In a slightly surprising, but nevertheless welcome, South African 2020 Budget Speech today, the Honourable Minister of Finance announced that there would be no significant tax increases to the major taxes for the forthcoming tax year. Widely anticipated increases to value-added tax (“VAT”), income tax, capital gains tax and estate duty did not materialise ...
As a reminder to our life sciences clients including drug manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, and group purchasing organizations, all Open Payments data from the 2020 program year must be reported to CMS by no later than March 31, 2021. Organizations that participate in the Open Payments program are also reminded that they must submit a final attestation that their data is timely, complete and accurate in addition to reporting data from fiscal year 2020 ...
There were big changes in 2020 in the world of restructuring and insolvency legislation with the introduction of two new restructuring tools: the Moratorium and the Restructuring Plan, as well as the reintroduction of Crown preference. However, due to the government-imposed moratorium while the pandemic runs its course, we have seen hardly any real effects of those reforms ...
The outlook for the year ahead is uncertain with the effects of post-Brexit rules to contend with and COVID-19 continuing to restrict the way we live and work. We look at what the year may have in store for the construction industry. COVID-19 There is no doubt that the pandemic has caused challenges for the construction industry and is likely to have a significant impact into 2021 ...
If anyone had told you that 2020 would be a year in which you are virtually guaranteed a lie-flat bed in economy class, businesses instructed employees not to come into the office, and budget supermarket Sheng Siong’s shares outperformed bank blue chip DBS’s, you would have sent the chap to have his head checked.But as the new coronavirus spread worldwide, the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic forced billions into lockdown ...
By all accounts, in common with 2021, broad uncertainty will remain a key theme for the UK economy in 2022. Statistics from 2021 are an unhelpful indicator for 2022. But all signs currently point to a slowing of the UK economy in 2022 following an undeniable 2021 bounce-back as people matched unexpected savings with spending on goods, services and holidays ...
A look at trends and influences which we expect to impact mid-market banking and finance in 2022. Last year’s article heavily featured COVID-19, its impact, and expected patterns of recovery. While the pandemic continues to have a huge impact on our lives, most stakeholders have learnt to live with this uncertainty and businesses have adapted accordingly ...
In recent years, license-in/out transactions have become the most common way for innovative drugs and medical devices (including medical aesthetics) companies to collaboratively develop and commercialize medical products and related technologies. According to public information, in China, the total amount and number of investment and financing in life sciences sector have witnessed a significant decline from 2021 to 2023, with the investment amount being only a quarter of that in 2021 ...
We have recently seen reports about the unbelievable amount of pressure on the NHS, including inaccessibility to GPs; a high degree of emergency admissions; and bed-blocking within hospitals where vulnerable patients cannot be discharged safely. These factors have exacerbated the pressure on our healthcare system to almost unprecedented levels. Medical technologies or MedTech could be the way forward to ease some of the pressure ...
The year ahead will see a better resourced FCA announcing and implementing reform in many different markets. It will see a focus on protecting consumers in the current economic climate and a focus on understanding newer and faster paced markets, particularly those where consumer detriment is a real risk. In a written statement to Parliament on the 9 December 2022, the chancellor set out an ambitious list of reforms that, at any other time, the financial services sector would run towards ...
Fintech companies and their partners are on alert as a flurry of new state and federal cybersecurity requirements take effect. The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) both recently finalized changes that will create additional compliance obligations, expand existing regulations to new entities and mandate that banks and fintech firms move quickly to update their cybersecurity policies and incident-response capabilities ...
Jon Bew and Wayne Gibbard, co-heads of the Financial Services Sector at Shoosmiths, comment on upcoming trends and developments to expect in 2024 for the sector. Everyone is feeling it, the rumbling of a technological storm. The immergence of generative AI, RegTech and increased fraud and cyber risk, have swept clouds of uncertainty across the Financial Services Sector… ...
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 ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on March 13 issued a highly consequential decision in U.S. Securities andExchange Commission v. Rashid, interpreting and applying the mental state for liability of investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. Over a strong dissent, the court reversed a finding of liability of the defendant investment adviser under basic principles of negligence law, and in doing so, provided a road map for future enforcement actions under the act ...
The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty ...
The September 23, 2013 deadline for covered entities, business associates and their subcontractors to implement the new HIPAA rules is approaching quickly. In case you missed it, on January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an omnibus final rule modifying the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ...
As U.S. hospitals and health clinics continue preparing for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patient surges, federal regulatory agencies are developing resources to help health care providers comply with myriad regulatory requirements. In this context, the U.S ...
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 June 15, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States released its long-awaited decision in American Hospital Association v. Becerra in which it unanimously held that the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overstepped its statutory authority by cutting 340B-related reimbursement to hospitals ...
Nearly 106,000 Americans are currently on waiting lists for donor organs and 17 die each day while waiting. The holy grail for rising to meet this demand and end this suffering will be the ability to “print” the organs, muscles, and tissues from individually grown cells, lowering the need for human donors and the complicated and sometimes unbearable stress that goes along with donor wait lines ...
You may have heard something about GDPR lately and thought "Why should I care? It probably won't affect me or my business.” In reality, the implications of GDPR are far-reaching. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of regulations strengthening data privacy and protection laws for residents of the EU. The regulations take effect in just two months: May 25, to be exact ...
Amid the unprecedented changes wracking the business world in 2020, one certainty remains: many industries will look very different in future years as strategic responses to COVID-19 gain traction and become permanent. In the healthcare REIT sector, we are beginning to see trends that may shape industry norms long after the dust has settled from the chaos of 2020. 1 ...
The impact of COVID-19 and the economic downturn has pressured independent hospitals, rural hospitals and smaller health systems in particular. Despite the immense challenges, independent facilities and their Boards should take this time to best position for the near- and long-term. In light of this, Waller partnered with Kaufman Hall to develop a guide for healthcare leaders, The Health System Growth Imperative: Charting Opportunities During the Pandemic and Beyond ...
