Private equity firms are willing to finance the purchase of TV stations by companies run by veteran broadcast executives, as sharply reduced lending by banks has left few other ways to pay for mergers and acquisitions, said a top industry broker and one such broadcaster. They said the continued dearth of bank financing for radio and TV station M&A means operators either need to finance deals themselves with cash on hand or find private-equity partners. The broadcaster that broke a drought in purchases of Big Four network affiliated TV stations (CD Nov 5 p11) got such private equity backing, its chairman said.
The Senate has agreed to a November 29, 2010 cloture vote1 on a Senator Harkin (D) amendment in the nature of a substitute2 of S. 510, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources have announced that the pass rate for the October 2010 customs broker license exam was 29%.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have recently been discussing various issues related to 10+2 and the Importer Security Filing.
The American Conference Institute (ACI) has announced that it will hold its Advanced China Forum on Import Compliance conference on November 30 - December 1, 2010 in Shanghai, China. This conference will provide a comprehensive China import compliance roadmap; it will cover the latest China customs, MOFCOM, and AQSIQ requirements. BP subscribers can receive a $200 discount off the standard price by referencing discount code "Broker Power."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a questions and answers document from its October 27, 2010 webinar providing an update on the Automated Commercial Environment.
CBP has posted the October 2010 customs broker exam and answer key. There appear to be no "problem questions" from the exam. BP is checking into the passing rates and will update readers when that information is available.
In a September 7, 2010 letter, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Bersin responded to an earlier Transportation Intermediaries Association letter on the merits of allowing non-asset based Third Party Logistics Providers (3PLs) into the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program.
The Government of Canada issued the following releases on November 10, 2010:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is extending the comment period by an additional 30 days on its proposed extension and revision of an information collection that would revise CBP Form 301 (Customs Bond) in order to accurately reflect the changes that have occurred with regard to CBP bonds and to make other revisions to the form.