Part 5 of the Environment Bill, contains a number of disparate proposals relating to water – which could have major implications for many. Senior associate Joanne Sear and solicitor Grace Mitchell take a look at some of the key points in the Bill. Water resources planning According to its explanatory notes, the Bill is intended to “improve… water resources planning” and “facilitate… collaborative regional planning” ...
Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities and authorizes persons to conduct specified commercial cannabis activities, as defined, in the state. The objectives of the new law are as follows: To provide tax equity to the cannabis industry ...
On September 23, 2019, the IRS published final regulations that amend the rules for hardship distributions from 401(k) and 403(b) plans. The regulations finalize the proposed regulations issued in November 2018 to implement statutory changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 intended to make it easier for plan participants to take hardship distributions ...
On Sept. 30, IBM won dismissal of a federal False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam suit, Cimino v. IBM, No. 13-cv-00907 (APM), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168059 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2019). In the suit, Relator Paul A. Cimino alleged IBM, assisted by Deloitte LLP, fabricated audit findings regarding Internal Revenue Service (IRS) usage of IBM-licensed software to coerce IRS into renewing its software enterprise license ...
According to the recent insurance broker's Transactional Risk Insurance Claims Study1, the number of W&I claims have increased by 293% between 2016 and 2018 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (the EMEA-region). One explanation is of course the triple increase W&I policies issued over the same period. The W&I market have become more mature than what it was just some few years back ...
Cincinnati, Ohio has joined a small but growing list of states and municipalities that ban discrimination on the basis of natural hair styles. On Oct. 9, 2019, the Cincinnati City Council voted 7-1 to add a hair-bias ban to the city’s existing non-discrimination law ...
Acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Norman Sharpless has issued a statement warning Americans to stop using vaping products that emit THC until further testing can be done. Federal and state public health agencies, including the FDA, have been investigating an unprecedented wave of 1,000-plus cases of severe lung injuries and deaths among consumers who claimed they used vaping products containing THC, nicotine, or both ...
Background After ten long years of the issuance of Law No. 24 of 2009 on the National Flag, Language, Emblem, and Anthem (“Language Law”), the Government of Indonesia has finally issued an implementing regulation of the Language Law, ie Presidential Regulation No. 63 of 2019 on the Use of the Indonesian Language (“PR 63/2019”). It came into effect on 30 September 2019. Key provisions which may be relevant to businesses a ...
On Sept. 30, 2019, the IRS issued proposed regulations regarding how the employer-shared-responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and certain nondiscrimination rules under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) will apply to individual coverage health reimbursement accounts (HRAs). The proposed regulations aim to facilitate the adoption of individual coverage HRAs by employers on or after Jan. 1, 2020. Background On Oct ...
The European Union (EU) has removed the UAE from the EU’s blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. The EU Blacklist The EU maintains a blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. The EU has published criteria on tax transparency, fair taxation and implementation of anti-BEPS measures that EU Member States undertake to promote ...
A previous in Brief dated 7 July 2019 discussed UAE Cabinet Resolution 31 of 2019 Concerning Economic Substance Regulations (the UAE Economic Substance Regulations or the Regulations). The UAE Economic Substance Regulations designated the UAE Ministry of Finance as the Competent Authority ...
The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has ruled, upon submission by the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH), with the decision of 3 October 2019 (Case C-18/18), that hosting providers, in this case Facebook, may be required by a court to seek and erase content which is identical or, under certain circumstances, equivalent to information previously found to be unlawful ...
CHEAT SHEET Investment. Implementing a mentorship program between a corporation and a law firm does not require significant monetary investment, rather a considerable time investment. Diversify activities. After identifying and understanding the needs and profiles of participants, create activities that include trainings, CLEs, social events, and facility and firm visits. Benefits ...
Yesterday, in a closely-followed case, the Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal brought by the Domino’s pizza chain, which sought to overturn the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision that entities selling online must make their websites and apps accessible to people with disabilities ...
In early August 2019, the Indonesian Minister of Manpower amended Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Regulation Number 19 of 2012 on The Requirements for Outsourcing (“MOMR 19/2012”) by issuing Minister of Manpower Regulation Number 11 of 2019 on the Second Amendment to Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Regulation Number 19 of 2012 on The Requirements for Outsourcing (“MOMR 11/2019”) ...
Elite Dental Associates, Dallas (“Elite”) has agreed to pay $10,000 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to adopt a corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule[1]. According to OCR, Elite is a privately owned dental practice in Dallas, Texas, providing general, implant, and cosmetic dentistry ...
Activists and government leaders are sounding the death knell for our planet unless something is done about climate change. But while sustainability is important, sustainability reporting may not be the answer. In a headline-hogging speech at the UN last month, 16-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg berated politicians and business people for doing too little to arrest climate change, ruining the globe for future generations. High-profile scandals back up her claim ...
On October 1, 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that pre-ticked boxes do not constitute a valid consent by web users prior to storing cookies on their devices (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V. and Planet49 GmbH; Case C-673/17). The decision follows a challenge by the German Federation of the Consumer Organisations against the use of a pre-ticked checkbox which had, by default, consented to cookies on behalf of the user ...
