The Supreme Court has declined to take up the issue of False Claims Act (FCA) “objective falsity” in relation to medical opinions, denying certiorari in paired cases from the Third Circuit (United States ex rel. Druding v. Care Alternatives, Inc.)[1] and Ninth Circuit (Winter ex rel. United States v. Gardens Reg’l Hosp. & Med. Ctr., Inc.) ...
Hear directly from the CFPB about mortgage servicing in the COVID-19 era, including how the leadership transition is affecting the CFPB’s priorities and approach. From a webinar on March 3, Bradley hosted a Q&A session with Allison Brown of the CFPB's Office of Supervision Policy to discuss the CFPB’s supervisory expectations as the industry grapples with CARES implementation and other challenges arising from the coronavirus crisis ...
On February 18, 2021, the IRS issued Notice 2021-15, which provides guidance with regard to a number of provisions of the temporary changes to the rules related to the operation of health and dependent care flexible spending accounts that were included as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “New Law”), and also provides for an additional exception from the standard rules regarding Section 125 plan (often referred to as cafeteria plans or flexible benefits p
It’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and many companies are attempting to market products intended to help consumers deal with the risks associated with COVID-19. Some of the most common examples of such products include face masks, testing devices, hand sanitizers, and hard-surface disinfectants ...
On 19 February 2021, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment which confirmed that Uber drivers are workers and not independent contractors. We look at the basis for the decision and what it means for other employers. Background This case began back in 2016, when Uber drivers Mr Aslam, Mr Farrar and others submitted a claim to the Employment Tribunal (ET) regarding their employment status ...
The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council recently issued its long-awaited final rule1 limiting the ability of civilian agencies to use the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) procurement method. The final FAR rule — which took effect on February 16, 2021, and largely tracks the language contained in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) final rule from 2019 2 — is codified at FAR 15.101-2 ...
With the new year comes a new president. Will the new year and administration also bring new water policy? Bet on it. Just as President Trump undid President Obama’s signature water policy decision—the Clean Water Rule, which clarified and arguably expanded federal water permitting jurisdiction—President Biden is likely to rewind many of President Trump’s water policy (and, more generally, environmental policy) decisions over the next four or more years ...
The Shoosmiths pensions team has hosted a webinar for non-pensions professionals, trustees and company directors to provide an oversight of pensions issues likely to effect businesses over the next 12 months ...
This publication is part of a DFDL series focusing on Corporate Insolvency Regime in consideration of the COVID-19 outbreak in Asia. DFDL published the previous editions in a series of tailor-made FAQs on restructuring and insolvency matters that businesses and stakeholders need to keep track of in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam ...
On 25 February, 2021 the triumvirate of European Supervisory Authorities, the EBA, EIOPA and ESMA (the "ESAs") published a joint statement on the effective and consistent application and national supervision of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation ("SFDR"). The joint statement is intended to help mitigate the risks of divergent application of the SFDR, and promote a level playing field to protect investors ...
A NEW PATHWAY From Uber to Jumia and even older technology (tech) companies like Etranzact and Chams Plc, it is arguable that Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”) have not offered great returns for tech companies in Nigeria and across the globe[1]. Investors are speculating on whether the great tech bubble is about to burst because, considering the cost of IPOs, tech companies have to scrutinise the expected returns when contemplating an IPO ...
Tech Companies and Fund Raising: The New Way of Going Public (Part 2) In the second part of our article, we focus on Spotify, a digital music service that utilised a direct listing to become a public company, the key steps they took that differed from a traditional IPO, and how the NSE can modify its current regulatory framework to include direct listings. Case Study: Spotify Technology S ...
For the first time, a restructuring plan has been confirmed under the new Court Approved Restructuring Plan Act (Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord, or WHOA). This court confirmation illustrates how a "Dutch Scheme" comes about in practice. In this article our restructuring specialists Jelmer Baukema and Willemijn Bouman briefly discuss the court confirmation ...
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman ruled yesterday that Cal/OSHA can continue to enforce its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Regulation (ETS), at least for now. On February 25, 2021, Judge Schulman issued an order denying Plaintiffs' applications for a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the Cal/OSHA's COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard Regulation (ETS) in two cases ...
It’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and many companies are attempting to market products intended to help consumers deal with the risks associated with COVID-19. Some of the most common examples of such products include face masks, testing devices, hand sanitizers, and hard-surface disinfectants ...
By Michael Flynn, Doug Prince and Khaled Tarazi On Thursday, February 25, a Federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the CDC tenant eviction order is unconstitutional, but did not enjoin the order. The case was brought by seven Texas landlords against the CDC, challenging the CDC moratorium order. The CDC moratorium applies to tenants who, among other things, declare economic hardship and earned $99,000 or less in 2020 ($198,000 for couples) ...
Bradley attorneys Aaron Chastain, Lee Gilley, Riley Key, Jonathan Kolodziej, and Robert Maddox authored Chapter 11: Debt Collection Practices in the publication of Consumer Finance Law: Understanding Consumer Financial Services Regulations. A global pandemic, ensuing economic decline, and mandated changes from the Dodd-Frank Act have provided greater challenges and opportunities in the consumer markets resulting in rapid change in the regulatory environment for businesses ...
By Michael C. Flynn and Melissa Richards On February 5, a Buchalter Client Alert discussed CFPB Acting Director Uejio’s announcement that he was considering delaying implementation of the two new QM Final Rules (the “General QM final rule”, which creates a new definition for QMs generally, and the “Seasoned QM Final Rule”, which establishes a new “Seasoned QM”), and stated that the CFPB might consider changes to both rules ...
According to the Institute for Family Business, over five million family businesses in the UK generate more than a third of UK GDP. In 2018, the family business sector paid £196 billion in tax (over a quarter of the Government's total revenue) and employed 14 million people in the UK (50% of private sector employment) ...
The UK Government has published the National Security and Investment Bill – a proposed law that will introduce a screening process for certain acquisitions and investments and which is expected to come into force as early as April 2021. The National Security and Investment Bill has now had its second reading and is expected to come into force as early as April 2021. We take a look at what it will cover ...
On 24 February 2021, the Finance Secretary Paul Chan delivered the 2021-22 Budget which highlighted upcoming government initiatives to promote the establishment of and re-domiciliation of offshore funds to Hong Kong using the Hong Kong open-ended fund company structure (OFC) ...
Good news in times of crisis: The eagerly awaited draft of the Restructuring and Insolvency Directive Implementation Act (RIRL-UG) was published yesterday. The law with which Directive (EU) 2019/1023 (Restructuring Directive) is implemented in Austria is to come into force on July 17, 2021 (at the end of the implementation period). The review phase will run until April 6, 2021 ...
