Leading Monday's corporations and securities law news, Fannie Mae regulator the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) , has announced it is investigating Fannie's use of trusts which it set up to sell securities. Specifically, OFHEO is determining whether the company accounted for trusts as "qualifying special purpose entities" to keep the trusts' assets [...]

Microsoft announced Monday that it will comply with EU demands and make software blueprints available to competitors and offer lower licensing fees. Last month, the EU had threatened Microsoft with new fines if it did not make it easier and cheaper for competitors to access its source code. In a March 2004 antitrust decision , [...]

Key portions of the USA PATRIOT Act which will expire at the end of this year are set to come up for review this week before the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee . The Patriot Act, which gave the executive power sweeping law enforcement and investigatory authority, has been controversial since its [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday unanimously ruled in Rousey v. Jacoway that Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) can be exempted from a bankruptcy estate, allowing bankruptcy filers to retain their IRAs rather than forcing them to divide the assets among their creditors. The Rouseys claimed an exemption but their bankruptcy trustee objected, arguing that 11 U.S.C. [...]

Sudan over the weekend formally rejected UN Security Council Resolution 1593 authorizing the International Criminal Court to conduct investigations and prosecutions of individuals alleged to have committed war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan. Sudan had previously expressed its displeasure with the resolution, claiming that it could conduct valid war crimes trials in-country. On [...]

Former Serbian police general Sreten Lukic was delivered Monday to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. It is as yet unclear whether he surrendered, or was arrested and forcibly transferred. Eyewitnesses reported seeing Lukic approached by government officials Monday after a medical check-up. Lukic has chronic heart problems and underwent [...]

As anticipated , former Kyrgyzstan President Askar Akayev signed resignation papers Monday in Russia, removing himself from the highest office in the recently troubled Central Asian republic. Akayev, accompanied by long-time political opponent and current Parliament Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev , signed the requisite legal documents papers in the Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow. He fled Kyrgyzstan [...]

Here's a run-down of law-related events, expected developments and live webcasts on JURIST's docket for Monday, April 4. The US Senate resumes its session at 2 PM ET today. Watch a live webcast of the session. The US House will return from its Easter recess Tuesday, April 5. The Committee for Justice is holding a [...]

A UN envoy announced Sunday that Syria will withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon by the end of April, before Lebanese parliamentary elections in May. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara told the UN's Terje Roed-Larsen that "all Syrian troops, military assets and the intelligence apparatus will have been withdrawn fully and completely latest by April [...]

Iraq's transitional National Assembly took an important step forward Sunday, naming a Sunni Arab, Hajim al-Hassani, as parliament speaker . The selection ends days of shouting, bickering, and accusations. Two deputies were also chosen–Kurdish politician Aref Tayfour, and Shia politician Hussein al-Shahrastani. With Assembly leaders now selected, the body can now name Iraq's new president [...]