Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Mumbai – The Indian state of Rajasthan has reportedly prohibited direct foreign investment in supermarkets located there. According to Reuters, individual Indian states are allowed to decide whether or not they want to accept direct foreign investment in local supermarkets, and so far fewer than half of India’s 28 states have done so.

Minneapolis – A Target representative reportedly offered few new details during a phone briefing with members of Congress about its holiday data breach. According to Reuters, Target official Isaac Reyes spent about an hour on the phone with members of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on the evening of Jan. 30.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee the week of Feb. 3, as lawmakers begin to look into criminal attacks in which millions of consumers’ credit and debit card numbers were stolen.

Chicago – Mercury Payment Systems plans to have its day in court against Heartland Payment Systems. Mercury has indicated it will contest the federal lawsuit Heartland Payment Systems filed, charging the company with false advertising, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The suit, filed in U.S.

Princeton, N.J. -- Heartland Payment Systems has filed a federal lawsuit against Mercury Payment Systems, charging the company with false advertising, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, alleges that Mercury is illegally competing against Heartland with deceptive trade practices.

Washington, D.C. -- President Obama in his State of the Union address last night said he plans to sign an executive order increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour for workers on new government contracts and asked Congress to approve the same increase for all workers — and the National Retail Federation is not happy.

NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay issued a response ahead of the president’s address.

New York -- Testifying Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating the consumer data breach at Target Corp.

"While we generally do not discuss specific matters under investigation, I can confirm the Department is investigating the breach involving the U.S. retailer, Target," Holder said in his statement to senators,.”

President Obama in his State of the Union address last night said he plans to sign an executive order increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour for workers on new government contracts and asked Congress to approve the same increase for all workers — and the National Retail Federation is not happy.

NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay issued a response ahead of the president’s address.