October 31, 2022 By: Michael Flynn Recent pronouncements by Vice President Harris and by an SBA public affairs specialist indicate that SBA will soon publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will propose an expansion of the number of non-depository institutions that can participate as lenders in the SBA 7(a) loan program, and that FinTechs will be among the types of institutions included in the expanded eligibility ...
On January 3, 2018, San Francisco’s State Senator Scott Wiener introduced a bill (SB 827) that would all but abolish the city’s famously strict land use controls—and those of virtually all California’s urban neighborhoods. It is considered the most radical of all the pro-housing legislation introduced during the last year in California ...
On April 18, 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems a staggering $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. Particularly startling about the settlement is that Dominion was valued at around $51 million as recently as 2018, meaning that the settlement resulted in a payout up to fifteen times Dominion’s value. Dominion filed the lawsuit in response to publicly broadcast statements by Fox News and its guests after the 2020 election ...
Will the release of its digital currency be China’s next salvo in its bid for world domination?One of the biggest developments in global finance has recently occurred, but not enough people are talking about it. It features technology, money and a battle between global superpowers ...
Gone are the days when satellite communication was limited to those brick phones with long antennas. Satellite communications services are gaining traction globally as they offer alternative ways of connecting end users to the Internet and other related communications services. However, as electronic communications services via satellites become more popular and accessible, service providers are met with regulatory challenges ...
'He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice’...but is Santa doing so in compliance with the GDPR? As the first Christmas trees and advent calendars go up in stores and homes across the UK, our thoughts may turn towards the joys – and pressures – of the festive season ...
By Glenn Kangisser Shu Shu Wong March 11, 2022 Earlier this month, the English Commercial Court upheld an appeal from an arbitration in MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWHC 467 (Comm) that a “reasonable endeavours” requirement in a force majeure clause, invoked due to the impact of US sanctions on Russia, did not require the party claiming force majeure to accept non-contractual performance ...
Following from the recent geopolitical developments in Ukraine, there has been a heightened interest in international sanctions ...
This news alert includes information on the way in which the authorization for safe passage permits shall be granted on account of the nighttime curfew that stands in Chile as of the evening of this Sunday 22 March 2020, as an additional measure to face the Covid-19 pandemic: Individual safe-passage permit Collective safe-passage permit Permanent authorization for emergency personnel Authorization for companies and people who carry out transport of goods Airport Staff Passengers
The SEC Division of Examinations (“Examinations”) issued a Risk Alert on April 26, 2023 to highlight the importance of establishing written policies and procedures for safeguarding customer records and information at branch offices. Examinations provides that a branch office includes any location other than a firm’s main office, including offices of any independent contractors through which a firm may offer investment products and services ...
The Hamburg data protection authority has imposed fines against the companies Adobe, Punica and Unilever, stating that they have continued to transfer personal data to the USA contrary to the stipulations of the Safe Harbor judgment. 1. The Safe Harbor judgment of the ECJ dated October 6, 2015 (legal matter C-362/14) makes it clear that European companies can no longer simply transfer personal data to the USA as a "non-secure third country" ...
Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Programs (ACPs) have been adopted in many states to protect domestic violence victims’ addresses and other personal information from collection and disclosure. Financial services institutions are taking strides to protect the data of participants in ACPs, but the financial services industry also faces some of the most complex issues with ACP compliance ...
Did you know? The long-awaited draft of the Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) was released for public consultation in October 2020. If enacted, it will be the first comprehensive law setting out the overall legal framework, as well as the obligations of different stakeholders throughout the entire lifecycle of personal data in China. Why does this matter to you? The data protection regime in China has developed rapidly in recent years and is stricter than one might think ...
Roger Royse Q&A: ESG, PE and IPO Prospects for Agtech in 2023 December 28, 2022 Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Roger Royse was featured in an AgFunderNews Q&A about environmental, social & governance (ESG), private equity, and initial public offering prospects for agtech in 2023. Below is an excerpt: AFN: Tell us a few really noteworthy investment trends you saw in 2022 ...
Industry solutions relying on artificial intelligence (AI)are growing faster than many had predicted. In addition to the important personal data protection considerations, another important question which this new and emerging technology is raising relates to the AI safety problems and their legal response. So far, the European Union and Bulgaria have not adopted legislation specifically tackling the AI phenomenon and in particular – the safety concerns associated with AI ...
In recent years, company director David Topkins was prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice for conspiring with third-party sellers to fix the prices of posters, prints and framed art on Amazon Marketplace. Amazon Marketplace is an online e-commerce marketplace for third-party sellers, where the sellers control all pricing and shipping decisions on products sold ...
If you work in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) space, you are certainly aware of the landmark unanimous decision by the United States Supreme Court in Facebook v Duguid[1], in which the Court narrowed the definition of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to equipment that has the capacity to either store or produce numbers using a random or sequential number generator. On its face, this decision seemed benign (the definition of an ATDS is unchanged) ...
It’s been well reported that the singer Rihanna has sued the UK retail chain Topshop for US$5 million in damages for the unauthorised use of her image on a t-shirt. Rihanna is apparently suing for passing-off, the argument being that people seeing the t-shirt are likely to assume that she has endorsed the brand. This may have got you wondering what the law is in South Africa on the issue of unauthorised endorsement ...
The Magistrates' Court in Bat Yam recently heard a claim brought against the company Sun d'Or which concerned the question of whether under Israeli law a person who purchased a flight ticket could transfer or assign their ticket to a different person ...
In the current complex geopolitical environment, Chinese science and technology enterprises are facing unprecedented challenges when going global. On one hand, China has to cope with concerns and restrictions imposed by various countries in terms of export control in multiple technology areas. On the other hand, there is an urgent demand for actively seeking technology export and rapidly converting long-accumulated technological advantages into economic value ...
Parliament has revised the federal telecoms legislation – in particular, the Federal Telecommunications Act (TCA) and its various implementing ordinances. These revised regulations entered into force on 1 January 2021. The revision of the telecoms legislation brings about several fundamental changes that affect consumers as well as telecoms service providers (TSPs) and telecoms operators ...
On 1 May 2004 a new and revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (the TTBER) entered into force - Regulation No. 772/2004. The TTBER will provide block exemptions for IP licensing agreements, ensuring that certain technology transfer agreements are automatically exempt from the application of Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty, which prohibits anti-competitive agreements ...
On 25 September 2020 Parliament approved the final draft of the revised Data Protection Act (rev-DPA).(1) The rev-DPA is expected to enter into force in 2022. However, it is subject to a facultative referendum and the corresponding ordinance will be adapted accordingly – thus, the rev-DPA is still a work in progress ...
