Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a new rule that will impact the operations of a wide-range of health care facilities and the manner in which those facilities manage hazardous waste pharmaceuticals ...
There have been two recent developments regarding the False Claims Act (FCA) which will impact health care organizations that could be subject to a whistleblower lawsuit or FCA investigation. First, on May 7, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued formal guidance regarding the manner in which the DOJ would award credits to defendants that cooperate with the DOJ during an FCA investigation (the Policy) ...
On May 10, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its final rule, 42 CFR 403, requiring drug manufacturers to disclose the price of prescription drugs in direct to consumer (DTC) advertisements. Publication of the final rule was preceded by a lively comment period that commenced on October 18, 2018 ...
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court held Title VII’s requirement that an employee-plaintiff file an administrative charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) before filing in court is a procedural, not a jurisdictional, requirement. Thus, if a defendant does not timely raise the issue, it can be forfeited. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg authored the unanimous opinion of the Court ...
Dinsmore’s Government Relations team was involved in several significant legislative initiatives affecting the health care sector during the 2019 regular session of the West Virginia legislature. Most notably, Dinsmore was involved in the passage of HB 2010, relating to foster care ...
Graham Thompson Partner Ryan Pinder authors a comprehensive review of Investment Funds in The Bahamas. Arranged in a Q&A stlyed format to address some of the queries and issues that frequently come up. The review is structured around the components: Fund Formation Fund Investment Regulatory Environment Fund Finance Tax Environment A ...
Article PDF On April 17, 2019, the Treasury Department released a second round of proposed regulations (the "4/19 Regulations") providing additional guidance on the implementation of the Opportunity Zone (“OZ”) tax incentive included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The 4/19 Regulations are taxpayer-friendly and expand upon (but in some cases modify) the guidance provided in the initial proposed regulations released on October 19, 2018 (the "10/18 Regulations") ...
Article PDF On April 17, 2019, the Treasury Department released a second round of proposed regulations (the "4/19 Regulations") providing additional guidance on the implementation of the Opportunity Zone (“OZ”) tax incentive included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The 4/19 Regulations are taxpayer-friendly and expand upon (but in some cases modify) the guidance provided in the initial proposed regulations released on October 19, 2018 (the "10/18 Regulations") ...
Filing for bankruptcy might seem like an unlikely possibility for your company, and it probably is. But it happens. In the past, bankrupt brand owners had no clear answer as to whether, under bankruptcy law, they could both reject and rescind outgoing trademark licenses with the Bankruptcy Court’s approval. Now, the United States Supreme Court has provided an answer: They cannot ...
As seen in Bank Director Banks should not wait on lawmakers taking action on the myriad of proposed cannabis banking bills to make important strategic decisions about servicing marijuana-related business. It is unclear if any of the proposed cannabis banking bills will gain enough traction and support in Washington to pass through Congress. Despite the inaction, a growing number of financial institutions are choosing to provide banking services to the cannabis industry ...
The Mitigation Fee Act, Government Code section 66000 et seq., authorizes local agencies to impose fees on development projects in order to cover the cost of public facilities needed to serve the developments. However, the local agencies' power to impose mitigation fees is not unlimited: the fees must be reasonably related to the increased burden on public facilities caused by the new development. (Gov. Code § 66000(b); 66001 ...
Overview On 12 February 2019, the Minister of Laws and Human Rights (“MOLHR”) issued Regulation No. 2 of 2019 on The Settlement of Disharmony between Laws and Regulations through Mediation (“MOLHR Reg 2/2019”), which came into effect on 14 February 2019. MOLHR Reg 2/019 replaces the previous regulation on the same subject, MOLHR Regulation No. 32 of 2017 on The Procedure for the Settlement of Disputes over Laws and Regulations through Non-Litigation ...
Dismissals for misconduct are required to be for a fair reason and in accordance with a fair procedure. A fair procedure entails that disciplinary action be taken within a reasonable period of time. In the recent decision inStokwe v Member of the Executive Council: Department of Education, the South African Constitutional Court highlighted this procedural requirement that disciplinary action must be taken within a reasonable period of time ...
Most employers are familiar with the principle of “no work, no pay” in the context of strike action, but what about the concept of “work, pay, extra pay”? Can employers incentivise or reward non-striking employees who pick up the slack? This question was recently considered by the Labour Court inNational Union of Mineworkers obo Members v Cullinan Diamond Mine A Division of Petra Diamond (Pty) Ltd ...
An amendment to the Non-Citizen (Employment Restrictions) Exemptions Regulations, published through GN 55 of 2019, removed foreign spouses of Mauritian citizens from the category of non-citizens who were exempted from the requirement of a work permit for working in Mauritius. All foreign spouses of Mauritian citizens were therefore under an obligation to hold a valid work permit to be entitled to work lawfully in Mauritius ...
At the end of March, UK Visas and Immigration closed both the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) routes, replacing them with two new visa categories, the ‘Start-up’ and the ‘Innovator’, which are contained within a new Appendix W of the Immigration Rules ...
In an increasingly global world, an organisation’s ability to recruit and retain international talent plays an ever important and potentially business critical role. In the UK, the only way in which employers can directly employ many of these talented individuals is through obtaining a sponsor licence from the Home Office ...
The Brexit referendum vote and its potential impact on free movement has already resulted in many businesses struggling to meet their labour needs; the number of EU migrants has declined markedly at a time when Scotland and the UK is enjoying record levels of employment. As a consequence, immigration has risen to the top of many organisations’ agendas to ensure they can recruit and retain the talent they need to grow their businesses and remain competitive ...
The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) Chief Executive, Andrea Coscelli raised concerns in April at “seeing a lot of evidence of anti-competitive conduct in the construction industry”, adding the CMA had “already taken a number of cases in this sector…”. Recent enforcement action from the CMA, outlined below, suggests regulatory intervention is only likely to increase ...
The IRS recently issued a new version of its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS") that gives sponsors of tax-qualified retirement plans additional options for self-correcting plan failures. The new EPCRS allows plan sponsors to use the Self-Correction Program ("SCP") in several circumstances, rather than requiring a Voluntary Compliance Program (VCP) filing with the IRS and payment of the applicable user fee ...
On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Criminal Division issued updated guidance to prosecutors for assessing corporate compliance programs. The new “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (Updated Guidance) replaces the February 2017 Guidance (Prior Guidance) ...
‘Fake news’ - information or news that is proven to be either verifiably false or misleading - has become a major, global concern. As news and opinion pieces are increasingly pushed to readers via online and social media channels, the speed of their dissemination has accelerated exponentially, as have the challenges around regulating news and opinion ...
Whatever your views on Brexit, the deferment of the UK’s leaving date from the EU provided British industry some welcome breathing space to prepare for Brexit. Given the issues that still divide the two main political parties, the UK may yet leave the EU without a deal on 31 October ...
The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the financial free zone which began operations in 2015, has now come of age. On 14 April 2019 Mr Alexander Guy, Senior Executive Officer and Director at Eshara Capital Limited, had the uncommon honour of becoming the first named person to be fined by ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Eshara Capital, in its corporate capacity, was also fined in connection with the same contraventions ...
