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Interest on an obligation is not excluded from gross income if the obligation is an arbitrage bond. Proceeds may be invested above the bond yield only within temporary periods, a reserve allowance and a minor portion. Earnings that exceed what the bond yield would have produced must be rebated, with interim payments of at least ninety percent at computation dates no more than five years apart and a final payment of one hundred percent.
In a certified class action a court may award reasonable attorney's fees and nontaxable costs authorized by law or by the parties' agreement. The claim is made by motion at a time the court sets, with notice directed to class members in a reasonable manner, and any member or paying party may object. Courts use a percentage of the recovery or a lodestar computation, often checking one against the other, and coupon relief is governed by statute.
A bid bond secures the bidder's obligation to enter the contract and furnish the required bonds if awarded. A performance bond secures completion of the work for the benefit of the owner. A payment bond secures payment to those supplying labor and material, and is the only one of the three on which a subcontractor or supplier may normally claim. All three are three-party undertakings among principal, surety and obligee, and each is limited by its own penal sum.
Federal law requires a performance bond and a payment bond before award of a contract exceeding the statutory threshold for construction, alteration or repair of a federal public building or public work. The regulation implements the requirement at an adjusted threshold and prescribes alternative payment protections for smaller contracts. The payment bond exists because no lien may attach to federal property, and it protects persons supplying labor and material in carrying out the work.
A registered adviser must make and keep specified books and records, and must preserve them in an easily accessible place for not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year during which the last entry was made, with the first two years in an appropriate office of the adviser. Certain records, including organizational documents and performance support for materials distributed, are held longer. Electronic records must be reproducible, indexed and protected against alteration or loss.
A verification compliance program consists of a named owner with authority, a written policy stating who completes each part of the form and by when, a training record for everyone who touches the process, a calendar covering completion deadlines and retention dates, a periodic review cycle, and a defined route for inspection correspondence. Each element exists to be produced, since good faith is assessed from documents rather than from testimony.
A performance bond obliges the surety to answer for the principal's failure to complete the contract. The obligation is triggered by the obligee's declaration of default and termination, made in accordance with the contract and the bond's own conditions. The surety may then complete through a takeover agreement, arrange a completion contractor, tender funds, or deny liability. Each option carries different exposure, and a mishandled declaration can defeat the claim.
A claims-made policy responds to claims first made against the insured during the policy period and reported in accordance with the policy's conditions. It differs fundamentally from occurrence cover, which responds to conduct during the period whenever the claim arrives. Retroactive dates limit how far back covered work extends, prior knowledge conditions exclude matters known at inception, and late reporting can defeat cover for a claim otherwise within the grant.
A federal employee may not participate personally and substantially in a particular matter in which the employee, a spouse, a minor child, a general partner, an organization served, or a prospective employer has a financial interest. The prohibition is criminal and operates without any finding of bias. Exemptions and waivers permit participation in defined cases, and a separate impartiality standard addresses relationships that raise an appearance question.
Civil actions involving one or more common questions of fact pending in different districts may be transferred to any district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings, where transfer will serve the convenience of parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the actions. Transfers are ordered by a panel of seven circuit and district judges, no two from the same circuit, with four concurrences required for any action.
The procurement integrity statute bars the disclosure and the obtaining of contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information before award. It separately requires an official participating in a covered acquisition, who is contacted about non-federal employment by a bidder, to report the contact in writing and either reject the possibility or withdraw. A further provision bars compensation from the contractor for a period after specified decisions.
Federal law bars making a contribution in the name of another person, knowingly permitting one's name to be used to effect such a contribution, and knowingly accepting one. The provision reaches any arrangement in which the true source of the money is concealed from the disclosure record, including reimbursement of an employee or associate after the fact. Liability attaches to all three roles, and knowing and willful conduct above a threshold carries criminal exposure.
