INSIDE COMPLIANCE

Trump Administration and American Companies Challenge Chinese Regulation Regarding Intellectual Property

October 4, 2017Uncategorized1 Comment

Chinese foreign investment policies have long favored investments that bring the country technological advances from foreign companies. In recent years, China has increasingly developed policies which force foreign companies to share their intellectual property with China and to allow Chinese companies to conduct business with the foreign country China has backed off their previous requirements to transfer such information in an attempt to meet the requirements of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) since joining the organization in September of 2001. Evidenced by President Donald Trump recently signing a directive to initiate an investigation into Chinese trade practices regarding the attainment of intellectual property from foreign companies, many companies and trade organizations believe that China is not adequately protecting intellectual property rights of foreign companies.

busChinacorporate integrity agreementexecutive orderintellectual propertyinternationalInternational Affairsinternational complianceInternational PrivacyinvestigationTrump AdministrationWTO

Cybersecurity Breaches Increasing in Healthcare Organizations

October 4, 2017Uncategorized

According to data from HHS’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR), healthcare data breaches in 2017 are set to outpace those from 2016. Security experts have determined this increase is due to two factors: getting entry into a system has become easier, and organizations are now more inclined to report breaches. Yet despite the increase in data breaches and the costs of settling with HHS OCR, a majority of healthcare organizations are still only spending 1-6% of their budgets on cybersecurity measures.

HIPAA & Health InformationOCRPrivacy & Security

Guest Post: QB Reminds Higher Ed of Regulatory Truth

October 3, 2017Athletic Regulation1 Comment

Last month Josh Rosen, a junior at UCLA who plays quarterback, was quoted by a national sports news website saying, “Football and school don’t go together.” Within hours UCLA’s coach and Stanford’s coach each tried to paint the young man as unenlightened.

Research shows that Rosen is more correct than the coaches admit, but that’s only part of the story. What’s news is that a twenty-year-old—not a university trustee or president, not a U. S. District Court judge or an antitrust lawyer—put his finger on a regulatory reality that higher education may not be able to ignore for much longer.

college athleticscollege footballfootballguest contributionGuest PostJosh Rosenstudent athletesUCLAwilliam devine

Implementation of Swap Trade Regulation Aimed at Reducing Investment Risk for American Financial Firms

October 2, 2017Hubert ShingletonFinance & Banking

In September 2017, United States economic markets implemented swap-regulating rules to reduce risk to U.S. investment firms. Signed into law in 2016, this regulation curbs the risk associated with swap derivatives in the United States. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the “Agencies”), constructed a joint rule requiring taxpayer-insured banks and financial institutions to collect greater collateral and provide greater transparency when involved in swap derivative agreements.

Commodity Futures Trading Commissioncovered swap entitiesderivativesDodd-FrankFDICfinancial regulationinvestment regulationSECsecuritiessecurities regulationsecurity exchangestock marketswap dealsswap derivativesswap trades

Spotify’s Settlements Rock the Music Scene: Artists Continue to Seek Compensation for Alleged Willful Copyright Infringement

September 29, 2017Marena DiazThe Marketplace1 Comment

It is no secret that streaming services have been a highly controversial issue in the entertainment industry in recent years. Artists from all over the world have been affected by the rise of music streaming; many believe it is no different than piracy. Nevertheless, Spotify is in fifty-eight countries, and the user base consists of over fifty million subscribers globally, with twelve and a half million paying subscribers. As Spotify has grown, questions have risen surrounding the rights that artists, producers, and writers have to their music that the public has access to through ‘streaming’. As technology advances, the music industry will continue to change. The recently filed lawsuits against Spotify show that this is an underdeveloped area of the law that needs to be explored. The decisions regarding Spotify’s streaming service and compliance with copyright laws will have major implications for not just Spotify, but the entire music industry.

actartistbluewatercompliancecomposercompositionscopyrightcopyright actdigitaldistributeentertainmentindustryinfringementjournallawsuitsliabilitylicenselowerymanufacturermechanicalmetadatamusicNMPAonlinepublicpublishersrecordrecordingsRegulationreproducesettlementsongsongwriterssoundspotifystreamstreamingtechnology

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption

September 28, 2017Uncategorized

Hague Conference on the Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption Convention is an international treaty agreement protecting the best interests of children in international adoptions. The Hague Convention (“Convention”) establishes standards of practice that are adhered to by the member countries. The overall goal is to protect children in the international adoption process while preventing the abduction, exploitation, sale and trafficking of children. The convention applies to any US citizen who is a US resident in the adoption of any child from certain countries.

international adoptionInternational Affairsinternational compliance

Harvey Heralds Change: The Combusting Compliance of Emergency Response to Hazardous Materials

September 28, 2017Uncategorized

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s severe flooding, the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas has made quite the media splash. Rising waters left the plant without power, forcing workers to transfer volatile organic peroxides into large refrigerated trucks with independent generators. In up to six feet of water, several of the trucks’ refrigeration systems failed, resulting in combustion of the hydrogen peroxide, a hazardous material under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. This is not the first example of chemical plants having issues with natural disasters; there were significant hazardous material concerns after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and more recently the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011. With no indication that these problems will be resolved, it is important to once again look at regulations placed on chemical plants in response to emergency.

ArkemachemicalCSBemergencyenvironmental regulationEPAharveyhazardousHAZWOPERhurricanematerialOSHA

A Look at Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity

September 26, 2017Finance & Banking

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) adopted Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity (“Reg SCI”) to strengthen the technology infrastructure of the U.S. securities markets by imposing new regulatory requirements on SCI entities. The term “SCI entity” includes self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”) such as stock and options exchanges, registered clearing agencies, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”); certain alternative trading systems; disseminators of consolidated market data, such as the Consolidated Tape Association; and certain exempt clearing agencies. The regulatory requirements were designed to reduce the occurrence of systems issues, improve resiliency when systems problems do occur, and to enhance the SEC’s oversight and enforcement of securities market technology infrastructure.

Reg SCIrulemakingSEC

Is Nuclear Energy Here to Stay?

September 26, 2017Jason TakenUncategorized1 Comment

Nuclear power last made front-page news approximately six years ago. Unfortunately for nuclear power, headlines on the subject more often than not represent times of trouble. In regaining the spotlight in the wake of the recent announcement to discontinue construction of the new AP 1000 reactors, clean energy advocates and companies with predominantly clean energy portfolios are making headlines again. The issue, this time, is money.

EnergyEnergy ComplianceGovernment Oversight

Dealing with 71 Medical Licensure Boards: American Doctors Trip Over State Lines

September 26, 2017Abigail MarshallUncategorized1 Comment

In April 2013, members of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the Council of State Governments (CSG) embarked on a venture to create the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (the Compact or IMLC), a voluntary, expedited pathway to licensure for qualified physicians who wish to practice medicine in multiple states. On April 20, 2017, the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission, (IMLCC) issued its first Interstate Medical License to a Wisconsin physician who applied to practice in Colorado, setting a groundbreaking precedent in medical licensure portability. While the IMLC is a great first step toward increasing access to healthcare by expanding licensure portability, this initiative faces multiple regulatory hurdles.

complianceEuropean Union directivehealthcareInterstate Medical Licensure Compactlicensure portabilityMedicaidparitypublic healthRegulationstate medical boardstelehealthtelemedicine