Stout's Automotive Recall Accelerator brings together unique and important news, analysis, and insights related to automotive recall and vehicle safety. Recent Developments A dangerous defect arising from a suspected supplier quality deviation that can cause short-circuits and vehicle fires was identified by a vehicle manufacturer in September 2020. The defect is caused by brake fluid leaking into the hydraulic electronic control units (HECUs). The remedy involved replacement of the HECU if brake fluid is found within it. In May 2021, the...

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Public companies should proceed with caution when receiving and investigating anonymous whistleblower complaints. Several public companies recently received whistleblower complaints from an anonymous source – each with identical or similar wording – purporting to concern alleged insider trading by employees at the recipient company. These complaints, which have been submitted to the third-party ethics or whistleblower e-mail hotlines at a number of public companies, allege that unidentified company employees made statements suggesting that the employees traded in the company’s...

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An article on the impact of the Biden Administration.  Doing business in the U.S. Many European companies realized a healthy year-over-year increase in their U.S. revenues for fiscal year  2020. This was especially the case for E-commerce companies that saw  sharp increases, often as a direct result of Covid-19. European companies have benefited from the strong recovery in the U.S. in the later part of 2020 which appears to be carrying over into 2021; the U.S. economy grew by 6.5% in...

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Cities are investing in new technology that makes planning, managing, and scheduling a fully electrified fleet — or a mixed fleet — easier than ever before. Ask any city leader or transportation expert to talk about their vision for a low-carbon future, and electric vehicles (EVs) will be prominently featured. Transportation generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, so EVs are a critical piece of the transportation decarbonization puzzle. Transit fleets are especially well suited for vehicle electrification, for a number of reasons. Because...

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After reversing lower despite a robust jobs report on July 2, the greenback saw limited follow-through selling at the start of last week and instead recovered fully. The major currencies that bore the brunt of the dollar's gain were those currencies that are understood to be ahead of the Fed in normalizing policy.  The Norwegian krone and dollar-bloc currencies bore the bulk of the greenback's adjustment, while clear laggards, like the yen and Swiss franc, posted moderate gains (0.8% and...

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In this News Update, we discuss the AFM publications on advisory software and personalising insurance premiums and conditions. We also look at a DNB report on BigTech, the Investment Firm Regulation that entered into force on 26 June 2021 and the ECB's consultation on its revised Guide to fit and proper assessments. Finally, we highlight some other financial regulatory publications. AFM – POINTS OF ATTENTION WHEN USING ADVISORY SOFTWARE Because advisory software is an important tool in the financial advice process,...

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Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) held its first open Commission meeting in over 20 years. Chair Lina Khan led the meeting and promised future open meetings of the Commission on a “regular” basis. Commissioners Phillips and Wilson, however, expressed concerns with the format, complaining about short notice, failure to circulate final versions of relevant proposals, lack of opportunity to ask questions to staffers, and lack of discussion among commissioners. Commissioner Wilson summarized her concerns as...

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With the help of our members, this thought-leadership series explores the acceleration of "digitalization" due to COVID-19 on both sides of the Atlantic, and across various industries. Today, we present Judith L. O’Grady, Partner at TROUTMAN PEPPER in Washington D.C.; along with Elisa Stefanini, Counsel at PORTOLANO CAVALLO in Milan, Italy. They will address: “The Medical Device Regulation in the EU and the United States and its impact on software as a medical device”. 1. The new Medical Device Regulation...

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With the explosive growth of e-commerce, there has been a move to adapt the VAT system, initially built for offline transactions. A VAT e-commerce package for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions came into force as from 1 July 2021. It has several objectives: to facilitate online sales within the EU market by easing the VAT compliance burden; to achieve equal treatment of EU and non-EU operators selling goods on the European market; to move towards implementing the principle of taxation in the...

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While there has been a great deal of press in the last year about the Employee Retention Credit and other payroll assistance provisions included in the economic recovery legislation, we want to remind you of an important employee related credit that is not new and is ongoing through at least 2025. Work Opportunity Tax Credit When you hire people from targeted categories and employ them for at least 120 hours, you can reduce your federal tax liability by up to $9,600...

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