INSIDE COMPLIANCE – Page 54 – Loyola University Chicago School of Law

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.

OCRHIPAAPrivacy & Security

Guest Post: QB Reminds Higher Ed of Regulatory Truth

October 3, 2017Athletic Regulation

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 footballcollege athleticsJosh RosenfootballGuest Postguest contributionstudent athleteswilliam devineUCLA

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

October 2, 2017Finance & 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.

covered swap entitiesCommodity Futures Trading CommissionderivativesDodd-Frankinvestment regulationfinancial regulationFDICswap dealsswap tradesswap derivativesstock marketsecuritiessecurities regulationSECsecurity exchange

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

September 29, 2017The Marketplace

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.

copyrightcopyright actcompositionscomposercomplianceentertainmentdigitaldistributeartistactbluewatermanufacturerlicenseliabilitylowerymetadatamechanicallawsuitsjournalNMPAonlinemusicindustryinfringementtechnologyspotifysongsongwriterssoundstreamstreamingrecordingsrecordpublicpublisherssettlementreproduceRegulation

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 Affairsinternational adoptioninternational 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.

CSBemergencyEPAenvironmental regulationArkemachemicalmaterialOSHAhurricaneHAZWOPERhazardousharvey

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.

SECReg SCIrulemaking

Data Breaches: How Do We Keep Our Data Safe?

October 5, 2017Uncategorized

In the last month, multiple large-scale data breaches were reported by various entities, with 3 breaches reported in the past week alone. Unfortunately, even the most well-known entities do not stand a chance against increasing technological abilities of bad actors. Since the Equifax breach in early September, Whole Foods, Sonic, Deloitte and the Securities Exchange Commission, among others, had similar large-scale breaches affecting consumers across the country.

data privacycyber-securitydata breachcomplianceEquifaxDeloittebreachattackSonicWhole FoodsPrivacy & SecurityprivacySEC

Averting Disaster: Building Regulations in the Wake of Hurricane Irma

October 6, 2017Uncategorized

After Hurricane Irma’s dissipation on September 15, 2017, the residents of Florida can now begin to assess the damage caused by the strongest hurricane making landfall since Katrina in 2005. According to early estimates, Irma has caused over 62 billion dollars in damage. However, amongst the destruction there is a silver lining; the damage caused was significantly limited by building regulations that went into effect in 2002. Homes and buildings that would have otherwise been destroyed by Hurricane Irma were able to survive, and suffered only minor damage.

compliance programcompliancebuilding codebreachJournal of Regulatory ComplianceNew Orleansfloridafinancehurricane Irmahurricanetax lawRegulationsafety regulationrulemaking

Current Trends in Medicaid 1115 Waiver Requests: Are They Schemes to Avoid Compliance with Disfavored Requirements?

October 19, 2017Uncategorized

States looking for flexibility or creativity in implementing Medicaid programs can apply for waivers from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment Access Commission (MACPAC), waiver use is quite extensive—resulting in “wide variations in program design, covered services, and eligible populations among states and even within states.” As of September 2017, 33 states account for 41 approved waivers, and 18 states have 21 total pending waivers. The scope of these waivers traditionally broadens eligibility and creates new programs in states where Medicaid needs are not expressly recognized by federal law. Current pending applications suggest, however, that states seeking waivers now do so as a means to circumvent Medicaid program requirements they disagree with.

CHIP1115Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ServicesMedicaidHHSHealth Insurancehealth care complianceSocial Security ActWaiverswork requirementsSection 1115 Waiver