Yet another U.S. regulator is entering the foreign corruption space. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is a civil agency that oversees commodity and derivatives markets in the United States. It enforces the Commodity Exchange Act, a set of statutes that are enforced criminally by the U.S. Department of Justice. The CFTC has authority to impose financial penalties in the many millions of dollars, and it has broad investigatory powers. Earlier this year, the CFTC announced …

Inside Tech Media

Artificial Intelligence and the Patent Landscape – Views from the USPTO AI: Intellectual Property Policy Considerations Conference

By Gregory Discher & Jason Reinecke on June 14, 2019

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) held its Artificial Intelligence: Intellectual Property Policy Considerations conference on January 31, 2019. The conference featured six panels of speakers, including policy makers, academics, and practitioners from Canada, China, Europe, Japan, and the United States. As stated by USPTO Director Iancu during his introductory remarks, the purpose of the conference is to begin discussions about the implications that artificial intelligence (“AI”) may have on intellectual property law and…

Inside Privacy

Congress Considers Measures to Support AI and IoT Technologies

By Katharine Goodloe & Jayne Ponder on June 14, 2019

As policymakers weigh the implications of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and the Internet of Things (“IoT”), members of Congress have introduced a handful of measures focusing on Government support for and adoption of these emerging technologies. In May, Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) reintroduced the Developing and Growing the Internet of Things (“DIGIT”) Act. An earlier version of the legislation passed the Senate last year, but…

Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog

IRS Warns Withholding Agents to Consider FPP Correction Program to Avoid Penalties

By Pooja Shah Kothari, Michael M. Lloyd & S. Michael Chittenden on June 13, 2019

Last week, Kimberly Schoenbacher, the Acting Director of the LB&I Foreign Payments Practice (“FPP”), sent a message to taxpayers who may be noncompliant with Chapter 3 and FATCA withholding and reporting: the IRS is actively honing in on Form 1042 nonfilers, Form 1042 failures, and Forms 1042 and 1042-S that do not reconcile. Schoenbacher remarked at the International Tax Withholding and Information Reporting Conference in New York that the IRS has sent letters to thousands…

Global Policy Watch

The Butch Lewis Act Takes Important Step Forward

By Holly Fechner & Peter Rechter on June 13, 2019

This week, Congress took an important step forward to protect the benefits of retirees in multiemployer pension plans facing insolvency. On Tuesday, June 11, 2019, the House Committee on Education and Labor marked-up the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act (H.R. 397), better known as the “Butch Lewis Act.” Among other things, the bill would create a federal loan program within the Department of Treasury authorized to finance loans to certain multiemployer plans facing insolvency. At…

Inside Privacy

China Seeks Public Comments on Draft Measures related to the Cross-border Transfer of Personal Information

By Yan Luo, Zhijing Yu & Nicholas Shepherd on June 13, 2019

On June 13, 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) issued the draft Measures on Security Assessment of the Cross-border Transfer of Personal Information (“Draft Measures”) for public comment. (The official Chinese version of the Draft Measures is available here, and an unofficial English translation is available here.) The comment period ends on July 13, 2019. The issuance of the Draft Measures marks another major development in the implementation of China’s Cybersecurity Law…

Inside Energy & Environment

President Trump Issues Executive Order Directing Significant Changes to the Regulation of Genetically-Engineered Organisms

By Thomas Brugato on June 12, 2019

agricultural-worker-takes-care-of-his-estate-picture-id958953510 (1)

On June 11, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order that would require the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration—the three main agencies with regulatory authority over genetically-engineered (“GE”) plants and animals in the United States—to revise their regulations governing GE organisms. These changes follow closely on the heels of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (“APHIS”) recent proposed regulations that would increase the number of genetically-engineered…

Cov Financial Services

Democratic Senators Criticize CFPB’s Proposed Debt Collection Rule

By Sam Adriance on June 12, 2019

On June 7, 2019, 26 Democratic senators sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau”) Director Kathleen Kraninger criticizing the Bureau’s proposed rule to modify Regulation F under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. As we have previously discussed, the Bureau released its long-anticipated proposed rule on May 7, 2019. Director Kraninger described the proposal as an effort to “modernize the legal regime for debt collection” and “ensure we have clear rules of…

Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog

Draft 2020 Form W-4 Addresses Some Privacy Concerns

By S. Michael Chittenden, Marianna G. Dyson & Michael M. Lloyd on June 11, 2019

On May 31, the IRS released a draft 2020 Form W-4 that addresses some, but not all, of the privacy concerns that led the IRS to abandon the redesigned form for 2019. According to an accompanying news release, the IRS anticipates releasing a near-final form in July to allow payroll processors and employers to begin work on programming updates to their systems. Minor changes may be made based on comments to that draft…

Inside Privacy

Nevada’s New Consumer Privacy Law Departs Significantly From The California CCPA

By Alexandra Scott & Lindsey Tonsager on June 10, 2019

On May 29, 2019, the Governor of Nevada signed into law Senate Bill 220 (“SB 220”), an act relating to Internet privacy and amending Nevada’s existing law requiring websites and online services to post a privacy notice. In short, Nevada’s law will require operators of Internet websites and online services to follow a consumer’s direction not to sell his or her personal data. The Nevada law differs from the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) enacted…

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Beyond The FCPA: New U.S. Regulator Enforcing Against Foreign Corruption

Artificial Intelligence and the Patent Landscape – Views from the USPTO AI: Intellectual Property Policy Considerations Conference

Congress Considers Measures to Support AI and IoT Technologies

IRS Warns Withholding Agents to Consider FPP Correction Program to Avoid Penalties

The Butch Lewis Act Takes Important Step Forward

China Seeks Public Comments on Draft Measures related to the Cross-border Transfer of Personal Information

President Trump Issues Executive Order Directing Significant Changes to the Regulation of Genetically-Engineered Organisms

Democratic Senators Criticize CFPB’s Proposed Debt Collection Rule

Draft 2020 Form W-4 Addresses Some Privacy Concerns

Nevada’s New Consumer Privacy Law Departs Significantly From The California CCPA

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