others. ASARCO retained Baker Botts (“law firm”) to represent it in the Chapter 11 case. Among other services, the law firm pursued fraudulent transfer claims against ASARCO’s parent, obtaining a judgment for $7 billion – $10 billion, arising from the parent’s forced sale of another subsidiary.

In a recent bench ruling on a summary judgment motion in a case involving Vaalco Energy, Vice Chancellor Laster held that a provision of a company’s charter or bylaws could not override the default rule under Delaware law that directors serving on a non-classified board (i.e., annually elected) may be removed with or without cause by vote of holders of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote in director elections.

On December 18, 2015, the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015” was enacted. This legislation includes a number of sweeping tax law changes that impact U.S. private equity and real estate. Read more.

In the latest turn in the long-running LBO-related fraudulent conveyance litigation brought in connection with the Lyondell bankruptcy, on November 18, 2015, Judge Robert E. Gerber of the U.S.

Berau Capital Resources Pte Ltd (“Berau”), a special purpose vehicle incorporated to raise funds on behalf of an Indonesian mining and coal company, initiated proceedings in the High Court of the Republic of Singapore pursuant to section 210(10) of the Companies Act on July 4, 2015.

On October 28, 2015, Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion denying the make-whole claims of the EFIH Second Lien Trustee in the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy case. The opinion is the second such opinion in the EFH bankruptcy, with Judge Sontchi having previously denied the First Lien Trustee's make-whole claims in April.

On October 28, 2015, Judge Martin Glenn of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) issued a Memorandum Opinion (the “Decision”) in the chapter 15 proceeding of Singaporean company Berau Capital Resources Pte. Ltd., providing an expansive reading of the manner in which foreign debtors may obtain a jurisdictional hook for commencing chapter 15 proceedings under the Bankruptcy Code. In re Berau Capital Res. Pte. Ltd., No. 15-11804(MG), 2015 WL 6507871 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Oct. 28, 2015).