An Income Share Agreement (ISA) is a contract in which a lender gives a student money for education, and in return, the student promises to pay the ISA-provider a fixed percentage of the student’s income for a set amount of time after graduation. The student may repay more or less than the amount received, depending on the terms of the ISA.
Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Financial Institution Regulation, Securities and Commodities
FINRA’s Important Reminder to Firms—Don’t Forget to Supervise Third-Party Vendors
- Overview
Broker-dealers, like most companies, rely on third-party vendors for a wide variety of functions. This common practice of outsourcing does not relieve a broker-dealer of its regulatory compliance and supervision obligations over the outsourced functions. Accordingly, management and supervision of third-party vendors present important issues that merit careful attention from regulatory, compliance, and legal departments within a broker-dealer.
Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends, Sanctions, Trade Embargo, and Export Controls
Sanctions and Export Compliance Strategies for Supply Chains
The following is an excerpt from McGuireWoods’ recent contribution to the Global Investigations Review’s (GIR’s) The Guide to Sanctions – Second Edition published in July 2021. Authors Alex Brackett, Pat Rowan and Jason Cowley, each partners in the firm’s Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation department, penned a chapter on the Impacts of Sanctions and Export Controls on Supply Chains. The full publication is available here.
Compliance strategies
Sanctions and export controls can be highly dynamic in the speed with which they can be implemented and adjusted. Accordingly, businesses operating with international supply chains need to be prepared to be equally nimble. Fortunately, there are relatively straightforward and scalable strategies that companies can deploy to ensure they have a robust and effective compliance framework through which to operate, as detailed below.
Tide Is Turning Against FCA Case Dismissals
According to a July 28 article in Law360 by McGuireWoods lawyers Michael J. Podberesky, John S. Moran, Todd R. Steggerda, David Pivnick and Cassandra M. Burns, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision declining to review an appeal of a Seventh Circuit case that could have resolved a three-way circuit split regarding the proper standard for deciding government motions to dismiss whistleblower suits is a Pyrrhic victory for potential defendants, given bipartisan pressure in the Senate and from the White House to reign in such dismissals.
A New Avenue for Defendants in Securities Fraud Class Actions: Supreme Court Holds “Generic” Nature of Statements Is “Important Evidence” of Price Impact at Class Certification
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated ruling holding that the generic nature of an alleged misrepresentation may be important evidence of price impact to rebut the Basic presumption of reliance and thus should be considered at class certification. See our post on the Class Action Countermeasures blog.
Taxpayer Protection Taskforce Aims to Recover £1 billion from Business
This alert is a continuation from a March 3, 2021 post.
On 3rd March 2021, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £100 million Taxpayer Protection Taskforce (Taskforce) to scrutinise claims made under Government financial business support schemes designed to help companies and individuals navigate their way through the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Biden Announces Findings of Critical Supply Chain Assessment
On June 8, the White House released the findings of a 100-day assessment of critical supply chains, identifying actions needed to bolster domestic manufacturing of critical goods, reduce dependence on foreign nations for supply chain needs, create jobs and address unfair trade practices.
For highlights of the report detailing structural weaknesses in supply chains for semiconductor manufacturing, critical minerals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and large-capacity batteries, please read our alert.
Biden Administration Orders Improvements to Cybersecurity and Federal Networks Amid Cyberattacks
On May 12, President Biden signed an executive order mandating that the federal government significantly improve cybersecurity within its networks and modernize federal cyber defenses. This move follows a series of cyberattacks on private companies and federal government networks over the past year, including a recent incident that resulted in gasoline shortages along the U.S. East Coast.
To learn about new standards for federal information systems, which will trigger wide-reaching changes for federal contractors and private sector industry participants, see the full alert on our website.
Biden Administration Orders $15 Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors
On April 27, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) requiring federal contractors performing service, construction or concession contracts to pay a $15 minimum wage to those employees who are working on such contracts.
As noted in the White House Fact Sheet, this EO will build on Executive Order 13658 (signed in February 2014), under which the government required federal contractors to provide a $10.10 minimum wage starting in in 2015. The EO imposes five substantive provisions with the stated goal of “promoting economy and efficiency” in federal contracting.
The Perils of Pleading the Fifth in the Corporate Fraud Context
“Pleading the Fifth” is one of the most commonly known phrases in our legal system, and the right against self-incrimination is one of the Constitution’s most meaningful protections. That said, in the corporate fraud context, exercising that right often entails risks and costs that may outweigh the potential benefits. As such, companies—particularly those that contract with the federal government—and their senior executives should be aware of the limits and potential high costs of exercising the right against self-incrimination in corporate fraud investigations and actions.