305 articles
Memorandum of association
Memorandum of association (MOA): the foundational incorporation document in British-derived company law, stating a company's name, registered office, objects, liability, and capital; acts beyond its objects are ultra vires, though UK reform has reduced it to a simple formation statement.
Michael S. Selig
Michael S. Selig, of Florida, is the 16th Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, sworn in December 22, 2025 after Senate confirmation; formerly SEC Crypto Task Force chief counsel and a derivatives regulatory partner, distinct from the UIUC aerospace professor Michael Selig.
Microcap stock fraud
Microcap stock fraud: securities fraud in stocks of companies under $250–300 million market cap, mainly on OTC markets; dominated by pump-and-dump schemes exploiting scarce public information, with SEC and FINRA enforcement and investor red flags.
Minimum Wages Act 1948
Minimum Wages Act 1948: Indian statute letting central and state governments fix and revise minimum wages in scheduled employments; assent 15 March 1948; repealed by the Code on Wages, 2019, effective 21 November 2025.
Monkey selfie copyright dispute
Monkey selfie copyright dispute: 2011 photos taken by Celebes crested macaques with David Slater's camera in Sulawesi, Indonesia; Wikimedia deemed them public domain and PETA's Naruto v. Slater suit failed.
Mossack Fonseca
Mossack Fonseca was a Panamanian law firm founded in 1986 by Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca, specializing in offshore shell company incorporation. Its leaked files (11.5 million documents) became the 2016 Panama Papers; the firm closed in 2018, and its founders were acquitted in Panama in 2024.
Negotiable instrument
Negotiable instrument: a written unconditional promise or order to pay a fixed sum, defined by UCC Article 3. Includes drafts (checks) and notes; a holder in due course takes free of most defenses.
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (Act 26 of 1881) is India's law on promissory notes, bills of exchange, and cheques; its Section 138 criminalizes cheque dishonour for insufficient funds, with amendments in 2002, 2015, and 2018.
Non-compete clause
Non-compete clause: an employment term barring workers from joining competitors or starting rival businesses after leaving a job, also called a covenant not to compete. The FTC's 2024 US ban was vacated in 2025; California and three other states ban them outright while other states restrict by salary or duration.
Non-executive director
Non-executive director (NED): a board member outside executive management who scrutinizes and challenges the executive. Central to the 1992 Cadbury Report and the UK Corporate Governance Code's comply-or-explain regime.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent US Treasury bureau created in 1863, charters and polices all national banks and federal savings associations.
Offshore company
Offshore company: a legal entity incorporated in a foreign, typically low-tax jurisdiction such as the BVI or Cayman Islands for holding, financing, and cross-border structuring; subject to CRS, FATCA, and beneficial ownership rules at home.
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Public Law 119-21, H.R. 1 of 2025: US reconciliation law signed July 4, 2025 making TCJA tax cuts permanent, adding tip, overtime, and senior deductions, and cutting Medicaid, ACA, and SNAP.
One Canadian Economy Act
One Canadian Economy Act (S.C. 2025, c. 2), Bill C-5, is a Canadian statute assented to June 26, 2025, enacting the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act to remove federal internal trade barriers and fast-track national interest projects.
Onion Futures Act
Onion Futures Act, Public Law 85-839 (7 U.S.C. 13-1), the 1958 U.S. law signed by Eisenhower banning onion futures trading on any U.S. board of trade; the only such statutory commodity futures ban, prompted by the Kosuga-Siegel market corner.
Operation Car Wash
Operation Car Wash (Operação Lava Jato), Brazil's 2014–2021 Federal Police corruption investigation into the Petrobras kickback scheme, named for a Curitiba car wash, produced 278 convictions before Supreme Court annulments gutted most of its legacy.
Patent
Patent: an exclusive, territorial right granted for an invention (a product or process offering a new technical solution), lasting generally 20 years from filing in exchange for public disclosure; obtained via national, regional (EPO, OAPI, ARIPO), or PCT international applications under the WIPO-administered treaty system.
Patent application
Patent application: a formal request to a patent office such as the USPTO or via the PCT for a patent on an invention. Includes specification, claims, drawings, fees, 18-month publication, examination, and PTAB appeal.
Patent infringement
Patent infringement is the unauthorized making, using, selling, or importing of a patented invention, plus induced and contributory infringement. Covers claim-by-claim tests, doctrine of equivalents, remedies, litigation costs, and US, Japanese, and Chinese differences.
Patent pool
A patent pool is an agreement between two or more patent owners to license their patents to one another or to third parties, usually under a single royalty.
Patent troll
Patent troll, also patent assertion entity (PAE) or non-practicing entity (NPE): a disparaging label for patent holders who assert patents to obtain settlements and license fees without making products; distinguished by empirical evidence on costs, litigation behavior, and share of U.S. patent suits.
Pattern day trader
Pattern day trader (PDT): former FINRA designation for margin-account customers making four or more day trades in five business days over six percent of activity, carrying a $25,000 minimum equity and 4x buying power; eliminated June 4, 2026 by intraday margin rules.
Pay in lieu of notice
Pay in lieu of notice (PILON) is a lump sum ending employment immediately instead of a worked notice period. UK law requires a contract clause or agreement; since April 2018 the notice pay is taxed as earnings and NICs apply.
Payment Services Directive
Payment Services Directive: EU directive on payment services; PSD2 (Directive 2015/2366, 2015) succeeded PSD1 (2007), mandates strong customer authentication, open banking third-party access, and is being replaced by PSD3 and the PSR.
Permissible exposure limit
Permissible exposure limit (PEL): OSHA's legally enforceable US workplace airborne chemical limits, mostly 8-hour TWAs in 29 CFR 1910.1000 Tables Z-1 to Z-3; distinguished from non-enforceable NIOSH RELs and ACGIH TLVs.
Personality rights
Personality rights, or the right of publicity, protect control over the commercial use of one's name, image, likeness, and voice. Originating in Haelan v. Topps (1953), recognized in most US states without a federal statute, and treated differently in Germany, France, and the UK.
Petroleum Industry Act 2021
The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) is a Nigerian law providing the legal, governance, regulatory, and fiscal framework for the petroleum industry and host communities, signed in 2021.
Phoebus cartel
Phoebus cartel, or Lightbulb Conspiracy: international cartel of Osram, Philips, GE and others formed in Geneva in December 1924 that capped incandescent bulb life at 1,000 hours with Swiss-lab testing and fines, the founding case of planned obsolescence; nullified in 1940.
Piercing the corporate veil
Piercing the corporate veil, also called the alter ego doctrine, lets courts set aside limited liability and hold shareholders personally liable for corporate debts, typically after commingling of assets, undercapitalization, or fraud, with differing US and English approaches.
Price fixing
Price fixing: an illegal agreement among competitors to raise, lower, maintain, or stabilize prices, punished under the Sherman Act with prison and fines up to $100 million; cartel overcharges average 121% (Connor 2024), and leniency programs drive detection.