Outsourcing Law & Business Journal™: April 2010

Posted April 29, 2010 by   · Print This Post Print This Post

OUTSOURCING LAW & BUSINESS JOURNAL (™) : Strategies and rules for adding value and improving legal and regulation compliance through business process management techniques in strategic alliances, joint ventures, shared services and cost-effective, durable and flexible sourcing of services.  www.outsourcing-law.com. Visit our blog at http://blog.outsourcing-law.com for commentary on current events.

Insights by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C., Editors.  www.biercekenerson.com

Editor’s Note:

Three recent events conspired to produce our article about trade secrecy risks in this month’s newsletter; they were the conviction of a Rio Tinto employee in China, the signing of a mutual legal assistance treaty between the U.S. and Algeria, and the on-going investigations of hiring practices of tech companies, using non-competition covenants, by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.  As a result, we are providing you with a checklist of questions that you need answers to before your company shares confidential business information during the course of contract negotiations.  Read on…

Vol. 10, No. 4 (April 2010)
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1.  Managing the New “Trade Secrecy” Risks in Global Sourcing:  Criminal Theft, Criminal Negligence, Espionage, Bribery, Antitrust and Cross-Border Law Enforcement. Trade secrecy risks arise whenever an enterprise shares confidential business information with a supplier, service provider, joint venturer or customer.  Trade secrecy protection measures should be planned and implemented through appropriate non-disclosure covenants by the third party and possibly even its employees and others in the value chain.  Current trade secrecy are reflected in three seemingly disparate events: the Rio Tinto employee economic espionage and bribery case in China, the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into the anticompetitive use of non-competition covenants (“non-competes”) by high-tech companies and the Algerian-U.S. Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (“MLAT”).

These three current events suggest that both enterprise customers and their service providers take a second look at their current practices for protecting trade secrets.   At the end of this article, we offer a series of questions that need answers before any kind of outsourcing – indeed, any cross-border data flow — can take place.  Such questions offer a basic refresher course, with “James Bond-compliant” updates, on challenges of trade secret protections in global operations. For more on trade secrets, go to http://www.outsourcing-law.com/2010/04/managing-the-new-trade-secrecy/

2.  Trade Secrets. Chinese Criminal Law, Article 219, imposes criminal liability for improper conduct relating to “commercial secrets.” The Criminal Law has only a vague definition of “commercial secrets.”….On March 25, 2010, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (“SASAC”) adopted regulations on commercial secrets applicable to approximately 120 state-owned enterprises (“SOE’s”)….The regulations were announced on April 26, 2010, shortly after the convictions of certain Rio Tinto employees of bribery and theft of commercial secrets.  For the complete article, go to  http://www.outsourcing-law.com/2010/04/trade-secrets/

3.  Humor.

MLAT, n.  (1)  mutual legal assistance treaty; (2) milk-flavored coffee latte; (3) multi-legal aptititude test.

Trade secret management, n.  (1)  Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil; (2) keeping secret how you keep your secrets.

SOE, n. (1) state-owned enterprise; (2) social oriented environmenta; (3) sorry out of energy.

4.  Conferences.

May 10-12, IQPC’s 7th Annual HR Shared Services and Outsourcing Summit, Chicago, Illinois. This event will be a gathering for corporate HR & shared services executives from companies across North America to exchange ideas, develop new partnerships and discuss the latest tools, technologies and strategies being employed in the profession to enhance departmental efficiencies and propel corporate growth. The event will focus on the most current topics in the HR shared services industry including metrics, automation, outsourcing, globalization, compensation & rewards, benefits and an overall focus on the new strategic role of HR shared services.how to tackle change management, analyze current and future projects and further develop the instrumental key areas within HR shared services.  Visit their website at http://www.hrssoutsourcing.com/Event.aspx?id=270796 to register and get more information.

May 17-19, IQPC presents its Information Retention & E-Disclosure Management Summit, London, UK. This is Europe’s premier event in this field, designed to help you steer your organisation successfully through lawsuits and regulatory inquiries.  Topics include:

  • Fast track your understanding of the Civil Litigation Costs Review: Hear directly from Lord Justice Jackson and engage in debate with our acclaimed international Judge’s panel
  • Develop a legally defensible and technically sound Information Retention policy with a multidisciplinary approach with insights from Debra Logan of Gartner plus Pfizer, and Kleinwort Benson
  • Reduce risk, cost, time and complexity of eDisclosure with critical updates on advances in technology
  • Ensure compliance by sanity checking your strategy with the FSA and ICO

For more information, visit their website at http://www.informationretention.co.uk/Event.aspx?id=262244i

June 6-8, 4th Annual IQPC Shared Services Exchange™, Austin, Texas, United States, an elite event for shared services executives who are looking to develop new strategy, solve challenges and source partners that will allow them to create efficiency and drive more value out of their shared services centers.

This event will continue IQPC Exchange’s ongoing tradition of offering cutting-edge, strategic networking and learning opportunities for senior level shared services executives, combining conference sessions, one-on-one business meetings and numerous networking functions to allow executives to speak with their peers. With pre-scheduled one-on-one advisory meetings and personalized itineraries, the Share Services Exchange™ provides the opportunity to create an agenda that directly reflect the goals and initiatives of participating executives.

To request a complimentary delegate invitation or for information on solution provider packages, please contact: exchange@iqpc.com, call 1-866-296-4580 or visit their website at http://www.sharedservicesexchange.com/

July 14-16, 2010.  IQPC Presents Shared Services for Finance and Accounting, Chicago, Illinois. The SSFA 2010 Summit brings together leading financial shared services experts to network, benchmark and learn through keynote presentations, interactive roundtables, case studies and discussion panels. This program will help you improve internal accounting processes, maximize your efficiency with less resources, make smarter sourcing decisions, and drive continuous value through your financial services.  For more information, visit http://www.sharedservicesfa.com/Event.aspx?id=314126

September 26-28, 2010.  IQPC Shared Services Exchange™ Event, 2nd Annual, to be held in The Hague, Netherlands.  Shared Service Centres have long been seen as the cost saving centre of HR, Finance & Accounting and IT processes, but with changing employment trends and global challenges facing organisations, how can SSC’s continually offer service value?

Unlike typical conferences, the Shared Services Exchange™ , which will be co-located with the Corporate Finance Exchange™,  focuses on networking, strategic conference sessions and one-on-one meetings with solution providers. The Exchange invites strategic decision makers to take a step back from their current operations, see what strategies and solutions others are adopting, develop new partnerships and make investment choices that deliver innovative solutions and benefits to their businesses.

To request your complimentary delegate invitation or for information on solution provider packages, please contact: exchangeinfo@iqpc.com, call +44 (0) 207 368 9709, or visit their website at http://www.sharedservicesexchange.co.uk/Event.aspx?id=263014

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FEEDBACK: This newsletter addresses legal issues in sourcing of IT, HR, finance and accounting, procurement, logistics, manufacturing, customer relationship management including outsourcing, shared services, BOT and strategic acquisitions for sourcing. Send us your suggestions for article topics, or report a broken link at: wbierce@biercekenerson.com The information provided herein does not necessarily constitute the opinion of Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. or any author or its clients. This newsletter is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Reproductions must include our copyright notice. For reprint permission, please contact: wbierce@biercekenerson.com . Edited by Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. Copyright (c) 2010, Outsourcing Law Global LLC. All rights reserved.  Editor in Chief: William Bierce of Bierce & Kenerson, P.C. located at 420 Lexington Avenue, Suite 2920, New York, NY 10170, 212-840-0080.

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