We previously provided an update regarding the enactment of a capital gains tax (the “Tax”) in the State of Washington (read about it here). In that article, we noted the Tax was subject to at least one lawsuit in Washington. That lawsuit resulted in the trial court striking down the Tax, which caused an appeal to the Washington State Supreme Court (the “Court”) ...
Contents Introduction Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Guernsey Jersey Conclusion Introduction Carey Olsen, recently ranked in the FinTech sector by Chambers & Partners across each of its Bermuda, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands and Jersey offices (with a number of notable practitioners), continues to be a leader in the Fintech and digital/virtual asset sector, advising clients on the most novel and innovative crypto and blockchain projects ...
Tech Nation is a government-backed organisation which has supported digital-tech start-ups and scale-ups as well as offering global talent visa endorsement for over a decade. At the end of January, it announced its closure, effective from 31 March 2023. Tech Nation received its core grant funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), but this funding will now be awarded to Barclays Bank ...
Following our previous Advisory on Indonesia’s long-awaited Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection (the “PDP Law”) (view the Advisory here), this Advisory focuses on the transfer of personal data from Indonesia to other countries (cross-border transfers). The PDP Law is binding on all parties that process or control personal data in or outside Indonesia with a legal impact in Indonesia or on Indonesian data subjects ...
Cyber criminals have developed new ransomware techniques to improve the efficiency and profitability of their attacks. These include targeting large and high-value entities such as governments and the health care sector (also known as “big game hunting”), and the selling of user-friendly ransomware software kits (also known as ransomware as a service) ...
The purpose of section 197 of South Africa’s Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”) is to protect and maintain employment in circumstances where a transfer of business takes place. In terms of section 197 and section 197B(1)(b), a “transfer” means the transfer of a business by one employer (the old employer) to another employer (the new employer) as a going concern ...
The South African Government's new Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022 (“2022 Regulations”) have created uncertainty about how organs of state will identify "specific goals" in their procurement processes. While the regulations do not specifically require the consideration of B-BBEE, organs of state can still use it as a factor in preference point scoring, along with or instead of other goals like employment equity, green procurement, and local content and production ...
Debtors hoping to discharge their obligations in bankruptcy may find a new hurdle based on the US Supreme Court’s Feb. 22 ruling. Relying on the plain language of the Bankruptcy Code, and Congress’s use of passive voice, the Supreme Court held that funds obtained through fraud, regardless of who committed such fraud, are not dischargeable through bankruptcy ...
Originally published in West Virginia Banker With plaintiff attorneys seeing potential large dollar settlements and verdicts, along with increased regulatory scrutiny, banks need to review their overdraft practices. As noted by the American Bankers Association, banks resolve most customer inquiries and disputes informally, with a phone call or through digital channels. Banks are incentivized in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace to do so to maintain customer satisfaction ...
The Department of Health and Human Resources (“DHHR”) was West Virginia’s largest executive agency until the Legislature passed House Bill 2006 earlier this month. For several years now, West Virginia lawmakers have been looking into how to handle the enormous agency, improve its function and oversight, and improve the management of the wide range of health and social programs administered by the DHHR. With an annual budget topping $7 ...
When you think of technological changes, you may not immediately think of the horse industry. Everything is more accessible now, thanks to the internet, and that includes your sport horse trainer and/or students. With live streaming and robot cameras, trainers are now able to connect in real time via video with students across the state, country and even across the globe ...
Apple Inc. v. Vidal, Appeal No. 2022-1249 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 13, 2023) In our Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit allowed Apple’s challenge to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB”) Fintiv rules to proceed, at least on limited grounds regarding whether in promulgating the guidelines the USPTO failed to follow notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act ...
On 17 January 2023, Getty Images brought copyright infringement claims in both the US district (Delaware) court and in the UK High Court against Stability AI, the company behind ‘Stable Diffusion’ which is one of the artificial intelligence-powered image generators which have emerged over recent months. AI generators are able to develop images in response to keywords or instructions entered by a user ...
With the rise of DALL-E 2, Midjourney and others, AI powered tools are becoming more capable and impressive. Brands have started to use these tools for marketing campaigns such as BMW’s advertising campaign for the 8 Series Gran Coupé, where the car became a canvas for an AI-powered robot artist ...
Amongst the pensions, childcare and other headline financial announcements in this week's Spring Budget, Jeremy Hunt signalled the Government's continued focus on Artificial intelligence (AI) as a targeted growth sector for the UK economy. The Chancellor pledged a £900m investment to support the development of supercomputing capabilities that can underpin the growth of the AI sector in the UK ...
On March 8, 2023, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 592, which, if passed by the House and signed by the governor, would significantly increase the penalty amounts that the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) could impose on an employer for workplace safety violations. In addition, SB 592 would require Oregon OSHA to conduct comprehensive inspections of a workplace under specific circumstances, greatly expanding the number of inspections that an employer could face ...
Many construction contracts used in the industry include clauses mandating that any disputes be decided by binding arbitration rather than a jury or bench trial. The standard AIA forms provide the parties with the option of court or arbitration. Trial courts, overwhelmed by a flood of cases and supported with strong caselaw and statutory precedent, regularly enforce arbitration clauses ...
On February 17, 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced rules related to the registration-based stock issuance system, marking a full transition to the "registration-based" era, 33 years after the establishment of China's capital markets ...
Crypto assets are assets that exist on a blockchain and are represented through a token, where the keys to the token are held in a crypto wallet. The characteristics of different crypto assets vary, depending on the code of the blockchain they operate on ...
Following a wave of recent prosecutions in relation to cash fraudulently obtained through the various Covid-19 support schemes, we consider the criminal and civil ramifications on a legitimate business which has received cash from someone who has been prosecuted and offer some helpful tips to reduce the risk of your business inadvertently laundering the proceeds of crime ...
Prepare for another big shift in health care operations. On January 30, 2023, President Joe Biden announced he would not extend the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) beyond its current expiration date of May 11. The PHE was declared by former President Donald Trump in March of 2020 as COVID-19 began to spread around the nation. The waivers and other regulatory changes instituted in its wake have impacted nearly every facet of health care services ...
Regents of the University of Minnesota v. Gilead Sciences, Inc., Appeal No. 21-2168 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 6, 2023) The Federal Circuit’s only precedential patent opinion this week focuses on the written description requirement in the context of an anticipation analysis in the chemical arts. Specifically, it concerns whether disclosures in asserted prior art were sufficient to disclose a claimed molecular structure ...
On January 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its proposed rule barring most non-compete agreements that would apply to employees. We previously summarized the proposed rule here and here. The original deadline for comments on the proposed rule was March 20. On March 6, the FTC announced it is extending the deadline to submit comments to April 19. As of March 9, a total of 16,965 comments (8,848 electronically) have been received on the proposed rule ...
Compliance related themes have become a widely discussed and increasingly important topic for corporates around the world. Increased ESG requirements and awareness have made companies rethink what responsible corporate everyday life looks like. At the same time corporate crimes and, for example, cyber-attacks and data breaches are ever increasing and may lead to detrimental consequences on business ...
In an underground burial temple located within the EU’s southernmost State, one can find a primitive drawing of a spiralling never-ending red tree. Archaeologists opine that the millennia-old Saflieni Hypogeum’s ‘Tree of Life’ was painted to give meaning to death. There is no evidence that the Maltese prehistoric biosphere sustained red spiralling trees ...