The Canadian Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) has announced a significant initiative to explore the effects of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on competition in Canada. On 20 March 2024, the Bureau published a discussion paper, entitled “Artificial intelligence and competition” (“Discussion Paper”), and has requested feedback from the public. The Bureau is seeking to better understand how AI can affect competition in Canada. Submissions are due by 4 May 2024.
On 9 April 2024, Treasury released two sets of proposed regulations regarding the excise tax on repurchases of corporate stock under section 4501. The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register on 12 April 2024. Comments are due on the procedural matters by 13 May 2024, but taxpayers have until 11 June 2024 to submit comments on the substantive guidance.
In January 2024, the Canadian Securities Administrators published amendments and changes to several national instruments and companion policies to implement a new non-mandatory access model for preliminary and final prospectuses of non-investment fund reporting issuers. The access model is not available for rights offerings, medium term note programs and other continuous distributions under a shelf prospectus. The amendments are effective 16 April 2024.
Both the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, “Agencies”) have submitted a joint Statement of Interest in a third-party dispute currently active in the Federal District of New Jersey. The Statement clarifies the Agencies’ positions on price fixing through the use of algorithms. The third-party dispute involves a class action against casino hotels in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area.
On 15 September 2023, the IRS released private letter ruling 202337007 (PLR). The PLR provides that a conversion of an entity disregarded for federal income tax purposes into a domestic corporation does not, by itself, give rise to a deemed exchange of debt.
On 9 March 2024, the Biden Administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, and the Treasury Department released its General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposals, commonly known as the “Greenbook.” Many of the proposals in this year’s Greenbook appeared in earlier years, but a few proposals are new or modified. Due to the divided Congress and competing political priorities during a general election year, there is little chance that any of the Greenbook proposals will be passed into law in 2024. However, the Greenbook illustrates the consistency of the President’s tax policy objectives during his first term and maps out priorities for a possible second term.
On 5 March 2024, Treasury and the IRS published Treas. Reg. § 1.48D-6 (“Final Regulations”), which implements the section 48D(d) election allowing eligible taxpayers to treat the amount of the advanced manufacturing investment credit (“CHIPs Credit”) established under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act of 2022 as a payment against Federal income tax liabilities, i.e., a “direct pay election” For eligible taxpayers seeking to treat the CHIPs Credit allowed in any tax year as a payment against Federal income tax liabilities in lieu of claiming the credit, the Final Regulations generally retain the structure and framework for administering the election laid out in proposed and temporary regulations, with welcome modifications to clarify key issues relating to the limitations for making the elective payments, the ‘denial of double benefits’ rule, and the election’s pre-filing requirements.
On March 6, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules (“Final Rules”) that enhance and standardize the disclosure of climate-related information in registration statements and Exchange Act reports. The Final Rules were scaled back after years of significant feedback from registrants and other stakeholders, with the Commission receiving more than 24,000 comment letters in response to the initial rule proposal in March 2022.
California’s regulators have made employment noncompetes (and knowing which employees are bound by them and how) a key compliance item.
Effective 1 January 2024, AB 1076 amends Section 16600 of the state’s Business and Professions Code to “void the application of any noncompete agreement in an employment context, or any noncompete clause in an employment contract, no matter how narrowly tailored.” In addition, the law requires employers to notify certain current and former California employees that any agreement containing a noncompete provision is void.
On 7 March 2024 at the American Bar Association’s 39th National Institute on White Collar Crime, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced several new initiatives the Department of Justice is implementing to address concerns around the use of AI in federal criminal activity along with potential corporate compliance failures that might facilitate the misuse of AI.