In a landmark decision issued today, the Supreme Court of the Unites States ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender people. The case involved consolidated lawsuits filed by two gay persons fired due to their sexual orientation and a transgender woman fired after revealing plans to transition from male to female ...
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance for the health care industry, titled “Temporary Policy on Prescription Drug Marketing Act Requirements for Distribution of Drug Samples During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ...
On 27 May 2020 the Federal Council adopted the Ordinance on Protecting against Cyber Risks (OPCy, available in French and German), which is set to enter into force on 1 July 2020. This move is the next step in a series of measures taken by the Federal Council to adopt a new organisational structure and implement a national strategy to protect Switzerland against cyber risks (NCS, available in German, French, Italian and English) ...
The United States Senate passed S. 945, the “Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act” (the HFCAA), by unanimous consent on May 20, 2020. The HFCAA was first introduced in the Senate on March 28, 2019 by Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and co-sponsored by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) ...
On June 10, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released new guidance, in the form of frequently asked questions and answers, regarding the use of masks in the workplace.[1] The new guidance serves to help employers ensure employees know how to properly wear masks and which type of mask is appropriate. OSHA explains the difference between cloth face coverings, surgical masks, and respirators ...
Key Points IRS releases new COVID-19 relief for Qualified Opportunity Funds Taxpayers granted significant postponement of various timing requirements to ensure compliance with IRC section 1400Z-2 The IRS released Notice 2020-39 on June 4, 2020, providing significant relief for investors in qualified opportunity funds (QOFs) ...
The difficulties in international transport caused by the pandemic may have a major impact on VAT settlements of Polish exporters. These complications may carry over to the possibility of applying the 0% VAT rate, thus affecting taxpayers’ cash flows. Restrictions caused by the state of epidemic may affect the possibility for businesses to apply the 0% VAT rate ...
One of the consequences of the pandemic and the resulting economic crisis may be the need for some taxpayers to discontinue projects ...
On May 27, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-41 (“Notice”) providing COVID-19 relief for businesses seeking to qualify for the production tax credit for renewable energy facilities under Section 45 (“PTC”) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and investment tax credit for energy property under Section 48 (“ITC”) of the Code ...
Preparation of financial statements and corporate income tax, recommencement of time periods, remote trials, gradual return to workplaces, insolvency proceedings and compliance with criminal law In a new edition of our COVID-19 Special Newsletter, we examine the key new legislation approved over the past two weeks in all areas of business law ...
Special Report "COVID-19 in Central America" on special measures taken in each country of our region prepared by the multidisciplinary team of Consortium Legal. The information contained in this publication is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is constantly updated and is subject to change ...
On May 27, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a further extension of certain deadlines that were about to expire on May 31. The latest order provides until July 1, 2020 for certain actions delayed due to COVID-19. For small and micro entities only, filings that would have been accepted if filed by June 1, 2020, will now be deemed timely if filed by July 1, 2020 ...
As Pro Bono Counsel at a large southern law firm and the former Executive Director of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission, Tiffany Graves sees how systemic inequities affect minority groups on a daily basis. “Firms have to do more,” she says, to counteract institutional racism and bring much-needed reforms to America’s legal and justice systems ...
On June 8, the Federal Reserve announced a number of changes to the Main Street Lending Program (“MSLP”), involving all three facilities, the Main Street New Loan Facility (“MSNLF”), the Main Street Priority Loan Facility (“MSPLF”), and the Main Street Expanded Loan Facility (“MSELF”) ...
On June 5, the President signed the PPP Flexibility Act. As first described in Buchalter’s previous ALERT, this new law creates the following adjustments to PPP requirements: For loans entered into on or after the date the Act became law, the minimum repayment period is to be extended from 2 years to 5 years. For loans prior to that date, the borrower and lender may agree to extend the loan term to 5 years ...
The events of this spring had many school districts looking forward to summer break. Unfortunately, it’s not quite resting time yet. On May 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released new rules, which apply to colleges as well as K-12 schools and mark the first time the department has promulgated regulations under Title IX addressing how schools must handle sexual assault cases involving students ...
The most general reason for setting up a trust is to ensure the effective and professional legal protection of assets. Contrary to a private foundation, there is no legal requirement to set forth a specific objective for the trust ...
The Ministry of Public Health has published changes in the strategy to be followed for the eventual de-escalation of the confinement measures to be followed, repealing agreement 144-2020 ...
On 20 May 2020, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange of China issued the Circular on Supporting the Development of New Forms of Trade (Circular). The Circular summarised previous pilot experiences and, established foreign exchange (forex) policies that are meant to optimise new forms of trade[1]. The Circular has been implemented since the date of its promulgation ...
Pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, which was enacted into law on June 5, 2020, taxpayers who take out a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), all or a portion of which is subsequently forgiven, may now also take advantage of the tax deferral of the employer’s portion of the Social Security taxes under Section 2302 of the CARES Act ...
"Earnings for North American coal miners may plunge by more than half this year as the coronavirus pandemic makes a weak market even worse, according to Moody’s Investors Service." Why this is important: The COVID-19 outbreak continues to wreak havoc with U.S. coal companies as the outbreak has exacerbated an already weak coal market. Moody’s Investors Service has just announced it expects U.S. coal production to drop 25 percent this year ...
Issuers need to make transparent the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their companies. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) emphasized the importance and obligation of timely and transparent disclosure of “high-quality information” in a recent statement issued on May 29, 2020. It recalled the corresponding obligation for issuers to report on important matters and encourages companies to comply with their disclosure obligations ...
On March 28, 2020, the Act on Measures in Corporate, Cooperative, Association, Foundation, and Home Ownership Law to Combat the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic (COVID-19 Act) entered into effect. Among other things, the COVID-19 Act provides for substantial facilitations for stock corporations to hold general meetings. The most important innovation for use in practice is the possibility of holding general meetings entirely virtually, i.e ...
