On January 20, 2017, in a case of first impression among the appellate courts, a panel of the Ninth Circuit concluded in Syed v. M-I, LLC (Case No. 14-17186) that an employer violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when its background check disclosure/authorization document includes a sentence that releases the employer, the consumer reporting agency (the vendor), and their agents from liability for any violations of the FCRA ...
The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729, et seq. (FCA) continued to be a significant focus of government and whistleblower activity in 2016. ThisYear in Review highlights several key developments, including: The U.S. Department of Justice is continuing its strong enforcement of the FCA, including recovering more than $4.7 billion in settlements and judgments in FCA cases in 2016, as well as continuing its focus on individual culpability ...
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation on December 13, 2016 to provide developers of market rate projects with 24 or fewer dwellings with the option of contributing the required fees for off-site affordable housing (under the Inclusionary Housing Program) to a Small Sites Fund administered by the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development ("MOHCD") ...
As the American press focuses on the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act, the wheels have been set in motion to implement new health care legislation that enjoys strong bipartisan support. The 21st Century Cures Act (the “Act”), signed by President Obama on December 13, addresses a broad range of health care priorities, including drug innovation, biomedical research, and mental health reform ...
Under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), large employers (generally those with 50 or more full-time employees or full-time equivalents) must report annually to the IRS information about the health coverage offered to their full-time employees during the prior year. Employers also must provide copies of the reports to their full-time employees ...
The December/January issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Philippines: Competition Law Updates”. The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Franco Aristotle G. Larcina and Arlene M. Maneja. The article discussed the new merger form issued by the Philippine Competition Commission on August 31, 2016. Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
On January 1, 2017, most public works projects in California will be subject to new procedural requirements applicable to claims from contractors ...
The Serbian Parliament has recently adopted amendments to the Criminal Code. The amendments include a significant overhaul of the legal framework for white collar crimes, touching upon the rules relevant for antitrust enforcement as well. While the Serbian Criminal Code previously penalized antitrust infringements spearheaded by the responsible managers, the relevant provision was relatively vague and targeted chiefly dominance abuse ...
After a remarkable year in both merger control and antitrust, the Serbian Competition Commission (the "Commission") is already starting to look ahead. The announcements made on the Commission's website during November and December of this year suggest that the Commission's focus in the year ahead will be directed at several industries in particular. Firstly, the Commission published on its website the Report on the Sectorial Analysis of Aftermarkets ...
For about two years now, most renewable energy projects, particularly wind farm projects, have been financed using a so-called “hybrid” model, i.e. a combination of medium-term bank debt and long-term financing or private placements. The term “hybrid” is derived from the vocabulary of the Public-Private Partnerships industry, particularly projects involving an operational and maintenance component as part of a long-term concession ...
The Public-Private Partnership delivery model (?PPP? or ?P3?) is now well established in Canada, where more than 177 of such projects were closed between 1993 and 2015 (source: InfraAmericas). The great majority thereof (166) have been closed since 2004, and the current trend indicates the number of projects is on the rise ...
Creation of a Canadian infrastructure bank On October 20, 2016, the Advisory Council on Economic Growth published its report entitled "Unleashing Productivity Through Infrastructure". One of the report's recommendations is to create a Canadian Infrastructure Development Bank whose objective would be to deliver projects with an aggregate value of more than $200 billion over 10 years, while at the same time minimizing the use of government budgets ...
A federal appeals court has rejected two challenges to the environmental review of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro's) planned subway expansion in Downtown Los Angeles. The "Regional Connector" project, approved in 2012, will create a three-station, underground link through Downtown that will allow passengers to travel from points on the Metro Gold Line to the Blue and Expo lines without having to transfer trains ...
The October issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Mining Developments”. The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Aaron Roi B. Riturban ...
The October 2016 issue of the Asian Legal Business (ALB) includes a regional update article entitled “New Implementing Rules for Philippine Data Privacy Act”, contributed by SyCipLaw partner Rose Marie M. King-Dominguez. The article enumerated and discussed the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012. It is located on page 11. Read the full ALB October 2016 issue on the ALB website ...
The recent Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”) case of Transnet v Total is important not only for those in the petroleum industry, but also, more generally, when it comes to aspects of competition and discrimination, as well as the impact of changes in the law on existing contracts and vested rights ...
The July/August issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Promoting Foreign Investment”. The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Carina C. Laforteza and associate Lito Paolo T. Martin II. The article discussed the enactment of Republic Act No. 10881, which was set to make the Philippine sa more attractive destination for foreign investors in the financing industry ...
The European Commission has opened an in-depth merger investigation into the planned acquisition of Cemex Croatia by Duna-Drava Cement ('DDC'). Registered in Hungary, DDC is jointly controlled by German construction material producers HeidelbergCement and Schwenk. DDC inter alia operates a cement plant in Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cemex Croatia, an arm of the international cement heavyweight Cemex, controls three cement plants in the Croatian coastal city of Split ...
The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has issued its first merger clearance under the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Competition Act. The clearance was for the proposed acquisition by Sanofi of the CHC business of Boehringer Ingelham. SyCipLaw acted as Philippine antitrust counsel to Sanofi. Download the Client Alert for more information on the first merger clearance of PCC under the Philippine Competition Act ...
The September 2016 issue of the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Edition included a regional update article entitled “Anti-Corruption Laws in the Philippines”, contributed by SyCipLaw partner Ronald Mark C. Lleno, and Associate Rhey David S. Daway. The article discussed examples of prohibited corrupt practices under Philippine law. It is located on page 16. Access the full ALB September 2016 issue online ...
Media reports are letting us know that the "Serbia - A Strategic Crossroads between Western and Eastern Europe," conference was held in Paris on 15 September, where the French companies were presented with the political and economic environment in Serbia, as well as with the ensuing investment opportunities and the possibility of financing economic projects ...
Recent news reports from Bosnia tell us that the BiH government, represented by the federal prime minister for economic issues and investments, Suvad Osmanagic, paid a visit to Bihac with Ludovico Camozzi, the president and owner of Camozzi – an Italian company that produces industrial automation machinery. The main purpose of this visit was to see Kombiteks, a textile production company that has been in bankruptcy and in and out of operation for the past 15 years ...
From August 30th of 2016, the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, commonly known as the “Apostille Convention”, and which changes the legalization process of foreign public documents, will enter into force in Chile. This treaty was signed on October 5th, 1961, and on December 2015 Chile completed the procedures to ratify it. In order to enforce this convention in Chile, Law No ...
For far too long, Africa has been plagued by the demon of conflict minerals, which have played a key role in fuelling conflict and extensive human rights violations. The terrible scenes in Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remain vivid in the mind. In the history of conflict minerals, diamonds occupy the highest spot. They are valuable, portable and easily tradeable ...
