Following a short period of public consultation, the Telecommunications and Other Amendments (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 (Cth) (Bill) has been introduced into Parliament. Despite the extensive public concerns raised with the Exposure Draft version, only a small number of amendments have been made to the Bill. Following extensive submissions and much debate, the 'decryption Bill' has now been introduced into Parliament ...
On October 3, 2018, the IRS issued guidance for employers on how to claim tax deductions for business meals this year. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, ("TCJA") business expenses for "entertainment" are no longer deductible, effective for 2018. However, the TCJA did not modify the separate 50% deduction for expenses for business meals, which left employers wondering how to distinguish a business meal from entertainment ...
Many companies are currently facing challenges in relation to the GDPR compliance of their video surveillance. Main issues in this respect are questions related to transparency requirements and information notices, the need for a data protection impact assessment as well as questions concerning retention requirements and retention periods. The German Federal Labor Court (BAG) has recently commented on the admissible storage duration of lawful video recordings ...
Late last month, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a final order placing FDA-approved drugs that contain cannabidiol (CBD) derived from cannabis and no more than 0.1 percent tetrahydrocannabinols in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA). Schedule V of the CSA includes drugs such as Robitussin and Lyrica ...
In response to questions regarding the legality of Cannabidiol (CBD) oil products, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy (Board) announced that only licensed and operating Medical Marijuana Control Program dispensaries may sell CBD oil products. In June, the Board announced the award of 56 provisional medical marijuana dispensary licenses. All of those provisional licensees will have six months to comply with operational requirements in order to obtain a certification of operation (COO) ...
France has taken steps to set up a dedicated frame for cryptocurrency transactions aiming at conciliating legal certainty, market integrity and innovation. Capitalizing on best market practices, a recent bill defines an optional visa regime for ICOs, while a report commissioned by the French government sets forth principles of minimum regulations. Taxwise, the French Administrative Supreme Court has just ruled in favour of investors in Bitcoins ...
On September 20, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced settlements with three Boston hospitals for disclosing Protected Health Information (PHI) to ABC News documentary filmcrews.[i] In total, the hospitals paid OCR $999,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule ...
Scotland is currently home to one of the largest life science clusters in Europe, with more than 700 organisations based here employing some 37,000 people. With 15 universities producing highly skilled graduates; the NHS as a massive single source of patient data; and world leading research centres in life sciences, Scotland attracts some of the brightest international scientists and life science businesses ...
In its green paper on corporate governance reform, the Government sought views on measures designed to address "a widespread perception that executive pay has become increasingly disconnected from both the pay of ordinary working people and the underlying long-term performance of companies" ...
Over the past few months, our Legal Lab on Artificial Intelligence (L3AI) team has tested a number of legal solutions that incorporate AI to a greater or lesser extent. According to the authors Remus and Levy1, most of these tools will have a moderate potential impact on the legal practice. Among the solutions tested by the members of our laboratory, certain functionalities in particular drew our attention ...
On September 11, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced its first enforcement actions alleging that entities offering certain investments in cryptocurrencies should be registered as an investment adviser or broker-dealer ...
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also affects the working relationship between the employer and the works council. Among other things, it affects the use of works agreements as legal basis, the (possible) responsibility of the works council under data protection law, as well as the controlling authority of the company data protection officer over the works council. WORKS AGREEMENT AS INFORMATION PURSUANT TO ART ...
The General Provisions referred to in Article 58 of the Law to Regulate Financial Technology Institutions (“Fintech Law”), Circular 12/2018 addressed to the Electronic Payment Funds, relative to the general provisions applicable to the operations of the Electronic Payment Funds and the General Provisions applicable to the Financial Technology Institutions (“Fintechs”), were published in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación) on Septembe
As we reported in our May 31, 2018 Alert, the California Legislature has been considering legislation to prevent joint powers authority (JPA) member agencies from contracting out of liability for the JPA's pension obligations ...
On August 31, 2018 California’s legislature passed Senate Bill 1402. Unless vetoed by Governor Brown on or before September 30, SB 1402 will allow shippers to be held jointly liable for state labor and employment law violations by port trucking companies. The bill, which was authored by Senator Lara (D-Bell Gardens), is aimed at ending the purported “exploitation of truck drivers who haul cargo from California’s ports ...
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the matter of Lucia v. SEC, 585 U.S. (2018), which held that administrative law judges of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are considered Inferior Officers of the United States, therefore subject to the Appointments Clause (Article II, Sec. 2) of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mr ...
Following the enactment of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted an amendment to Rule 701(e) increasing the threshold amount of securities that can be sold during a 12-month period from $5 million to $10 million. Securities sold in excess of the threshold trigger enhanced disclosure obligations for the issuer ...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a final rule to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, “ which requires employers to electronically submit their injury and illness records to OSHA. Specifically, establishments with 250 or more employees must annually submit their Forms 300, 300A, and 301. And, establishments with 20 to 249 employees must annually submit their Form 300A ...
Two significant events this week raised eyebrows in the lucrative world of live sports broadcasting. Firstly, Facebook agreed an exclusive deal to show La Liga to users in Asian territories including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will live stream all 380 matches this season for free to its 348 million users in the region. The move fits with Facebook's ambition to grow use of its social networking platform outside markets that have reached saturation ...
All employers who were required to publish a Gender Pay Gap Report1 for the financial year 2017-2018 have now done so. A report published by the UK Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee2 has confirmed that 78% of organisations have gender pay gaps that favour men, and that the national gender pay gap median is around 18%. The picture is worse in certain sectors, where it was found that gender pay gaps of over 40% were “not uncommon” ...
Photography by promoters and artists is an integral part of any kind of event. Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, the legal requirements for videos and photos depicting people however have to be reassessed. In the past, most member states of the European Union had their own regulations regarding photos that show individual persons ...
Last year Panama joined the list of countries that have established quotas as a mean for reducing the gender gap. Law 56 of 2017 creates a women quota of 30% on corporate boards of public entities and certain private entities. The Law was recently regulated through Executive Decree 241-A of 2018 ...
Earlier this year, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (the “MEMR”) issued Regulation Number 10 of 2018 on The Second Amendment to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation Number 10 of 2017 on the Principles of Power Purchase Agreements (“MEMR Reg 10/2018”) which came into effect on 13 February 2018 ...
