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.
The latest edition of The Global Employer: Focus on Global Immigration & Mobility is now available and includes an overview of key global immigration and mobility issues related to immigration, employment, compensation and employee benefits, income taxes and social insurance, and global equity compensation. It also identifies key government agencies, highlights current compliance and enforcement trends, and describes short and long term visas appropriate for business travel, training and employment assignments.
On 5 June 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the Private Fund Adviser rule (“Rule”) in its entirety on the grounds that the SEC, in enacting the Rule, had exceeded its statutory authority. The Rule was adopted by the SEC in August 2023 and would have fundamentally changed the regulatory landscape for private equity funds and their investors. The outcome was somewhat unexpected as in oral arguments the petitioners only directly challenged three of the five provisions that make-up the Rule and there was significant discussion as to whether the five provisions of the Rule should be considered a single rule or if the five provisions should be considered separately.
Federal regulatory agencies have prioritized enforcement efforts that target the mishandling of data by companies that store and monetize large amounts of personal or sensitive information. This issue cuts across multiple regulatory areas which has prompted increased coordination between federal agencies. Notably, on March 26, 2024, the US Federal Communications Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission, publicized a coordinated effort to increase their technological capabilities to address privacy and competition concerns related to the use of data.
On April 15, 2024, the DOJ launched the Individual Voluntary Self-Disclosures Program, extending incentives for individual wrongdoers to self-report criminal activities. This follows similar initiatives in the SDNY and NDCA.
Please join Baker McKenzie and ICPA for a fireside chat with Lawrence Scheinert, Associate Director for Enforcement, Compliance, and Analysis at the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
During the discussion, Lawrence will outline OFAC’s enforcement program and priorities. He will also share his insights on enforcement actions, multilateral coordination and cooperation with other US regulators such as BIS, FinCEN, and the DOJ, impact of enforcement actions on non-US companies, among other topics.
Please join us on 18 and 19 June 2024 for this informative briefing to gain up-to-date insights that could significantly impact your company’s compliance strategies and operations.
The Canadian Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) has announced a significant initiative to explore the impacts of artificial intelligence (“AI”) on competition in Canada. On 20 March 2024, the Bureau published a discussion paper, entitled “Artificial intelligence and competition”, and has requested feedback from the public. The outcome of the consultation may have significant implications for both businesses that develop and those that use AI technologies.
In Esparza v. Kohl’s, Inc., the Plaintiff brought a putative class action accusing Kohl’s of allowing a third party to unlawfully eavesdrop on him while he had a brief conversation with an agent on a chat feature on Kohl’s website. This decision is significant because it confirms that sharing electronic data with third-party applications or service providers without the website visitor’s consent creates a risk of lawsuits and potential liability for website defendants in states that require all parties to consent to interception of communications.
The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas has granted a motion to dismiss the FTC’s lawsuit filed by private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), but denied the motion to dismiss filed by its minority-owned portfolio company, US Anesthesiology Partners, Inc. (USAP). The FTC alleged that WCAS and USAP developed and pursued an anticompetitive acquisition strategy to “roll-up” multiple Texas-based aesthesia practices in violation of federal antitrust law. The court granted WCAS’s motion to dismiss because it found that its minority, non-controlling stake in USAP was insufficient to support a violation of federal antitrust law.
On 17 May 2024, Colorado Governor Polis signed the landmark Colorado AI Act (Senate Bill 24-205) into law. Colorado is now the first US state with comprehensive AI regulation, adopting a classification system like the EU’s recent AI Act. The law will take effect 1 February 2026.