INSIDE COMPLIANCE – Page 46 – Loyola University Chicago School of Law

To Compete or to Non-Compete: A Look Into the FTC’s Proposed Ban

February 13, 2023Uncategorized

On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a proposal to ban employers from the use of non-compete agreements with their workers. The FTC’s motivation behind the proposed rule is the protection of American workers, with the regulatory agency stating that non-compete agreements restrict about one in five American workers – about 30 million people. Additionally, the agency estimated that the rule could increase wages by $250 to $296 billion a year across the economy. Since seeking public comment on the ban, the FTC’s broad non-compete proposal has been met with both support and criticism.

complianceEmploymentFTC

ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence: Cybersecurity Risks and Ethical Concerns

February 11, 2023Uncategorized

From “Fake news” to misinformation and Bots; it has become overwhelmingly challenging to authenticate information on the internet. This has not stopped the evolution of technology as innovators compete to be on the cutting edge of the latest software. OpenAI is an artificial research and deployment company that is responsible for the launch of ChatGPT in November of 2022. The newly released artificial intelligence chatbot is trained to generate realistic and convincing text. The software was fed human literature and internet language enabling it to create a body of text within the parameters of the prompt presented. With more than 1 million users, it has gained traction across the masses. However, the natural language processor has sparked controversy over cybersecurity threats and ethical concerns in its usage.

cyber-securitydata security regulation#privacybig techPrivacy & Security

Expansion of Generic Labeling for Food

February 10, 2023Uncategorized

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has loosened the approval for labels on meat, poultry, and egg products. By March 2023, the process for approval of certain labels on certain food products will essentially be discontinued under the Expansion of Generic Labeling Rule.

FDA

Regulatory Ecosystem Post-FTX (SBF) Disaster

February 9, 2023Uncategorized

From “How are institutions and companies investing in crypto” and “Sequoia Capital launches $500 million fund to invest in crypto” to “FTX files for bankruptcy” and “Sequoia Capital marks down its $210 million crypto investments to $0” – the crypto market capitalization skydived from $3 trillion in November 2021 to $881 billion, experiencing a 71% freefall in just one year.

Major household names such as FTX, BlockFi, Celsius, Genesis, TerraLuna, Three Arrows Capital, and Voyager all evaporated within days after public recognition of corporate issues including capitalization and intra-firm lending. Last summer’s TerraLuna and Voyager bankruptcies foreshadowed the debacle to come. However, enthusiasts remained naively optimistic until the shockwave of FTX’s evaporation led to the collapse of an entire market. Investors rushed to withdraw their investments only to see their accounts already frozen or funds already missing. Before it is too late, either the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or the agencies jointly together, should take action on this volatile decentralized market.

CryptocurrencyCFTCFTXSEC

A Concerning Combination: Heavy Metals and Baby Food

February 9, 2023Food and Drug Law

On January 24, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced their plans to work towards drafting regulation to limit lead levels in baby food. The FDA has found that lead in products such as food, supplements, and cosmetics can have detrimental and long term effects on humans, and especially on certain groups such as young children. Young children are specifically vulnerable to harmful effects of lead consumption because they are still physically smaller and going through development. While the FDA has regulated lead in food and other products, the FDA’s recent focus on decreasing lead levels in baby food highlights the concerning trend of federal regulations which are under-inclusive.

FDARegulation

The SEC’s Second Attempt to Fix a 10-Year-Old Problem

February 8, 2023The Art of Compliance

The 2008 financial collapse occurred when banks began substantially increasing access to debt. They offered adjustable-rate mortgages to borrowers who could afford the initial mortgage payments, but would end up defaulting on the loans when their adjustable interest rates kicked in. The banks then subsequently packaged these high-risk loans together and sold them as securities to mutual funds, investment banks, and pension funds. When most of these high-risk loans defaulted, the market crashed. The recession that followed cost the public thousands of jobs, homes, and retirement accounts.

#2008 Housing CrisisProposed ruleSEC ChairSEC

Deutsche Bank Reorganization Results in New Compliance Chief

February 8, 2023Finance & Banking

Deutsche Bank, the multinational investment banking and financial services company, will name Laura Padovani as its new Chief Compliance Officer. The move comes as part of a broader reorganization in the company’s compliance division, taking place in the aftermath of regulatory investigations in the United States and Germany. The regulatory investigations of Deutsche Bank over the last several years concern the organization’s questionable practices as it relates to money laundering and other offenses. The investigations also involve massively high-profile individuals, such as Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump.

corporateChief Compliance OfficercomplianceEpsteinDeutsche Bankdonald trumpBankingLaura PadovaniJeffrey EpsteinNYTPadovanimoney launderingNew York Times MagazineNew York TimesFinancial TimesFTFinancial CrimesFinancial CrimefinanceThomas ReutersTagnéWall Street Journalwall streetViralWSJTrendingTrumpPresident trumpPascal TagnéReuters

Kidnapped Data: Healthcare Ransomware Attacks

February 8, 2023HIPAA & Health Information

Ransomware attacks are one of the largest threats to the healthcare industry and a tough cybersecurity problem to address. From 2016-2021, there were almost 400 ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations in the US. It is estimated that such attacks exposed the personal healthcare data of over 40 million patients. Since these attacks cannot typically be resolved without paying the ransom, it is important to invest in preventative measures to protect healthcare data from potential breach.

cyberattacksdata breachHospitalshospital data breachhospital datahealthcarehealthcare dataPrivacy & Securityransomware attacksransomwaresecurity

The Collapse Of FTX and The Future Of Crypto

February 7, 2023Finance & Banking

New investment vehicles and opportunities have flooded the financial services industry over the past few decades, but arguably none have grown in popularity at a rate comparable to cryptocurrency. A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency typically based on a decentralized network that utilizes blockchain technology. In other words, this decentralized feature allows a network of users to verify and record transactions without relying on any central authority, which permits the cryptocurrency to exist without government interference.

cryptocurrency regulationCryptocurrencyBitcoinFINRASecurities and Exchange CommissionSEC

Improving the Biosimilar and Generic Drug Approval Process

February 6, 2023Uncategorized

Andrew Thompson Senior Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2023 As discussed previously here and here, patent evergreening and patent thickets are key drivers of prescription drug prices that also operate as a barrier to entry which blocks generic manufacturers from placing lower-cost alternatives on the market. This post will examine how newly …
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Journal of Regulatory Compliance