Unfortunately, financial exploitation is a significant and growing area of concern, particularly with elderly investors or those with diminished capacity. Investment advisers are facing a client base who is increasingly older, and with that comes the increased likelihood of an investment adviser encountering possible financial exploitation ...
Key Points Participants in defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k), 401(a), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) plans, can skip their required minimum distribution (RMD) payments for 2020. If RMDs for 2020 have already been received, participants have until August 31, 2020 to rollover the RMD into an eligible retirement plan ...
Since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Provider Relief Funds (PRF) first started arriving in provider bank accounts on April 10, 2020, HHS has stated that it will issue additional guidance “soon” on mandatory reporting requirements on how use of funds must be reported. The PRF funds are among the funds Congress appropriated to reimburse eligible healthcare providers for healthcare-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19 ...
Key Points On July 17, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced two new loan options under the Main Street Lending Program to support nonprofit organizations: the Nonprofit Organization New Loan Facility ("NONLF") and the Nonprofit Organization Expanded Loan Facility ("NOELF") ...
Did you know? The Hong Kong courts are now relaxing the legal test on what is a “penalty” to allow a wider range of agreed damages in commercial contracts. Why does this matter to you? It is notoriously difficult and time consuming (not to mention costly!) to assess damages for breach of contract which must be proved by the innocent party ...
On 22 July 2020, data protection authorities from Australia, Canada, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Switzerland and United Kingdom (together the Authorities), issued an open letter (Letter) on global privacy expectations of video teleconferencing companies (VTC companies)[1]. Why there is such a Letter? As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Authorities have witnessed an increasing use of VTC tools, both in social and business contexts ...
On July 15, 2020, the Kentucky Community Property Trust Act (the “Act”; codified at KRS 386.620 et seq.) became effective, instituting an elective community property regime under Kentucky law. The intent of the Act is to permit spouses to receive a stepped-up basis for federal income tax purposes at the death of the first spouse in 100 percent of the property they have elected to treat as community property ...
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the "CEWS") Is a key component of the Government of Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan. The purpose of the CEWS, adopted on April 11, 2020, is to help Canadians keep their jobs during the crisis and help companies maintain an employment relationship with their employees in order to recover more quickly when the economy returns to normal ...
The Limited Partnership Fund Bill which provides for registration of eligible funds as limited partnership funds (LPFs) in Hong Kong passed the third reading at the Legislative Council on 9 July 2020. The Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance (LPFO) will come into operation on 31 August 2020 ...
On 24 June 2020, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published its latest Annual Report, covering the 12-month period to 31 March 2020. As in previous years, the report provides a useful summary of what the SFC has done over the past year particularly in terms of achieving its publicly stated goals and providing insight into its priorities moving forward ...
On 26 June 2020, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular publishing in draft new versions of the financial return forms for SFC licensed corporations (LCs). The SFC is planning to revise the existing forms in order to collect additional data from LCs to “enable the SFC to identify risks in a timely manner, take prompt supervisory action and protect investors”. It is expected that the forms will be gazetted without significant amendment ...
On 29 June 2020, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) jointly published an announcement on the launch of the cross-boundary wealth management connect pilot scheme (Wealth Management Connect) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) (the announcement is available here in English and here in Chinese) ...
Peter de Boisblanc, HUB International, also contributed to this article. The economic downturn engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic likely will lead to a significant increase in acquisitions of distressed targets. Representation and warranty (“R&W”) insurance policies as well as related insurance products can facilitate these transactions ...
So, you want to start a hemp company. You have your big idea and a business plan ready. At some point, though, you begin to wonder whether you should be thinking about any legal issues as you get your company off the ground. That’s where we come in. Bradley’s Cannabis Industry team has a deep understanding of the many unique legal and business issues that impact hemp companies ...
On July 20, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule which, if finalized as a rule, would establish a new standard for when a national bank or Federal savings association (“bank”) is the “true lender” in a lending arrangement with a third party. Under the proposed rule, the bank is the lender in a loan transaction if either (1) the bank is the named lender in the loan documents at origination, or (2) the bank funds the loan at origination ...
On July 17, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that due to a rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases in the last month, and because San Francisco was listed on the State’s County Monitoring List (the “Monitoring List”) for three consecutive days, San Francisco was halting all reopening procedures indefinitely beginning on Monday, July 20 ...
On July 7, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule, the 2017 Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Rule (Small Dollar Rule), which rescinded the ability to repay and underwriting provisions. The final rule does not, however, rescind or alter the payment provisions in the Small Dollar Rule, and the CFPB indicated that it would be moving forward with those provisions ...
In the Loop: With the Hanson Bridgett Government Group COVID-19 has changed the way California public agencies conduct their Brown Act meetings, creating new challenges and opportunities. Utilizing their experience serving as general counsel to a number of public agencies, Hanson Bridgett attorneys Claire Collins and Allison Schutte created their Top 10 list of recommendations on how to conduct virtual "Brown Act" Board Meetings to guide any public agency. 1 ...
A focus for Chinese trademark law and practice in recent years has been strengthening the fight against malicious trademarks ...
On July 15, 2020, the Federal Reserve published a number of changes to the Main Street Lending Program’s frequently asked questions, which FAQs were amended to provide further guidance on a number of issues. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston MSLP web page has links to clean and redline versions of the new FAQs: https://www.bostonfed.org/supervision-and-regulation/supervision/special-facilities/main-street-lending-program/information-for-lenders/docs ...
After filing Form CRS ahead of the June 30 2020 deadline, many investment advisers breathed a sigh of relief. However, advisers must remain vigilant as the June 30 deadline was the beginning of a new set of compliance efforts which firms must meet on a going-forward basis. In an effort to keep firms on track, we have summarized these ongoing obligations. 1) Initial Delivery ...
On June 23, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a Risk Alert focused on assisting private fund advisers in reviewing and enhancing their compliance programs, as well as providing information to investors regarding potential private fund adviser deficiencies ...
As of July 1, the Russian requirements on digital labelling of medications and transmitting the data on medications’ turnover to the Chestny ZNAK system have become mandatory.Start of mandatory digital labellingFrom 1 July, all market participants of the pharmaceutical industry (manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, etc.) must reflect information on all operations made with medications in the monitoring system ...
On June 25, five federal regulatory agencies, including the federal banking agencies,[1] finalized changes to the Volcker rule that reduce margin requirements for derivatives trades and loosen restrictions on banking entities’ ability to invest in, sponsor or maintain certain relationships with hedge funds and private equity funds — known as “covered funds” under the Volcker rule ...
On 24 June 2020, a new restructuring procedure entered into force, enabling businesses to carry out debt relief smoothly without undue judicial interference. Potential risks and doubts may arise on the part of creditors on how to counteract the negative effects of opening these proceedings ...
