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FTC Continues Investigation into Twitter’s Privacy Practices
Sophie Shapiro Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024 Over the past few months, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun an investigation against Twitter, specifically into Elon Musk’s personal role in various high-profile decisions including massive layoffs, rapid changes to Twitter’s features and the sharing of internal company records with journalists.
Growing Banking Crisis: Silicon Valley Bank Failure
Founded in 1983, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is a midsize California-based lender that shook the foundation of the entire global financial system. Regulators closed SVB on March 10, making it the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis and the second largest in U.S. history. While SVB offered various services from standard checking accounts to loans, it was primarily home to venture capitalists in the tech industry. Therefore, the majority of the corporate deposits were larger than the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) $250,000 insurance limit, leaving over $150 billion in uninsured deposits at the end of 2022. The sudden collapse caused a frenzy leaving companies and investors vulnerable having already experienced mass layoffs in the tech industry.
Legal Risks to Employers when Employees use ChatGPT
Since ChatGPT became public in November 2022, it has created questions for employers about how to incorporate the tool into workplace policies and best maintain compliance with government regulations. This artificial intelligence language platform, that is trained to interact conversationally and perform tasks, raises issues regarding intellectual property risks, inherent bias, data protection, and misleading content.
Time to Rethink Corporate Compliance amid DOJ’s New Guidelines
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced significant changes to its Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP) on March 2, 2023, at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime. By investigating deeper into companies’ compliance programs, DOJ now provides new stricter guidelines and emphasizes its vigilance and the level of commitment expected from companies. The latest announcement illustrates DOJ’s continued emphasis on company policies regarding compliance incentives and disincentives in executive compensation and the preservation of company communications made via personal devices and instant messaging applications.
Ninth Increase in Banking Interest Rates
Taelor Thornton Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024 During this long battle with inflation, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) has now raised the interest rates by a quarter for the ninth time in a year. In February 2023, the Fed increased the rates by a quarter from 4.75% to 5%. Rates …
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Senate Enjoys Rare Bipartisan Moment, Seeks to Punish Silicon Valley Bank Executives
n March 17, 2023, following the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history, President Biden released a statement urging Congress to allow financial regulators to impose tougher penalties on the executives of failed banks. Encouragingly, on March 29–just twelve days later–the Senate proposed bipartisan legislation, dubbed the Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act (FBECA), which would grant the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) clawback authority to confiscate all or part of the compensation received by bank executives in the five years leading up a bank’s failure.
The Downfall of Cryptocurrency, and Celebrities
Cryptocurrency entered the mainstream economy in 2013 when Forbes listed Bitcoin as the best investment of that year, calling 2013 the “year of the bitcoin.” Then, in 2014, Bloomberg News made the statement that Bitcoin was one of the year’s worst investments. Since these early days, citizens and economists alike have remained skeptical of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Over the past few years, celebrities have gotten increasingly involved in “pushing cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens at a speed once reserved for viral dances,” according to the Washington Post. In the wake of recent events, the Securities and Exchange Commission is beginning to crack down on celebrity endorsement that has gone too far.
Justice Department Hitting Corporate Executive Lawbreakers Where it Hurts
The Justice Department introduced a new pilot program last week that encourages companies to center their compensation policies around rewarding good behavior and punishing those partaking in criminal activity. Deputy Attorney General, Lisa Monaco, previewed the program at an American Bar Association conference in Miami.
Infant Formula Shortage: How has the FDA Altered Regulations to Help?
Over the past year, the nation has been concerned over an infant formula shortage that has become a crisis for many families in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for offering support and relief to families affected by this shortage in any way they can. Accordingly, the FDA loosened infant formula regulations. Specifically, the FDA allowed for an increased supply of infant formula by the announcement to infant formula manufacturers of the agency’s intention to temporarily exercise enforcement discretion. Enforcement was on a case-by-case basis, for specific infant formula requirements. This went into effect from May 16, 2022, through November 14, 2022, and was specifically designed to protect infants’ health. Essentially, selective enforcement would allow the FDA to grant permission for formulas despite not meeting all the regulations.
The U.S. Department of Treasury Steps in to Patrol Petroleum
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned nine entities involved in the production, sale, and shipment of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum to buyers in Asia, in violation of US sanctions. Six Iran-based petrochemical manufacturers and three firms in Malaysia and Singapore have been targeted for facilitating the sale and shipment of petroleum and petrochemicals on behalf of Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd., which OFAC previously designated for facilitating the sale of Iranian petroleum products. The sanctions are aimed at targeting Tehran’s sources of illicit revenue, and all property and interests in property of the targeted entities must be blocked and reported to OFAC.