When creating the game plan to enter the US marketplace, governmental regulation, contractual compliance and managing risk need to be included in the strategic planning process.  The focus on regulation, compliance and risk primarily deals with mitigating exposure to lawsuits. The following are 7 top liability exposures when marketing and selling products and services to US and Canadian businesses and consumers. 1. General Liability The business owners package insurance policy is the cornerstone of most commercial insurance portfolios. It contains general...

This article is part of Portolano Cavallo’s “INFORM@Digital & IP” Newsletter. Click here to subscribe | On June 10, 2021, the Italian Data Protection Authority (hereinafter the “Garante”) adopted a new version of its guidelines for cookies and other tracking mechanisms (hereinafter the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines replace the resolution dated May 8, 2014, that set out simplified methods for providing information and obtaining consent regarding cookies. That resolution had already been superseded by changes to the applicable legal framework, including the entry into force of the...

Information is the lifeblood of our economy. It enables us to run our businesses more efficiently, to sell smarter and to innovate. In parallel, our digital economy has also revolutionized the business of cybercrime. Instead of stealing information and going to all the trouble of selling it or using it themselves, cyber thieves are holding our systems and data hostage and demanding ransom for their release. With ransomware, digital files are virtually stolen, and a monetary ransom is demanded in...

Fear that the spread of the Delta mutation of the covid would disrupt the global economy spurred the unwinding of risk-on positions. Interest rates fell, and the traditional funding currencies:  the US dollar, Swiss franc, and Japanese yen, strengthened most in July. While major US indices set new record highs, as did Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600, the MSCI Emerging Markets Equity Index fell 7%. The preliminary July PMI reports were below expectations in the US, UK, and France.  Japan's...

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS or the “Committee”), an inter-agency committee headed by the Department of the Treasury, has released its 2020 Annual Report to Congress (Report). CFIUS is authorized to review transactions that could result in the control of U.S. businesses by foreign persons or companies, as well as non-controlling investments by foreign persons or companies in certain U.S. businesses which are involved in critical technology, critical infrastructure, or the gathering of sensitive personal data,...

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has completed two of its early benchmark obligations arising out of the recently passed Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the “AML Act”), which we previously wrote about here.  First, FinCEN published its first-ever government-wide list of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Finance of Terrorism (AML/CFT) priorities.  Second, FinCEN published its report on the potential for a FinCEN no-action letter process. Below are some key takeaways from these publications, and here is a deeper analysis of the issues. Priorities: The AML...