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German Telecommunications Company Fined 9.5 Million Euros for GDPR Violation

By Ulrike Elteste & Anna Oberschelp de Meneses

December 11, 2019

On December 9, 2019, the German Federal Data Protection Supervisory Authority (BfDI) imposed a 9.55 million Euro fine on the telecommunications company 1&1 Telecom GmbH. The BfDI found that the authentication procedures used by 1&1’s customer helpline were insufficient and failed to satisfy the requirements of Art. 32 GDPR. The company announced that it will challenge the order, arguing that the size of the fine is disproportionate. The BfDI’s investigation was initiated following a complaint…

Inside Privacy

German Supervisory Authorities Propose Changes to the GDPR

By Anna Oberschelp de Meneses, Ulrike Elteste & Kristof Van Quathem

December 11, 2019

On December 2, 2019, the German Supervisory Authorities issued a report evaluating the implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in Germany. The report describes the Supervisory Authorities’ experience thus far in applying the GDPR and lists the provisions of the GDPR they see as problematic in practice. For each of these provisions, the report discusses the perceived problem and proposes a solution. The report begins by noting that the GDPR has significantly…

Global Policy Watch

The global business and human rights landscape: a “smart mix” of state measures and the challenges for multinational businesses

By Hannah Edmonds-Camara & Daniel Feldman

December 10, 2019

In Part One of our blog series to honour the UN’s World Human Rights Day, we consider the evolving business and human rights landscape and some of the challenges this presents for multinations. This piece was first published in the U.K.’s Law Society Gazette on 10 December 2019. The theme of this year’s UN Forum on Business and Human Rights was ‘Time to act: Governments as catalysts for business respect for human rights.’ This annual…

Global Policy Watch

New Challenges for European Defense

By Jean De Ruyt

December 10, 2019

Two days before NATO celebrated its seventieth anniversary in Watford, close to London on December 3–4, Ursula Von Der Leyen started her 5 years as president of the European Commission. She had announced that her Commission would be ‘geopolitical’, and appointed a commissioner, the French Thierry Breton, to deal with ‘Defense Industry and Space’, among other responsibilities. A month before the NATO summit, France’s president Emmanuel Macron, in a now-famous interview with the Economist, had…

Global Policy Watch

Advanced Competition Law Conference Brussels – Joint Presentation on Recent EU Cartel Enforcement

By Laura Corbett & Johan Ysewyn

December 9, 2019

On 27 November, Johan Ysewyn and Annemarie ter Heegde (DG COMP) presented the highlights of recent EU cartel enforcement in their annual presentation at the Advanced EU Competition Law Conference in Brussels. They covered the developments in the traditional three pillars of enforcement, policy and court review. In terms of enforcement, the European Commission ( “EC”) issued three settlement decisions, confirming the continued success of the settlement instrument. The only traditional infringement decision this year…

Cov Financial Services

Federal Agencies Issue Joint Statement on Alternative Data in Credit Underwriting

By Devika Singh

December 6, 2019

On December 3, 2019, the Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and National Credit Union Administration (collectively, “the agencies”), released a joint statement on the use of alternative data in underwriting by banks, credit unions, and non-bank financial firms. The agencies defined alternative data as information “not typically found in the consumer’s credit files of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies or customarily provided…

Inside Political Law

Requesting Congressional Outreach: Key Compliance Considerations

By Brendan Parets

December 6, 2019

Assistance from congressional offices can be invaluable to an organization with interests before executive branch agencies. But it also can pose legal and optics risks to both the organization requesting the assistance and the congressional office and Member of Congress doing the outreach. A number of high-profile scandals, including the Keating Five matter in which five senators met with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board on behalf of a financial institution that later went bankrupt,…

Global Policy Watch

The Week Ahead in the European Parliament – December 6, 2019

By Sebastian Vos

December 6, 2019

Summary Next week will be a mixed week in the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will meet in Brussels for political group meetings, several committee meetings, and a plenary session on Wednesday. On Wednesday, during this plenary session, Executive (First) Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans will present his ambitions for the much-publicized “European Green Deal”. In the election speech of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before the European Parliament,…

Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog

Notice 2019-63 Delivers Relief for Providers of Minimum Essential Coverage

By Molly Ramsden, Michael M. Lloyd & S. Michael Chittenden

December 6, 2019

Holding true to its holiday tradition, the IRS yet again decided to extend the deadline by which providers of minimum essential coverage (including certain applicable large employers (“ALEs”)) must furnish information statements to individuals regarding their 2019 insurance coverage. However, due to the effective elimination of the ACA’s individual mandate penalty through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), the IRS went one step further than in past years by allowing certain providers to forgo…

Covington Competition

Advanced Competition Law Conference Brussels – Joint Presentation on Recent EU Cartel Enforcement

By Laura Corbett & Johan Ysewyn

December 6, 2019

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German Telecommunications Company Fined 9.5 Million Euros for GDPR Violation

German Supervisory Authorities Propose Changes to the GDPR

The global business and human rights landscape: a “smart mix” of state measures and the challenges for multinational businesses

New Challenges for European Defense

Advanced Competition Law Conference Brussels – Joint Presentation on Recent EU Cartel Enforcement

Federal Agencies Issue Joint Statement on Alternative Data in Credit Underwriting

Requesting Congressional Outreach: Key Compliance Considerations

The Week Ahead in the European Parliament – December 6, 2019

Notice 2019-63 Delivers Relief for Providers of Minimum Essential Coverage

Advanced Competition Law Conference Brussels – Joint Presentation on Recent EU Cartel Enforcement

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