This article provides a brief review of MSHA enforcement data and a look at MSHA’s regulatory agenda. MSHA Enforcement Data (data from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017) MSHA issued 104,412 enforcement actions to mine operators in 2017, an increase of approximately 11,793 or 11.3 percent from 2016. Of these, 58,083 (or 55.63 percent) were issued to metal/nonmetal operators while 46,329 (or 44.37 percent) were issued to coal operators ...
More than two and a half years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it was reevaluating its regulatory framework for homeopathic products, the FDA released its Draft Guidance on Drug Products Labeled as Homeopathic. The Draft Guidance summarizes the FDA’s current enforcement perspective on homeopathic products and provides a list of the FDA’s enforcement priorities.The bills reawakened a debate about the pros and cons of POHs ...
On March 1, 2018, at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime, top Department of Justice (DOJ) officials signaled expansion of DOJ’s self-disclosure policy to non-Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases ...
Last week, United States Attorney General Sessions announced the creation of the Department of Justice Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force to combat the prescription opioid crisis. According to the Department of Justice (Justice), the PIL Task Force will rely on “all available criminal and civil enforcement tools” to hold those at “at every level of the [opioid] distribution system” accountable for unlawful conduct ...
In West Virginia, we are approaching another Personnel Season (for Personnel Season deadlines for the 2017-2018 school year, click here). We are often asked about the listing of individual employee names on county board of education agendas ...
Earlier this year the European Commission published a draft Withdrawal Brexit Agreement. It is a draft treaty to embody the key principles from the Joint Report of the Commission and the UK on the first three elements of the Brexit negotiations (i.e., People, Ireland and Money - the "PIM" Phase). The draft Agreement sets out a roadmap for the EU's vision of the withdrawal process.This is a negotiating move by the EU - it is not an agreed draft. It is a move by the EU in the Brexit chess match ...
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the scope of the Dodd-Frank Act's anti-retaliation measures. The decision resolved a split in authority by excluding from Dodd-Frank's whistleblower protections those persons reporting suspected violations only within their companies. In reversing the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that "Dodd-Frank's anti-retaliation provision does not extend to an individual who has not reported a violation of the securities laws to the SEC ...
READ: SEC Enforcement Division Announcement On February 12, 2018, the SEC Division of Enforcement announced the Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative self-reporting initiative (the SCSD Initiative) ...
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) has announced its 2018 examination priorities. The 2018 priorities provide insight into what activities OCIE believes present the highest risks to investors and, as such, what the examiners will be highlighting during their examinations of registered entities this year ...
As the new year started, two Department of Justice memoranda began circulating that may bring a change in the way the United States focuses its efforts in the FCA arena. The first, entitled, “Factors for Evaluating Dismissal Pursuant to 31 U.S.C ...
On February 7, 2018 the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued the 2018 National Exam Program Examination Priorities. In introducing the examination priorities for 2018, OCIE describes the four pillars upon which the work of OCIE is based: promoting compliance; preventing fraud; identifying and monitoring risk; and informing policy. OCIE includes in the examination priorities factual data relating to the increase in examinations of investment advisers ...
IN THIS ISSUE: SEC Releases Update to 2018 Agenda of Regulatory Priorities The SEC Enforcement Division’s Initiatives Regarding Retail Investor Protection and Cybersecurity ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS: F-Squared Investment, Inc ...
Municipal Advisor Exam Results On November 7, the SEC’s National Examination Program issued a Risk Alert providing the SEC staff’s observations after conducting over 110 examinations of municipal advisors during the Municipal Advisor Examination Initiative ...
We previously reported on oral arguments before the Supreme Court regarding which court has original jurisdiction to hear challenges to the Clean Water Act’s “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) definition. On January 22, 2018, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense that only district courts have original jurisdiction to hear such challenges ...
Personnel Season is fast approaching for county boards of education. Personnel offices are busy ensuring proper notices are sent to impacted employees, employees are afforded hearings before a reduction or transfer is acted upon by the board, and board of education agendas are legally compliant. At the same time, personnel offices are receiving early notice of year-end retirements from classroom teachers. W. V a ...
A new requirement will be introduced shortly that will affect all applications for employment visas. At the start of 2018, a Good Conduct and Behavior Certificate must be submitted along with the other supporting documents when an employer seeks to sponsor a residence visa for a new employee who is not a UAE national. It appears that the requirement will apply throughout the UAE, including the nation’s many free zones ...
On November 27, 2017, at the 34th International Conference on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a revised FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy, which purports to lend certainty for companies grappling with the question of whether to voluntarily disclose violations. This new policy comes on the heels of the year and-a-half long FCPA Pilot Program ...
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX), along with co-sponsors Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Burr (R-NC), Sen. Peters (D-MI), Sen. Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN), introduced the “Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017” (FIRRMA) November 8, 2017. This proposed bill, and a companion bill of the same name introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep ...
Why is April 2, 2018 Important? April 2, 2018 is the first day on which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept H-1B specialty worker petitions for the next fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018 ...
Parents seeking to enroll their children in schools located in another county are required to comply with the statutory requirements of W. Va. Code 18-5-16(b) and WVDE Policy 7212. Step One: The parent must first obtain the consent of the sending county board and the receiving county board. The WVDE in the past has recommended parents make the requests to the sending and receiving counties at the same time. Step Two: The sending county must approve the request ...
The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently issued guidelines to address safety and health issues faced by workers who, by the nature of their work, have to stand or sit for long periods. The DOLE noted that the wearing of high heeled shoes and/or standing at work for long periods or even frequent walking lead to health issues such as strain on the lower limbs, aching muscles, hazardous pressure on the hip, knee and ankle joints and sore feet ...
The UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) is undergoing a review by the Financial Regulatory Council (FRC) in the UK. A consultation process was announced by the FRC earlier this year, with a view to making changes to the Code to reflect the changing business environment in the UK ...
The national competition authorities in South Eastern Europe are evidently increasing and strengthening their cross-border cooperation and communication, allowing for a more effective regional approach in the protection of competition. Taking into account common challenges and economic interdependence, as well as similar goals in EU integration, the authorities appear to have recognized significant merit in a broader regional framework for competition enforcement ...
Inter partes review proceedings for biosimilar products are soaring. Biosimilar makers are taking advantage of IPR proceedings to challenge patents protecting some of the world's most important biologic medicines due to the advantages that these proceedings offer: no standing requirement, no presumption of validity, a lower burden of proof and potentially broader claim construction. More than half of the IPR petitions challenging these patents were filed in fiscal 2017 ...
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed dismissal of an FCA complaint that failed to meet the FCA’s stringent pleading requirements. See United States ex rel. Ibanez v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., No. 16-3154, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 21328 (6th Cir. Oct. 27, 2017) ...
