The SEC’s Division of Enforcement recently issued itsannual reportdetailing enforcement activities, statistics, and changes made in the past fiscal year (“FY 2018”). The report discusses several significant developments in the SEC enforcement landscape, including the creation of new task forces, first-of-their kind enforcement actions, and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision inKokesh v. SEC, 137 S. Ct. 1635 (2017) ...
The large number of vague terms as well as provisions requiring interpretation in the GDPR create significant application issues for companies. However, it becomes even more of a challenge if companies not established in the EU want to review whether the GDPR is applicable to them. Generally speaking, the European legislator set themselves the goal of creating the most extensive territorial scope of the GDPR possible ...
New State Minimum Wage Effective January 1, 2019, the State minimum wage increases to $12.00 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees, and $11.50 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees. New Local Minimum Wages Additionally, several California cities and counties have passed their own minimum wage ordinances with a more aggressive schedule of minimum wage increases ...
Educational institutions (“recipient” or “recipient institutions”) have been waiting for the Department of Education to issue formal Title IX regulations after it issued interim guidance in September 2017. This interim guidance rescinded previous Obama-era guidance that called for strict enforcement of Title IX and indicated that new formal guidance would be forthcoming ...
View a PDF of the November 2018 Edition of the Haynes and Boone Media, Entertainment and First Amendment Newsletter. Must Websites Comply With the ADA? Website ADA compliance litigation is all the rage, manifesting itself as an epidemic of “website drive-by lawsuits.” Beyond the litigation controversy, the issue is whether websites must be accessible to the visually-impaired via screen reader software to comply with the ADA. Circuit Courts are split ...
The new anti-money laundering (AML) law of the UAE took effect at the end of October 2018. Containing features recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the new law introduces subtle but important changes to the AML landscape in the UAE. The new law was enacted as Federal Decree-Law 20 of 2018. The previous AML law was Federal Law 4 of 2002, as amended by Federal Law 9 of 2014, and the implementing regulations that were promulgated pursuant to Cabinet Resolution 38 of 2014 ...
The enactment of EU Directive 2018/843 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing (the "5th AML Directive") has prompted the Luxembourg government to accelerate the final implementation process of EU Directive 2015/849. This Directive prevents the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (the “4th AML Directive”) ...
In light of the new EU data protection scheme, shaped by the GDPR, Serbia has enacted a new Data Protection Law earlier this year, with its' applicability postponed for 21 August 2019. The new law was long-awaited: it has been 10 years since the existing law was passed, which was even at that moment already outdated (e.g. it recognized only consent in the written form and almost completely restricted data transfers to non-European countries) ...
In a letter to state Medicaid directors on Nov.13, 2018, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Alexander Azar, announced a new demonstration opportunity that will allow states to provide improved care for adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) and children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) ...
On Nov. 19, 2018, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking[1] requesting public comment on criteria for identifying emerging technologies essential to U.S. national security that would be subject to increased export controls ...
As Fast-Growing San Francisco Concludes Its Largest Rezoning in Ten Years, Will Its Novel New Urban Planning Guidelines for South of Market Represent What the City’s Downtown Needs in A Fast-Moving Business, Cultural and Economic Environment? On November 13, 2018, the Board of Supervisors voted to approve the Central SOMA Plan at its first reading. Its final reading and approval, and the Mayor’s signature, is expected in December ...
While the motivation behind the Civil Justice Commission’s consultation paper – aimed at enhancing the Court system – is laudable, the proposed introduction of litigation scale costs may hurt Singapore’s standing as a global litigation hub. In 2015, the Chief Justice established the Civil Justice Commission (CJC) to review Singapore’s civil justice system, with the goal of transforming and modernising the litigation process ...
When auditing annual financial statements, auditors are required to draw attention to risks that potentially threaten the company. Such risks can result for example from failure to implement the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that has been in force since May 25, 2018. Given the substantial fines envisaged in the GDPR, these risks can result in high provisions, in the worst case in refusal on the part of the auditor to issue an unqualified audit opinion ...
News of a new federal law on foreign direct investment in the UAE has many people asking: “Does this mean I can now form a new company with majority foreign ownership?” The answer is the same as previously, “No, not yet”. Companies incorporated in the UAE require a minimum of 51 percent UAE ownership. As an exception to this rule, 100 percent foreign ownership is permitted in free zones. The new law may lead to further exceptions in the future ...
The introduction of the e-hailing system had changed the landscape of public transport in Malaysia and, at the same time, intensified the competition in the taxi industry. Whilst the taxi industry was subject to specific regulatory requirements there was previously no express law to regulate the operation of the e-hailing system ...
The Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (“Act”) was introduced to address cash flow issues affecting contractors in the construction industry as a result of delays and/or lengthy periods of payment under construction contracts. Under the Act, an unpaid party [1] is entitled to initiate an adjudication proceeding in order to claim any amounts due and/or owing to them under a construction contract ...
This case highlights the importance of registering a franchise with the Registrar of Franchises and the consequences of not doing so. In particular, the effect and applicability of section 6(1) of the Franchise Act 1998 (“FA 1998”) are discussed. Facts The subject matter was “Dr. Fong’s Method” of teaching mathematics to students in primary and secondary school, which was developed by Dr. Fong Ho Kheong (“Dr. Fong”). Dr ...
In the last quarter of 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued an opinion letter ending what had become known as the “80/20 rule” for tipped employees. The new rule, which eases restrictions on an employer’s application of the tip credit, is a reissuance of a 2009 opinion letter that had been supplanted by contrary guidance since 2011 ...
In an order dated at the end of 2018, the DIFC Court accepted that a party seeking an anti-suit injunction against proceedings in a foreign court must show that proceeding before the foreign court is or would be “vexatious or oppressive” to that party ...
What Does it All Mean? With the new Democratic House majority and Republicans maintaining control of the Senate, Washington, D.C., now enters a period of divided government in the run up to the 2020 presidential election. Democrats and Republicans, including President Trump, will have to compromise on a budget and impending debt limit and sequestration, as well as spending levels for the coming fiscal years in order to avoid a government shutdown ...
Companies wanting to do good through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives face a quandary: how to ensure their aid is going where it is needed most. [Editor’s note: Last month, our firm was honoured to have won the President’s Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) in the Small and Medium Enterprises category ...
The value of the car is no longer merely associated with the car body, its engine or other material parts. Substantial value is found in the knowledge that controls the car – knowledge that does not only steer the car, but which may form the basis for maintenance and repairs planning, computing insurance premiums or indicating who is liable in the case of damage ...
In the Court of Appeal (CA) decision of Securities and Futures Commission v Cheng Chak Ngok (CACV 95/2017; [2018] HKCA 590), the less disputed element of insider dealing, namely the element of “dealing” was at issue. As there was no direct evidence showing the dealing in this case, the issue was whether the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to draw inferences that there was in fact dealing in the relevant shares ...
Earlier this week, the UK Cryptoassets Taskforce published its Final Report on cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology (DLT). The Taskforce – which includes representatives from HM Treasury, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England – was established in March 2018 to analyse and assess the risks and potential benefits of cryptoassets and DLT and “set out the path forward with respect to regulation [of these areas] in the UK” ...
Article PDF On October 19, 2018, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations regarding certain aspects of the new qualified opportunity funds ("QOF") and related qualified opportunity zones ...
