Tag:Regulation
Secret Shoppers Not Just in Stores: Use of Secret Shopping in Higher Education
Federal Student Aid (FSA), and the office of the Department of Education, announced on March 14th their plans to better monitor and enforce universities’ practices such as enrollment and the use of federal student aid to ensure that all regulations are being complied with. Secret shopping is used by enforcement agencies to scope out violations and get a better idea of how organizations, institutions or businesses are non-compliant with regulations. FSA hopes that this plan will incentivize universities to follow procedures and policies accordingly and will help determine which schools are being predatory by not complying with regulations. The main goal of sending out secret shoppers is to protect current and future students from harmful and predatory practices that are prohibited.
TikTok’s Time is Ticking
TikTok is making American headlines once again. Calls to ban the app have been revived by groups of bipartisan legislators. President Biden has threatened to ban TikTok from American digital markets over concerns for how the social media app handles domestic data. Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app in the US in 2020, but the ban was ultimately unsuccessful. However, pundits continue to debate whether regulators, legislators, or the President have the power to enforce a TikTok ban
U.S. Regulators are Employing New Strategies to Crack Down on Historically Challenging Insider Trading Cases
In the past, insider trading cases have been considered difficult to prove and prosecute. These cases usually require extensive evidence-gathering coupled with a high burden of proof. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Justice Department are now turning to new developments in technology and regulatory efforts that have led to an increased focus on investigating and prosecuting insider trading cases. Why were these cases hard to prove in the past and what exactly are these new technologies?
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.
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.
Biden Administration to Knock “Chip” off China’s Shoulders: Proposed Export License Revocation Seeks to Remove Huawei’s Access to the US Market
The Biden administration has considered not only ending all future export licenses between US microchip producers and Huawei, but also revoking existing licenses to sell microchips to the Chinese tech company. This move is just one section of increasing tensions between China and the United States but could have long-reaching consequences for the United States and the global tech market.
Proposal to Change TULA Late Fee Maximum on Credit Cards: Is it Beneficial or Burdensome?
Megan Aldworth Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2023 The Truth in Lending Act (TILA), established 1968, is aimed to protect consumers against unfair credit practices and billing by lenders. Under TILA, lenders must provide consumers (borrowers) with information that allows them to compare loan terms given by various lending institutions. …
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Safeguarding Technologies through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force
On February 16, 2023, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Commerce (DoC) announced the launch of the Disruptive Technology Strike Force. Under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and Matthew Axelrod, the Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement in the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the strike force will bring together various agencies throughout the government, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and 14 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, to “target illicit actors, strengthen supply chains and protect critical technological assets from being acquired or used by nation-state adversaries”.
Got (Plant-Based) Milk? New FDA Guidance for Plant-Based Milk
Plant-based milks have been on the rise congruently with the movement towards living a plant-based diet and lifestyle. The FDA calls these products Plant-Based Milk Alternatives (PBMA). There are many different PBMA’s on the market, because there are a wide array of sources that can be used to produce PBMA’s and methods for processing. Some of the most popular examples of PBMA’s include oat milk, almond milk, and soy milk, but there are many PBMA’s made from other nuts, seeds, and alternative sources. PBMA’s are currently in the news because the FDA has just released draft labeling guidance (guidance) and recommendations for nutrition fact labeling. This draft guidance applies to any PBMA that uses “milk” in its name. The FDA’s draft labeling guidance will likely help educate more consumers on PBMA’s and their nutrition facts, hopefully leading to generally more informed consumers and labeling transparency.
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.