Civil Law

FICA sanctions for financial services providers

This blog was co-authored by Michael McCarthy, trainee associate, litigation insurance.

On 20 March 2024 the Financial Sector Conduct Authority published a number of administrative sanctions for financial services providers who had failed to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). The FSCA, the supervisory body responsible for financial services providers under FICA, issued the sanctions following inspections it conducted during the course of 2023. Each FSP was found to have contravened section 42(1) and (2) of FICA for … Read the rest

Civil Law

Law Democratized: A Blueprint for Solving the Access to Justice Crisis

Few social issues are more significant than unequal access to justice. Any nation that aspires to the highest level of democracy must make the civil justice system accessible not just to the affluent, but those of modest means.

Professor Renee Knake Jefferson‘s excellent new book “Law Democratized: A Blueprint for Solving the Justice Crisis” explains exactly where we are, where we need to go, and how we can get there.

An updated version of my review is available at The … Read the rest

Civil Law

Broadcast Station Contest Rules Aren’t Just for Contestants, They Apply to the Stations, Too!

The FCC recently released a Notice of Apparent Liability (“NAL”) for a forfeiture of $ 8,000 that should be a cautionary tale for other broadcast licensees that conduct contests for listeners or viewers.  This fine arose out of the station’s failure to conduct a contest in accordance with its announced terms, and specifically to make payment of a prize by the deadline which the station had established for itself.  The FCC found that this failure was a violation of its … Read the rest

Civil Law

CFPB Spring 2024 Supervisory Highlights looks at consumer reporting companies and furnishers

The CFPB has released the Spring 2024 edition of Supervisory Highlights.  The report discusses CFPB examinations in connection with credit reporting and furnishing that were completed from April 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.

Key findings by CFPB examiners are described below.

Examinations of credit reporting companies (CRCs) found the following deficiencies:

  • CRCs failed to timely implement blocks of information after receiving the requisite information relating to an alleged identity theft, without otherwise making a reasonable determination with respect to
… Read the rest
Civil Law

Cruise Ship Dancer Employed on Miami-Based Cruise Line Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

A dancer employed on an unidentified cruise ship was recently arrested in Broward County on one charge of possession of child pornography and a second count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.

Twenty-six year old Jamaal Wade appeared in federal court in Fort Lauderdale in case number 0:24-mj-06151-PMH. A special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) verified in a complaint alleging violation of 18 USC 2252A that Wade engaged in prior criminal sexual abuse of a child, … Read the rest

Civil Law

The DOL Updates the QPAM Exemption from Prohibited Transaction Restrictions under ERISA (US)

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) and the Internal Revenue Code Of 1986, as amended (“Code”) contain broad prohibitions on transactions between ERISA-covered employee benefit plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (“Plans”), as well as certain people or entities closely connected to such Plans, known as “parties in interest” or “disqualified persons”. Absent an exemption, the types of transactions that are prohibited include sales and leases or loans between a Plan and a party or parties … Read the rest

Civil Law

SEC Wins Insider-Trading Suit Alleging “Shadow Trading”

A federal jury in California agreed with the SEC that a corporate official engaged in insider trading when he purchased securities of a company based on material nonpublic information (“MNPI”) about a different company. The April 5, 2024 verdict for the SEC in SEC v. Panuwat (N.D. Cal.) could embolden the SEC to pursue more claims of “shadow trading,” which involves trading the securities of a public company that is not the direct subject of the MNPI but whose stock price allegedly … Read the rest

Civil Law

EU BANS PRODUCTS MADE USING FORCED LABOUR – WHAT SHOULD COMPANIES EXPECT?

On March 5, 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a “political agreement” on a Regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour (“the EU Forced Labour Regulation” or “the EUFLR“) on the European Union (“EU“) market (see Insight of 6 March 2024 hhttps://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2024/03/eu-political-agreement-on-forced-labor-product-ban). The EUFLR prohibits companies from “placing and making available” on the EU market, or exporting from the EU, products made with forced labour.

Continue reading at Mayerbrown.com.

LexBlog

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