Recently, through its investigation into the retail pricing practices of a regional Canadian furniture retailer, the Competition Bureau of Canada has expanded the list of potentially problematic pricing claims to now include “urgency cues”, i.e., the use of marketing tactics to increase a consumer’s perception of having to act immediately and/or to elicit a “fear of missing out.”
On 22 March 2023, four defendants were acquitted of criminal wage-fixing and no-poach charges, resulting in yet another loss by DOJ’s Antitrust Division in its criminal pursuit of no-poach agreements.
On 23 March 2023, Canada announced amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Haiti) Regulations in response to “acts that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Haiti.” These amendments list an additional two individuals under the Schedule of the Regulations and took effect on 23 March 2023.
There are now nineteen individuals listed under the Schedule of the Regulations. All of the newly listed individuals are members of the economic and political elite who have “engaged in activities such as orchestrating attacks as well as providing support, particularly in the form of weapons to gangs.
On 27 March 2023, Canada announced further amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations in response to Iran’s “gross and systematic violations of human rights and ongoing grave breach of international peace and security.” These amendments list an additional eight individuals and two entities under Schedule 1 of the Regulations and entered into force on 23 March 2023.
Treasury and the IRS issued temporary relief procedures in Notice 2023-11 for a foreign financial institutions (FFI) that is subject to a Model 1 intergovernmental agreement (IGA) jurisdiction.
Model 1 FFIs that follow the procedures set forth in the Notice will not be in significant non-compliance with their obligations under an applicable Model 1 IGA solely because of a failure to report a required US taxpayer identification number (TIN) in relation to “preexisting accounts”.
After initially granting certiorari and hearing oral arguments in In re Grand Jury ─ a matter concerning the application of the attorney-client privilege to dual-purpose communications ─ the United States Supreme Court “dismissed as improvidently granted” the case. Tax practitioners had hoped that a ruling by the Supreme Court would resolve a circuit split regarding the extent to which such communications fall within the ambit of the privilege.
On 17 February 2023, and pursuant to its obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico’s Ministry of Economy published in the Federal Official Gazette the much-anticipated Administrative regulation that sets forth the goods which importation is subject to regulation by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Forced Labor Regulation), which prohibits the importation of goods produced with forced labor. Once Mexico’s Forced Labor Regulation becomes effective on 18 May 2023, all three members of the USMCA trade block, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, will have prohibitions and restrictions on the importation of goods made with forced labor.
On 13 March 2023, FDA issued a notice regarding guidance documents related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including which of the guidance documents will no longer be in effect after expiration of the declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The notice followed a Department of Health and Human Services announcement on 9 February that it is planning for the declaration of the PHE to expire on 11 May 2023.
On 21 February 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued OFAC Compliance Communique: Guidance on Authorized Transactions Related to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Syria. The Guidance responds to specific questions OFAC received related to earthquake relief efforts in Syria and explains how to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people in compliance with US sanctions.
Clean hydrogen plays a critical role in net zero strategies of the world’s leading economies. The US and the EU have already taken significant steps to position themselves at the forefront of the global race to net zero by launching state support packages on an unprecedented scale. Please join Baker McKenzie’s experts on 19 April 2023 at 3:00 pm GMT for a compare and contrast discussion of the US Inflation Reduction Act and the Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age with a focus on hydrogen.