The European Court of Justice ruled last October that the data sharing framework between the EU and US, referred to as Safe Harbor, is no longer valid. On 2 February 2016, the EU and US authorities agreed in principle on a 'new' arrangement, known as the 'EU-US Privacy Shield', which is intended to replace 'Safe Harbor' ...
Special Economic Zones (“SEZs”) are geographically designated areas within a country that are set aside for specifically targeted economic activities, supported through special arrangements (that may include laws) and systems to promote industrial development. An SEZ is meant to be an economic development tool to promote rapid economic growth by using various support measures to attract targeted foreign and domestic investments and technology ...
Over the past year, the Tribunal administratif du Québec (TAQ) has issued several rulings dealing with oversight of the medical practice of professionals working in health and social services institutions. Several of these rulings will be of interest to institutions since they set out principles that tend to confirm the existence of a form of management rights over physicians, despite the lack of the traditional relationship of subordination between such institutions and their physicians ...
ANGOLA: Budget Law 2016 adopted by National Assembly The Angolan National Assembly adopted the final version of Budget Law 2016 on 11 December 2015, following its approval of the Program of Economic Diversification on 7 December 2015. The Program includes the introduction of the Special Contribution on Banking Transactions (“SCBT”) and the Special Contribution levied on transfers for the payment of technical assistance or management fees. The SCBT is to be levied at a rate of 0 ...
The TSX Venture Exchange reaches out to the VC communityThe TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V”) has released a white paper which describes how it intends to become an attractive public market for early-stage companies from fast-growing sectors such as technology, clean technology, renewable energy and life sciences (the “high-growth sectors”) and how it intends to ensure that private equity firms, venture capital (“VC”) funds and angel investors consider the TSX-V as an effective stra
In a continued effort to implementthe policy change announced by President Obama on December 17, 2014 to engage and empower the Cubanpeople, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Bureau of Industryand Security (“BIS”) have announced additional amendments to the Cuban AssetsControl Regulations (“CACR”) and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”),respectively, which will be published and effective in the upcoming days ...
On December 18th was enacted the Organic Law of Incentives for Public Private Partnerships and Foreign Investment. This law is intended to promote synergies between the private and the public sector. It is based in the principles of fiscal sustainability, Risk allocation, Value for money, respect to interests and rights of the users, property rights and social inclusion ...
One year ago, on December 17, 2014, President Obama announced a policy to increase contact and engagement with the people of Cuba with an ultimate goal of normalizing relations between the US and Cuba. The announcement generated immense press coverage of and commercial interest in Cuba. Since then, the US has removed Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and the two countries have reopened their respective embassies, thereby formally re-establishing diplomatic relations ...
Many healthcare boards believe that they have satisfied the 501(r) community health needs assessment (CHNA) requirements by completing their organization’s CHNA report and adopting an implementation strategy. After doing that, the board may feel ready to focus on other pressing issues until the next three-year CHNA deadline ...
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. After 7 years of negotiations, which began in February 2008, an agreement was reached on October 5, 2015, and the text was published in English on November 5, 2015 ...
The Obama Administration recently released the signed text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”), which represents an important advancement in trading relations among 12 Pacific countries: Australia Brunei Darussalam Canada Chile Japan Malaysia Mexico New Zealand Peru
We are pleased to announce that ENSafrica has joined forces with prominent Ghanaian law firm Oxford & Beaumont Solicitors to form ENSafrica Ghana, reinforcing its position as Africa’s largest law firm. The firm believes that the addition of ENSafrica Ghana will bolster its already strong offering on the continent ...
CMS and OIG Finalize Waivers for ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program Effective October 29, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS” or “the Department”) finalized the waivers of certain fraud and abuse laws to specified arrangements involving accountable care organizations (“ACOs”) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”) ...
The amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) since January 16, 2015 have expanded the scope of transactions that persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States may undertake in relation to Cuba ...
Italy and Turkey have had a strong and well-established economic partnership for decades, with a turnover of about USD 20 billion in 2014 and investment by Italian companies in Turkey in 2014 of around USD 4.5 billion ...
It’s no surprise that the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCOE) has extended the public comment period for one of its newest guides, “Securing Electronic Health Records on Mobile Devices ...
After a marathon weekend negotiating session in Atlanta, trade ministers from the United States and eleven other countries reached a final agreement on the terms and text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a multi-faceted trade agreement among Pacific Rim nations that account for approximately 40 percent of world GDP ...
On September 25, 2015, the Texas Board of Pharmacy (“TBP”) issued proposed rules that will allow pharmacists to substitute interchangeable biological products for brand name drugs. Currently, Texas regulations only allow for the substitution of lower-priced, generically equivalent drugs instead of certain brand name drugs. In contrast, the proposed rules allow pharmacists to dispense interchangeable biological products ...
In a short three-week period, the U.S. Department of Justice announced three large, multi-million dollar False Claims Act settlements involving Stark Law violations. Each of the three cases alleged that health systems compensated physicians in excess of fair market value, and in excess of collections for services personally performed by those physicians, in order to induce referrals ...
Hunton & Williams is pleased to announce the release of its newly designed and mobile-responsive Immigration and Nationality Law Blog, www.huntonimmigrationlawblog.com. “Our immigration law blog has been a valuable resource for US employers,” said Ian Band, who heads the firm’s immigration and nationality practice ...
The U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) has amended its Cuban Assets Control Regulations to, in OFAC’s words, “further implement elements of the policy announced by the President on December 17, 2014 to engage and empower the Cuban people.” In practice, the amendments make important changes to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, originally liberalized in January of this year ...
On August 18, 2015, the Tribunal administratif du Québec (TAQ) confirmed the decision of a health institution to not renew the status and privileges of one of its physicians after he refused to undergo refresher training to acquire skills that were necessary to perform his new duties.1 The physician in question, a hematology specialist, had been hired as a researcher several years ago ...
Bulgaria is the second largest producer of foie grasin the world (after France) with about 10% of the global production (approximately 2,600 tons per year). Furthermore, France is the largest consumer of foie gras globally, importing about 3,750 tons per year, 2/3 of which come from Bulgaria. Agroplasment-92-VJSC and Bulian SJSC are the leading Bulgarian producers of foie gras and other duck products. The two companies account for approximately 1/3 of all Bulgarian foie gras exports ...
Bulgaria is the second largest producer of raw tobacco in Europe after Italy and has been a leading exporter of cigarettes and tobacco products from the 1920s onward. Slance Stara Zagora Tabac is a leading Bulgarian producer of cigarettes and tobacco products with rich experience in the selection and skillful blending of classic American and Virginia blends ...
