Latest news with #NewYorkStateBarAssociation
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coalition wants DeSantis to veto bill expanding scope of noncompete agreements
(Via New York State Bar Association) While several states have imposed bans on noncompete agreements, the Florida Legislature went the opposite way during its recent session and made it easier for employers to impose these agreements on workers. That's prompted a coalition of organizations and law professors to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto the measure (HB 1219) — known as the CHOICE Act — when it reaches his desk. The name stands for Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth. The bill would allow an employer to restrict an employee from taking competitive employment for up to four years, through either a 'garden-leave' provision or a noncompete agreement. Any company with employees who are 'reasonably expected' to earn more than twice the annual mean wage of the county in which the business is located can subject workers to noncompete agreements. It would also apply to independent contractors and out-of-state employees. The proposal is strongly opposed by the Economic Innovation Group, which along with more than a dozen law professors sent a letter to the governor last week, calling upon him to veto it. 'The CHOICE Act would codify one of the most anti-innovative, anti-startup, and anti-worker policies to be found anywhere in the country,' said John Lettieri, president and CEO of the organization, in a written statement. 'While dozens of other states are enacting limitations on the use of noncompete agreements, this legislation would take Florida in the opposite direction – locking in talent, stifling wage growth, and undermining efforts to build a cutting-edge ecosystem in the Sunshine State.' Under the bill, if a company uses a properly drafted noncompete or garden-leave agreement, Florida courts would have to issue preliminary injunctions to stop a former employee from working for a competitor unless the employee can convince the court otherwise. Employers and employees would need to provide advance notice of up to, but no more than, four years before terminating the employment or contractor relationship. During a committee stop in the Senate, Jacksonville Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis noted that most noncompete agreements last between one and two years. She asked Northeast Florida GOP Sen. Tom Leek (the bill sponsor) why the state should bind workers for four years. Leek referenced moves made by the Federal Trade Commission last year to adopt a comprehensive ban on new noncompetes with all workers, including senior executives. A federal judge in Texas overturned the ban in August. 'Florida is poised to become one of the finance capitals of the world,' Leek said at the time. 'And if we want to attract those kinds of clean, high-paying jobs, you have to provide those businesses protection on the investment that they're making and their employees.' A noncompete lasting for four years would be the longest of any state in the country, according to the Economic Innovation Group. 'There is an abundance of economic research demonstrating that the strict enforcement of noncompete agreements sharply reduces employee wages, the quality and quantity of new patents, and jobs created by new businesses,' the coalition writes in the letter to DeSantis. 'The CHOICE Act would accelerate these economically harmful trends by enacting the following changes to state noncompete law for exactly the type of workers Florida aims to attract to grow its middle class.' While that alliance is urging the governor to veto the bill, some well-heeled supporters of DeSantis support it. Among those are Citadel, the Miami hedge fund and financial services company, according to Bloomberg. Citadel is led by Ken Griffin, a well-known GOP megadonor and financial backer to DeSantis who gave $12 million last year to Keep Florida Clean, the political committee formed to oppose the failed constitutional amendment aimed to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and over. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Asharq Al-Awsat
28-03-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Who Is Karim Souaid, the New Governor of Lebanon's Central Bank?
The Lebanese Cabinet has appointed Karim Souaid as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon during a government session held on Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. Souaid secured 17 votes out of 24, the total number of ministers in the Lebanese government. He is expected to play a pivotal role in restructuring the commercial banking sector and managing the distribution of an estimated $72 billion in financial losses resulting from Lebanon's economic collapse—a crisis that has impoverished most Lebanese citizens and devastated the local currency, according to Reuters. Souaid brings extensive experience in finance, banking, and law. A member of the New York State Bar Association since 1989, he studied banking law at Harvard Law School, where he wrote his thesis on the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, a landmark US law that separated commercial banking from speculative investment banking. Souaid is closely associated with the 'Harvard Plan' for resolving Lebanon's economic crisis, a strategy funded by Growthgate Capital, where he served as founder and managing partner. He also has hands-on experience in regulatory compliance, financial structuring, and capital markets. From 1996 to 2000, he worked in equity issuances and banking securities in Lebanon, ensuring compliance with the Central Bank of Lebanon's regulations and the guidelines of the Lebanese Capital Markets Authority. Between May 2000 and May 2006, Souaid served as General Manager of Investment Banking at HSBC Middle East. In 2006, he founded Growthgate Equity Partners in the United Arab Emirates, an alternative asset management firm specializing in investments in private companies across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Additionally, Souaid has worked closely with finance ministries and central banks in several Arab countries, including the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan. He has played a key role in structuring and managing public offerings and the sale of securities for privatized entities.
Shafaq News
27-03-2025
- Business
- Shafaq News
Lebanon appoints Karim Saeed as new Central Bank Governor
Shafaq News/ The Lebanese government appointed Karim Saeed as the governor of the central bank on Thursday following a cabinet vote. Saeed secured 17 votes out of the 24 cabinet ministers. Saeed replaces Wassim Mansouri, who had been serving as acting governor after Lebanon's prolonged presidential vacuum prevented a permanent appointment for more than two years. Who is Karim Saeed? Kareem Saeed is a seasoned financial, banking, and legal expert with extensive experience spanning several decades. A member of the New York State Bar Association since 1989, he holds a law degree from Harvard Law School, where he specialized in banking law and wrote his thesis on the US Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which mandated the separation of commercial and investment banking services. Saeed is closely associated with the "Harvard Plan" for addressing Lebanon's economic crisis, which was funded by Growthgate Capital, a firm he co-founded and where he served as a managing partner. His expertise covers regulatory compliance, financial structuring, and capital markets. Between 1996 and 2000, he worked extensively on equity and banking securities issuances in Lebanon, ensuring adherence to the regulations of the Central Bank of Lebanon and the Lebanese Capital Markets Authority. Saeed also held the position of General Manager of Investment Banking at HSBC Middle East from May 2000 to May 2006. In late 2006, he founded Growthgate Equity Partners in the UAE, an alternative asset management firm focused on private equity investments across the Middle East and North Africa. Additionally, Saeed has worked closely with finance ministries and central banks in several Arab countries, including the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.
