Companies involved in global trade and foreign sourcing of goods are usually familiar with the Customs requirements and duty implications of importing their goods into the United States. However, companies contemplating public offerings, mergers or acquisitions of companies who do engage in importing and exporting and may be unfamiliar with these rules may invoke both the disclosure requirements of the securities laws as well as hidden liabilities arising from either importing or exporting activity that may not emerge for even years after closing. This 90 minute presentation will provide a discussion of the potential pitfalls that corporate practitioners should be aware of by omitting customs and trade compliance from the due diligence process and offers practical solutions for preventions of such potential problems.

The presentation will cover:

• Overview of customs duties and obligations
• Customs recordkeeping requirements
• Customs Penalties
• General exporting issues
• How potential risks to potential buyers arise
• Protective actions to avoid post-closing surprises

Who should attend? Corporate practitioners, including in-house counsel, and investment advisers who handle IPO’s, mergers, acquisitions.

Educational Objectives:

• Exposes the corporate attorney to an area frequently overlooked, that involves a specialized and possibly unfamiliar area of the law;
• Identifies the type of corporate transaction where customs due diligence becomes relevant;
• Explains the risks of failure to include customs in the due diligence process with real examples;
• Provides practical approaches for avoiding such risks. 

Beth C. Ring, Esq., Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.