Member News

Marks Paneth | Reminder: half of 2020 deferred FICA and Self-Employment Taxes are due December 31, 2021

In March of 2020, Congress passed the CARES Act which, among other things, allowed employers to defer the payment of their share of Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes for their employees for periods March 27, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The employer FICA tax is a 6.2% payroll tax on the first $137,700 of an employee’s wages paid during the calendar year. Employers who elected to defer paying their FICA taxes are required to pay half of the deferred...

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Member News

Steptoe | Losing Control: The Supreme Court Effectively Blocks Data Privacy Class Actions in the United Kingdom

On November 10, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSC) issued its landmark judgment dismissing a US-style, opt-out, “class-action” against Google LLC. (Google). In doing so, the UKSC rejected the Claimants’ argument that the loss of control of personal data has an intrinsic value capable of compensation. Instead, the UKSC held that each Claimant must establish that they have personally suffered material damage (i.e., financial loss or mental distress) resulting from an alleged breach of the Data...

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Chapter News

U.S. FED | Remarks by Vice Chair Clarida on flexible average inflation targeting and prospects for U.S. monetary policy

November 08, 2021 | "Flexible Average Inflation Targeting and Prospects for U.S. Monetary Policy" by Vice Chair Richard H. Clarida at the Symposium on Monetary Policy Frameworks, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. (via webcast) | Outlooks and Outcomes for the U.S. Economy The U.S. economy in the second quarter of this year made the transition from economic recovery to economic expansion.1 Given the catastrophic collapse in U.S. economic activity in the first half of 2020 as a result of the global pandemic...

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Chapter News

U.S. FED | Remarks by Governor Bowman on the U.S. housing and mortgage market

November 08, 2021 | "The U.S. Housing and Mortgage Market: Risks and Resilience" by Governor Michelle W. Bowman at the Women in Housing and Finance Public Policy Luncheon, Washington, D.C. | Good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure to join you today. Thank you for the invitation. Developments in the housing and mortgage markets have a major effect on the economy and the financial system, so the Federal Reserve Board monitors these markets closely. I am happy to share some...

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Brexit News, Member News

Vulcan Insight | Franco-British tensions continue as article 16 threat looms

21 months on from the fight about the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and only a bare 6 months after the much-negotiated post-Brexit EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement entered into effect, tensions between the UK Government and both, the European Commission and the French Government, continue to persist over the Northern Ireland Protocol and fishing rights. After months of talks and rhetorical fire over the function of the Northern Ireland Protocol under EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement, UK Brexit Minister David Frost and European...

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Member News

Troutman Pepper | DOL-OSHA Announces New COVID-19 Vaccine ETS for Private-Sector Workers

Who Needs to Know Private companies with 100 or more employees. Why It Matters On November 4, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an emergency temporary standard (ETS), containing the anticipated COVID-19 vaccination rule covering private companies with 100 or more employees. The ETS became effective immediately on November 5 upon its publication in the Federal Register. On November 6, the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals granted an emergency motion to stay enforcement of the ETS effectively nationwide, pending further...

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Member News

Thompson Hine | DoD Announces (New) CMMC 2.0

Key Notes: DoD announced CMMC 2.0, which is intended to streamline and clarify information security compliance obligations. CMMC 2.0 decreases the number of compliance “Levels” and allows for self-assessments for certain contractors. DoD will not impose any CMMC 2.0 requirements until future rulemaking is complete and it will suspend the current CMMC piloting efforts. A virtual CMMC 2.0 “Town Hall” is scheduled for November 9, 2021 to address its scope and changes. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced significant changes to...

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Chapter News

ECB Speech | Inflation in the short term and in the medium term

Welcome address by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the ECB Conference on Money Markets | 8 November 2021 | Welcome to our annual conference on money markets. This is a prominent event in our calendar: it is difficult to over-state the importance of understanding money markets for the design and implementation of monetary policy. Money markets are a seismograph for central bank liquidity conditions and market expectations of future policy, while money market...

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Member News

FTI Consulting | Interoperability and Information Blocking in Transition

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) final rules on healthcare interoperability and “information blocking” present complex clinical, operational and security challenges. Hospitals, health IT vendors and other stakeholder organizations will need to strategize around how to maximize the benefit from these policies while also balancing continued investment in and commitment to technical infrastructure. Title IV of the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) was “designed, to advance interoperability; support the access, exchange, and use...

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Member News

Vulcan Insight | COP26: Strong on climate pledges, weak on concrete actions

With the COP26 climate conference up and running, world leaders have been strong in climate action rhetoric, but have so-far lacked setting out strong actions on how to achieve them. Despite the devastating report presented by the IPCC earlier this year, the pledged delivered so far would still put the world on track to reaching 2.7°C according to the UN. With its newly proposed “Fit for 55” climate and energy package, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sought to...

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