INSIDE COMPLIANCE – Page 35 – Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Judge Scrutinizes Wells Fargo and FINRA Over Arbitration Selection Process

March 30, 2022Finance & Banking

Throughout the history of the financial services industry, broker-dealers and investment advisory firms have typically required harmed investors to dispute matters through arbitration rather than the court system. Arbitration disputes between broker-dealers and former clients are generally kept confidential and decided by a purportedly impartial three-person panel; the panels are hand-selected by the parties from a randomly generated list of arbitrators employed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA utilizes a computer algorithm, the Neutral List Selection System (NLSS), which creates a list of potential arbitrators to review the matter based on the type of case. However, a recent court decision overturning a 2019 FINRA arbitration award in favor of Wells Fargo has flooded the financial services industry with widespread allegations of fraud and misconduct. In addition to vacating the arbitration award, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Belinda Edward criticized FINRA’s arbitration selection procedures as well as Wells Fargo for their role in altering the process. Wells Fargo is set to appeal the decision while FINRA now faces immense regulatory pressure to address its failure to facilitate a fair arbitration selection process.

Arbitrationbroker-dealersCongressFINRAInvestorsJournal of Regulatory ComplianceSEC

Is Real ID IDeal?

March 30, 2022Uncategorized

By May 3, 2023, U.S travelers must be Real ID compliant to board domestic flights, enter nuclear facilities, visit military bases, and gain access to certain federal facilities. The implementation of the Real ID comes eighteen years after Congress passed the Real ID Act and ten years after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an enforcement plan for compliance with Real ID standards. Although U.S travelers have a little more than a year to comply with Real ID requirements, compliance may be difficult in light of the Real ID’s history and complications.

DMVJournal of Regulatory Compliancereal ID ActRegulation

FDA-USPTO Collaboration Offers Insight on the Future of Generics

March 29, 2022Uncategorized

Following the Biden Administration’s release of the Comprehensive Plan for Addressing High Drug prices in September 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded by opening communication with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). On September 10, 2021, the FDA sent a letter to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO seeking to further develop the FDA-USPTO relationship. The letters point out that while “bringing more drug competition to the market and addressing the high cost of medicines by improving access to affordable medications is a top priority” for HHS and FDA, the FDA is constrained by its inability to regulate the price of drugs it approves. While the FDA’s 505(b)(2) hybrid NDA and 505(j) ANDA pathway decrease the cost and time to market entry for generics, the FDA’s authority is concentrated in the pre-market review stage, with post-market authority focused on actions such as product seizure of adulterated or misbranded articles, phase-4 confirmatory trials, and other actions intended to assess the safety and efficacy of drugs.

Journal of Regulatory Compliance

Innovation in Healthcare: Physician Payment and Automation

March 28, 2022Fraud & Abuse

In the fight against COVID-19, healthcare innovation has been unprecedented. New technology, protocols, and laws have changed the way healthcare functions. However, physician compensation remains complex, burdensome, and often contentious. Physician compensation has always invited compliance risks, operational bottlenecks, and administrative burdens, but now, innovative hospitals are simplifying the process with automation.

automationhealth care fraud and abusehealthcare innovationphysician compensation

What Will it Take to Deter Corporations from Violating Environmental Regulations?

March 26, 2022Uncategorized

Beverage corporation Diageo has recently been fined £1.2 million for violating environmental regulations. Diageo is a multinational corporation that owns a variety of liquor brands, including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Don Julio, Crown Royal, and several others. Headquartered in England, it operates all over the world, with its North American subsidiary being one of its most profitable. In violation of UK regulations, the beverage company has failed to report the environmental impacts of some of its sites for the past six years and has failed to secure permits for the relevant operations. The corporation alleges that these omissions were the result of an administrative error.

carbon emissionsconsumer productsenvironmentenvironmental regulationenvironmental regulationsGreenhouse Gas EmissionsJournal of Regulatory ComplianceUK

What the Cluck is Going on? Regulatory Failures Amid a Nationwide Food Poisoning Epidemic

March 25, 2022Uncategorized

In October 2021, ProPublica published an article about a rare and virulent strain of salmonella infantis outbreak that occurred in May 2018, afflicting at least a dozen people across the country. Many who reported being sick reported that they ate chicken, and federal food safety inspectors found the infantis strain in packaged chicken breasts, sausages, and wings during routine inspections at poultry plants.

consumer protectionFDAFood ProcessingRegulation

Critical Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Legislation: America’s Cybersecurity Problem

March 25, 2022Uncategorized

Long gone are the days when cybersecurity concerns existed solely in the domain of technology teams. Various organizations, from schools to government entities (at every level), to private companies alike have fallen prey to cyberattacks. May 2021’s Colonial Pipeline attack caused chaos and a temporary gas frenzy that brought awareness of the vulnerabilities of the technology we rely on to even the least technically minded American. Cybersecurity, and more specifically, the security of critical infrastructure immediately became an issue that the U.S. Government is taking very seriously.

cyber-attacksInfrastructureinternationalInternational AffairsJournal of Regulatory CompliancePrivacy & Security

Stablecoins II: The Stablecoin Innovation and Protection Act of 2022

March 23, 2022Finance & Banking

On Tuesday, February 15, 2022, Congressman Josh Gottheimer released a draft of the Stablecoin Innovation and Protection Act of 2022 (“the bill”). This legislation attempts to both define stablecoins as well as provide a legal framework in which the issuers and users of stablecoins can safely and legally operate. The bill is surprisingly brief, only nine pages long, but Gottheimer claims that it will provide greater direction and certainty to the marketplace in order to boost innovation while also protecting consumers.

cryptoCryptocurrencycryptocurrency regulationfinanceFTCJournal of Regulatory ComplianceLegislationSEC

First Amendment Rights and Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

March 22, 2022Uncategorized

Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would bar Florida educators from speaking to students about LBGTQ+ topics that are not considered “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students” has passed in Florida’s House and is likely to pass in the Senate as it now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate floor for a vote. The horrific piece of legislation, formally known as HB 1557, has raised questions as to whether the bill, if passed, would violate the First Amendment rights of teachers or students in public primary schools across the sunshine state.

DeSantis free speachEducationFirst AmendmentfloridagayHB 1557Journal of Regulatory ComplianceLGBTQSchools

The First Cyber War: The Threat of Russian Cyberattacks has Thrust Cybersecurity Compliance into the Spotlight

March 22, 2022Uncategorized

The impact of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has not only caused a horrific human rights crisis but has also had a dramatic effect on how the world conducts business, felt well beyond the borders of Russia and Ukraine. Warnings of an imminent Russian cyberattack on critical United States infrastructure has small and large businesses alike brushing up their cybersecurity policies to ensure they are compliant with current best practices in the likely event of a Russian cyberattack and impending federal legislation.

cyber-attackscyber-securityInternational AffairsLegislationPrivacy & SecurityUkraine