Cryptocurrency markets experienced a series of disastrous setbacks in 2022 which resulted in significant losses This great turmoil underscores the volatility risks in the crypto landscape. Regulators are also ramping up its enforcement efforts to protect consumers and address increasing illicit activities. As an aggressive government crackdown is anticipated in the coming months, industry participants must keep an eye on emerging developments to avoid legal pitfalls.
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division recently announced notable substantive updates to its Corporate Leniency Program which signals heightened crackdown on antitrust violators.
The Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is continuously expanding its efforts to streamline, modernize, and update anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism financing regulations.
With supply chain disruptions, rapidly changing compliance regulations, and rising demands for food quality, today’s food and beverage (F&B) industry must be more agile and innovative than ever before. These manufacturing challenges emphasize the importance of leveraging Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology
As digital assets and distributed ledger technologies continue to develop, cybercrimes involving cryptocurrencies also worsen. From email phishing to ransomware, hackers have shifted their attacks into more pervasive and malicious forms breaking even the most sophisticated security systems. Thus, the DOJ, together with the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET)
In response to a prevailing view that the US was becoming a haven for money laundering, as well as emerging risks posed by advances in financial technology and the advent of virtual currencies,
With the fast-growing problem and increasingly sophisticated threats of cyber security and data breaches, litigation and other related cases continue to hound the landscape. These lawsuits have brought large numbers of damages to individuals and industries, such as consumers and financial institutions over the years.
Intended to enhance consumer privacy rights and data use transparency, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018 is regarded as the most comprehensive privacy law in the U.S. The Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2020, imposes stringent privacy requirements with significant impacts on many entities that do business with California residents.
Today’s leaders in cybersecurity continue to look for ways to protect organizations from the increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity attacks. From the antiquated belief of "trust, but verify," the security world seems to be warming up to the new principle of zero trust IT. Under the latter approach, nothing inside or outside of an organization is being trusted. The zero trust model cuts the time spent in tracking false positives, thus, enabling organizations to increase their productivity.
Today's supply chain landscape is becoming inherently complex that traditional-based operations and transactions have slowly become disadvantageous for companies and may halt their growth. Fortunately, with the promising recent applications of blockchain technology and smart contracts, certain complexities in the supply chain can now be reduced and better managed. These technology-based methods of verifying and executing diverse business transactions can improve the transparency, traceability, and efficiency in the supply chain, making it more convenient for businesses while strengthening client relationships.
An internal investigation conducted properly is essential to any business. It nips issues in the bud, keeps companies running, and saves millions of dollars from potential litigation. Not only do internal investigations help in ensuring ongoing legal and regulatory enforcement, but they also provide businesses with an opportunity to correct mistakes and identify risk areas before they become actual liabilities.
The Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ) and Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOF) have been rapidly changing over the years. As a result, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been stringently monitoring QOZ and QOF to ensure transparency among businesses and investors. More significantly, in October 2019, the IRS Treasury Department issued the proposed draft of the Opportunity Zone Accountability and Transparency Act which seeks to establish increased reporting framework, disclosure requirements, and penalty structure for QOFs.
For the past years, the tax incentives provided by qualified opportunity zone (QOZ) investments have greatly helped and benefited investors in qualified opportunity funds (QOFs). However, important regulatory changes have been continuously happening in this area of law. These changes, in addition to the several other developments brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, need to be carefully addressed and considered.
As the world grapples with the unprecedented economic disruptions brought by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the U.S. and Canada are confronted by the added challenge of maintaining transfer pricing compliance. Most businesses are now forced to adjust their transfer prices, analysis, and documentation and revisit their force majeure clauses to look for alternative means of fulfilling their contract obligations. Thus, creating a profound strain on the operations of MNEs.
In response to violations committed by U.S. persons as well as foreign organizations, the enforcement efforts of the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have become more extensive. Some of the most significant OFAC enforcement actions this year include Eagle Shipping and Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA) that were both assessed over $1 million civil penalties for their violations.
