‘Fake news’ - information or news that is proven to be either verifiably false or misleading - has become a major, global concern. As news and opinion pieces are increasingly pushed to readers via online and social media channels, the speed of their dissemination has accelerated exponentially, as have the challenges around regulating news and opinion ...
The Scottish Government, SEPA and industry have identified significant opportunities for the growth of the finfish aquaculture sector in Scotland. This expansion is an express policy objective of the Scottish Government, and was confirmed through the National Marine Plan published in 2015. Nevertheless, whilst there has been some growth in the sector since the plan’s publication, the sector has yet to realise its full potential ...
Effective April 22, 2019, new legislation expands the obligation of property owners to register vacant commercial storefront spaces with the City. The Board of Supervisors may also place a "vacancy tax" on November's ballot, which would tax owners for vacant storefronts after six months of vacancy. The newly effective measure amounts to an update of a previous ordinance that was passed in 2014. Both were introduced by District 1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer ...
Scotland’s countryside offers a vast range of property investment options, from houses and cottages to farms and country estates. However, when buying a rural property it is important to consider various issues that may be taken for granted in the purchase of a property in an urban area. 1 ...
The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the financial free zone which began operations in 2015, has now come of age. On 14 April 2019 Mr Alexander Guy, Senior Executive Officer and Director at Eshara Capital Limited, had the uncommon honour of becoming the first named person to be fined by ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Eshara Capital, in its corporate capacity, was also fined in connection with the same contraventions ...
Pursuant to Title VII and 42 U.S.C. Chapter 60, a company must annually file an EEO-1 Report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Joint Reporting Committee (JRC) if it answers “yes” to any of the three jurisdictional questions: 1. A company that has 100 or more employees; 2 ...
Though the legislative session again received a lot of attention from educators this year, there were also bills passed that did not receive as much attention. One of those was Senate Bill 632, which by its terms aims at “improving student safety.” The bill adds two new code sections and amends a third. This education alert provides a basic summary of what those sections require when they take effect July 1, 2019 ...
FDA Announces Public Meeting for Responsible Innovation in Dietary Supplements Industry Recently, the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it will hold a full-day public meeting to discuss strategies for responsible innovation in the dietary supplement industry. The meeting will be held May 16, 2019, from 8:30 a.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST at the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Wiley Auditorium, located at 5001 Campus Dr., College Park, MD 20740 ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced new steps it is taking to determine a framework for lawful marketing of appropriate cannabis and cannabis-derived products.[i] As expressed in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill), the FDA has the authority to regulate products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds ...
TheScottish Land Commission recently published their reportinto what it describes as the issues associated with largescale and concentrated land ownership in Scotland. The report draws a number of conclusions and makes recommendations to the Scottish Government about potential future legislative change that might have far-reaching consequences for rural land ownership ...
The UAE has had an offset program for the better part of 30 years. It was originally conceived as an inducement for investment in industrial ventures in the UAE that would contribute to the diversification of the UAE’s economy. This underlying purpose continues today. However, the offset program, as originally devised, looked for development in non-military and non-hydrocarbon sectors ...
1525, the year in which the city of San Salvador was founded under the orders of Pedro de Alvarado, in Las Bermudas Valley, a place located between the city of Suchitoto and the city of San Pedro Perulapan. At this moment, you may probably be thinking “Las Bermudas Valley? That place does not ring a bell to me, I thought that San Salvador was founded where our current historical city center is located.” The answer is both yes and no at the same time ...
The Internal Revenue Service recently eliminated an inconsistency between the definition of “general public use” for purposes of the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) under §42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) and the definition of “general public use” for purposes of tax-exempt multifamily housing bonds under Code §142(d) ...
On April 1, 2019, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) launched a secure website that lists the maximum price drug manufacturers may charge 340B-covered entities for 340B-eligible drug purchases (the 340B Ceiling Price Site). Drug manufacturers and 340B-covered entities may access the 340B Ceiling Price Site through their HRSA Office of Pharmacy Affairs information system (the 340B OPAIS) account here: https://340bopais.hrsa ...
On March 25, 2019, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) released its Corporate Scheduling Announcement List (CSAL). The CSAL was released in the OFCCP FOIA Library. This is the first time the OFCCP has not mailed the advanced courtesy notification to covered contractors and subcontractors, posting only in the FOIA Library ...
California Business and Professions Code Section 10083.2 requires the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) to provide information regarding the status of every DRE licensee on its website, including information regarding any disciplinary actions taken by the DRE against a licensee. The purpose of these disclosures is to ensure full transparency concerning information the DRE deems to present a "credible risk" to members of the public. The issue with Section 10083 ...
The 2019 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature concluded on March 9. During the 60-day session, a total of 1,823 bills were introduced, with only 294 completing the process and actually being presented to Governor Jim Justice. By the midnight deadline on March 27, Governor Justice vetoed 30 bills, let one become law without his signature, and approved the rest ...
A trio of federal statutes often referred to collectively as the P&A Acts, which includes the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act (PAIMI), the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (PADD), and the Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights Act (PAIR), authorize the creation and operation of a protection and advocacy system (P&A system) to monitor the care of individuals with mental illness and developmental disabilities ...
The IRS recently modernized the public approval process (“TEFRA approval”) for private activity bonds (“bonds”) for TEFRA approvals given on or after April 1, 2019. States and political subdivisions issuing bonds, or on whose behalf bonds are issued (“issuers”), and states and political subdivisions whose geographic jurisdiction contain the site of a project (“hosts”) may take advantage of these new rules ...
On March 13, the Ninth Circuit issued its highly anticipated opinion in HomeAway.com v. City of Santa Monica, upholding the City's ordinance restricting short-term home rentals on popular websites like Airbnb.com. Background In light of the severe housing crisis currently afflicting California, concerns have arisen over the impact of short-term home rentals on the supply of long-term housing ...
No-one enters into a lease of commercial property looking for a fight, but experience has shown it is prudent for the parties to provide for what will happen if a dispute arises. It is common for commercial leases to contain provisions for alternative dispute resolution, by referring any matter to an arbitrator or expert for determination. Such clauses invariably provide that the decision of such arbitrator or expert will be "final and binding on the parties" ...
Many communities in Scotland are all too aware of the problems associated with living next to land or buildings that are lying vacant or derelict, particularlyin urban areaswhere neglected places are often a magnet for anti-social or criminal behaviour,becomingdumping grounds for rubbish,attracting vermin and generally posing a threat to the safety or health of those living or working in the vicinity ...
The West Virginia Ethics Commission issued a new Advisory Opinion on March 7, 2019, which is going to impact the way some teachers arrange for substitutes. The opinion sought was whether it is a violation of the Ethics Act for teachers to prearrange a relative to substitute teach in their absence or place relatives on a preferred list of substitutes for their classrooms ...
One of the key issues raised consistently in the discussions around a no-deal Brexit is the impact it would have on the customs duties payable on goods that are imported in to the UK. Whilst MPs have now voted against a no-deal Brexit, this does not change the legal position – that unless a deal is agreed, there will be a no-deal Brexit, (or no Brexit at all) ...
On March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a rule that would significantly change the pay standards for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Since 2004, the minimum salary necessary to qualify for an administrative, executive, or professional exemption under the FLSA has been $455 per week ($23,660 per year). Under the proposed rule, this minimum would increase to $679 per week ($35,308 per year) ...
