Compliance

Expert Analysis

• Take Care Defining Health Services Under IRC Section 199A

  

  Examples in the new final regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 199A confirm that health-related businesses can be allowed a qualified business income deduction. But businesses operating with facts that differ even slightly from those in the regulations' examples should proceed with caution, says Marc Finer of Murtha Cullina LLP.

• 5 EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Rules US Cos. Should Know

  

  Although not all EU member states met the Jan. 1 deadline for codifying the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive into national law, U.S. groups with EU operations should comply with the five ATAD rules regardless of location, says Rick Minor of Womble Bond Dickinson LLP.

• How Newly Broadened Venezuela Sanctions Affect Securities

  

  The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control recently amended the general licenses that authorize dealings in bonds and securities otherwise prohibited by U.S. sanctions on Venezuela — apparently to target parties that would facilitate transactions between Petróleos de Venezuela SA securities holders and blocked individuals, say attorneys at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

• A First Look At New HHS Prescription Drug Safe Harbors

  

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' recent proposal to update the prescription drug discount safe harbor does not directly affect the price-setting activities of pharmaceutical manufacturers, but instead appears designed to affect prices indirectly by increasing transparency, say attorneys with Ropes & Gray LLP.

• How Workplace Disparities May Arise: An Economic Outline

  

  Recent trends suggest that workplace discrimination will continue to be an area of focus for enforcement activities and private litigation. But to comply with stronger pay equity laws and hedge against the risk of litigation, employers must understand how systematic disparities might occur, say members of Analysis Group Inc.

• Where Calif. Privacy Law And Employee Benefits Data Collide

  

  For covered businesses, the California Consumer Privacy Act's broad use of the term “consumer” means that the new law could apply to data collected about California residents under health, retirement and other employee benefit plans, say attorneys with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

• SEC Should Revisit Its Special Purpose Acquisition Co. Regs

  

  Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has removed some roadblocks to capital formation, it has not taken a fresh look at special purpose acquisition companies in over a decade — leaving operating companies that go public by merging with SPACs saddled with unnecessary restrictions, says Carol Anne Huff of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

• A Brief Exploration Of Privilege Nuances In The Tax Context

  

  Attorneys at Ropes & Gray LLP discuss three key cases highlighting the practical implications of client waivers and the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client and tax practitioner privileges.

• Recent Trends In FTC Consumer Protection Enforcement

  

  The Federal Trade Commission is focusing its enforcement efforts on financial services, web services and emerging technologies, data security and consumer privacy, telecommunications, and health care — these five areas represented 88 percent of consumer protection actions in 2017 and 2018, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

• PCAOB Enforcement Actions Decline As Board Faces Change

  

  Along with the appointment of five new members and other personnel changes at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, last year saw fewer settled disciplinary orders made public by the board. The decline is consistent with the trend at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Robert Cox of Briglia Hundley PC.