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In Antitrust / Competition

Canada: A New Dawn for Competition Law and Enforcement as Bill C-59 Passes

by and 7 Mins Read

On 20 June 2024, Bill C-59, The Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 (“Bill C-59”), which contains the final, and most significant in a series of, amendments to Canada’s Competition Act (the “Act”) came into effect. These amendments will make it easier for the Commissioner of Competition to take enforcement action, including by introducing structural presumptions in merger review, incentivize private parties to bring actions for all manner of civilly reviewable conduct, and broaden the scope of the Act by introducing a certificate regime for environmental competitor collaborations and a right to repair, among other things.

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In Tax

Canada: Changes to taxation of stock options and capital gains – Effective immediately

by , , , , , , , , , , , and 7 Mins Read

Changes to the capital gains inclusion rate and the employee stock option deduction rate (as proposed in Budget 2024) will apply to stock options exercised and shares sold on or after 25 June 2024. The new measure reduces the stock option deduction and capital gains tax exemption from 1/2 of the taxable amount to 1/3 of the taxable amount, if an individual’s annual combined limit of CAD 250,000 has been exceeded. The individual taxpayer can choose how to allocate the preferential tax treatment between the stock option income and capital gains to the extent the combined limit has been exceeded.

In Anti-Corruption

North America: Tightening the reins – Supreme Court narrows scope of federal bribery statute in Snyder decision

by , , , , and 4 Mins Read

In Snyder v. United States, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh, significantly limited the federal statute criminalizing gratuities in state and local jurisdictions. Snyder, a mayor, awarded a USD 1.3 million contract and received a USD 13,000 payment from the benefiting company. The Supreme Court ruled that the relevant statute, Title 18 section 666, applies only to bribes paid or promised before an official act, not after-the-fact gratuities.

In Product Regulation & Liability

North America: Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Challenge to FDA’s Approval of Mifepristone

by , and 5 Mins Read

On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) unanimously held in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine that plaintiff physicians and pro-life medical associations lacked Article III standing to challenge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of mifepristone, a prescription drug primarily used in terminating pregnancy. Following the ruling, mifepristone remains available and approved. Also importantly, SCOTUS reasoned that a desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue FDA. Since SCOTUS focused on standing as a threshold issue, the broader question of whether the FDA acted within its authority and jurisdiction to approve mifepristone remains unanswered.

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In Environment

Canada: Government’s fight against junk fees, savings claims and greenwashing heats up with new proposed amendments

by and 4 Mins Read

Newly proposed amendments to Bill C-59, Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, introduced by the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance on 2 May 2024 (“Standing Committee Amendments”), seek to further toughen rules on drip pricing (including so-called ‘junk fees’), savings claims and greenwashing under the Competition Act.  The Standing Committee Amendments propose to expand on the Bill C-59 amendments to the deceptive marketing provisions of the Act

In Cybersecurity, Data and Tech

United States: Law360 – Circuit Judge writes an opinion, AI helps – What now?

by 1 Min Read

Articles about artificial intelligence appear daily in many legal publications — including this one. But, on 28 May, US Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit wrote a concurring opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance Co. for the specific purpose of floating an idea about how judges might use generative AI.

In Antitrust / Competition

United States: Law360 – Rare Robinson-Patman ruling exhibits key antitrust risk

by 1 Min Read

On 20 May, the US District Court for the Central District of California affirmed a seven-figure jury verdict and granted a permanent injunction in a rare Robinson-Patman Act decision. The RPA is an antitrust statute that prohibits certain kinds of price discrimination in goods purchased for resale. The case, LA International Corp. v. Prestige Brands Holdings, was pursued by a group of local wholesaler plaintiffs that claimed a defendant eye drop manufacturer and its subsidiaries sold the plaintiffs eye drops on less favorable terms than the defendant’s club store wholesale customer.

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In Cybersecurity, Data and Tech

United States: New York close to enacting two online minors’ protection laws amid wave of child-focused laws

by and 7 Mins Read

In June 2024, the New York Assembly passed two bills that, if signed by the Governor, will impose extensive new requirements on companies operating in the state to enhance online protections for children. The first is the New York Child Data Protection Act, which imposes data minimization, consent and data processor agreement obligations on online services operators that actually know they collect minors’ personal information or target their services at minors. The second is the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, which prohibits online service operators from providing minors with “addictive feeds” absent parental consent.

In Tax

United States: Supreme Court preserves the fisc in Moore

by and 6 Mins Read

On 20 June 2024, the US Supreme Court ruled, in a 7-to-2 decision in favor of the government, to uphold the constitutionality of the section 965 transition tax in Moore v. United States. This case has been closely watched because it informs a potential future dispute concerning the legality of a wealth tax and significant longstanding portions of the US tax regime. The original question presented was whether, under the Sixteenth Amendment, income must be realized before it can be taxed. The Court concluded that if a controlled foreign corporation realized income, then Congress could attribute that income to the corporation’s US shareholder and tax the shareholder accordingly. By applying this principle of attribution, the Court avoided the question of whether the Sixteenth Amendment includes a realization requirement, leaving that issue open for future litigation.

In North America

United States: NY amends LLC Transparency Act

by , , and 6 Mins Read

On 1 March 2024, New York Governor Hochul signed into law the amended LLC Transparency Act (“Act”). Enacted on 23 December 2023, the Act underwent significant revisions as a result of the agreement between the Governor and the legislators. The Act requires that all limited liability companies (LLCs) formed under the New York Limited Liability Company Act (“LLC Act”) or seeking authorization to do (or doing) business in New York State disclose information about certain of their beneficial owners, or submit a statement that the entity qualifies for an exemption from this requirement. All LLCs in existence prior to 1 January 2026 must comply with the Act before 1 January 2027.

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