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Injunction is Back ON; CTA is OFF Again!!

In the “you can’t make this up” category, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has just issued an order VACATING its stay of the injunction applicable to the enforcement of filing requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act.  You can read the order right here Texas Top Cop Shop v Garland 24-40792 (5th Circuit; Stay Vacated).

In other words, the original order enjoining the enforcement of FINCEN’s filing requirements is back on, pending a review of the merits!!

The appeal is now scheduled for oral argument in March (2025).

For reference see:  Injunction is ON; CTA is OFF

and then see:  Injunction is OFF; CTA is Back ON

Now read this post Injunction is Back ON; CTA is OFF Again!!

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CTA On Hold in the US, But . . .

Spoiler Alert: Federal Court Enjoined Implementation and Enforcement!

Additional Spoiler Alert: NY LLC Transparency Act Unaffected (so far)!

The US Federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) * was enacted into law in January of 2021, in an effort to bolster the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as financial institutions to be better able to identify and prevent the use of empty shell holding companies to disguise the movement of illicit funds (e.g., money laundering, financing terrorism, drug trafficking, etc.). The CTA requires certain business entities to report and file beneficial ownership information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

New York State has enacted a similar statute, which was amended on March 1, 2024. The New York LLC Transparency Act (NYLTA) was originally enacted on December 22, 2023, and amended by Chapter Amendment on March 1, 2024 [New York Limited Liability Company Law, Sections 1106-1108, effective January 1, 2026], requires limited liability companies (LLCs) that are or have been formed under New York law or are or wish to be qualified and authorized to do business in the State of New York to provide information to the New York Department of State disclosing the LLCs beneficial owners.  While there are certain exemptions and exclusions under both the Federal and New York State laws, there are some other key differences. The NYLTA:

Becomes effective January 1, 2026, not 2025 as the Federal law provides, and any LLC formed in or qualified to do business in New York after January 1, 2026, has 30 days from formation (or qualification) to file.  If your LLC was formed or qualified to do business in NYS before January 1, 2026, you will have until January 1, 2027, to make your initial filings.
Applies only to LLCs, not any other types of businesses, such as corporations, limited partnerships or statutory trusts.
On December 3, 2024, a federal district court in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, issued an order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction: (1) enjoining enforcement of the CTA, as well as the implementation of the reporting requirements applicable to beneficial ownership information;  and (2) staying all deadlines required to comply with the statute’s reporting requirements.  You can read the amended order granting the injunction here: Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States (E.D. Tex., No. 4:24-cv-00478). The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Department of the Treasury, is appealing the ruling, but in the meantime FinCEN must comply with the order while it is still in effect.

Although this means that until the litigation is resolved or the injunction is lifted, companies otherwise required to file will not be subject to any liability if they fail to do so. That said, any company that wants to voluntarily file their beneficial ownership information reports may do so.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the NYLTA doesn’t come into effect until January of 2026, the Federal injunction does not appear to affect the NY Statute.

With thanks to James (“Jamie”) Ballard for keeping me up to date.

Stay tuned!

* (Public Law 116-283, Title LXIV of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Division F) and is part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act). The substantive provisions of the CTA can be found in Sections 6401, 6402 and 6403 (this latter section adds § 5336 to Title 31 of the United States Code establishing the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements).

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Amazon – U.S. CPSC Imposes Responsibility

In an order published this past Monday (July 29, 2024), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that, as it relates to products that are part of the “Fulfilled by Amazon” program, Amazon.com is a “distributor” within the meaning of the Consumer Product Safety Act. The “Fulfilled by Amazon” program includes over 400,000 products!

As a consequence of that determination, the CPSC held Amazon.com is legally responsible for safety and recall notices and required to take remedial action when products are found not to be non-compliant with US safety standards and requirements or are defective.

While Amazon.com argued it is not responsible for products sold by third-parties and is simply a logistics provider, the Commission disagreed and noted Amazon.com receives the products at its distribution centers, stores them and eventually delivers them to customers – activities the Commission believes demonstrate sufficient control to put Amazon.com squarely within the meaning of a ‘distributor’ as defined in the CPSA.

While Amazon.com plans to appeal the Commission’s order, the order requires Amazon.com to develop and submit plans to notify consumers of hazardous products (Section 15(c) of the CPSA), to “take remedial actions under Section 15(d) of the CPSA to incentivize the removal of these hazardous products from consumers’ homes,” and discontinue distribution of defective or non-compliant products.

A spokesperson for Amazon noted that when notified by the Commission years ago about certain third-party products with potential safety issues, Amazon.com promptly notified customers, advising them to stop using them and issued credits or refunds.

The order issued this past Monday, stems from an appeal of a decision of an administrative law judge.  You can read the entire order of the CPSC here: In the Matter of Amazon.com Inc. CPSC Docket No. 21-2.

 

 

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Portugal’s Parliament Protects Remote Workers

Last Friday, stimulated by the realities of working during this COVID-19 pandemic and the concern over unequal access to technology, the Portuguese Parliament (formally, the  Assembleia da República or in English, the Assembly of the Republic), passed new amendments to Portugal”s labor laws intended to protect Portugal’s remote workforce.

In brief, the new laws (which apply to companies with ten or more employees) mean that:

  • Employers could face fines if they contact their employees outside work hours;
  • Employers are forbidden from monitoring workers’ productivity while they are working remotely;
  • Employees with children under the age of eight now have an explicit legal right to work at home – no longer requiring management approval; and
  • Employers are required to help defray some of the costs their employees face as a result of working remotely (e.g., Internet connectivity; electricity, gas) and when they do so, the employer can write the reimbursement off as a business expense.

The amendments also made an effort to tackle the isolation and loneliness that employees may feel working from home by expecting employers to make arrangements for in-person meetings at least once every two months.

The Portuguese Republic was one of the first nations to adopt temporary remote working regulations and these are now formally part of the labor laws that apply to the Portuguese workforce.

If you need help or want more information about this or any other posting on Legal Bytes, don’t hesitate to contact me (Joe Rosenbaum) or any of the Rimôn professionals with whom you regularly work.

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US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Emergency Stay Blocking New COVID-19 Rules

Last Thursday (4 November 2021) we reported on the U.S. DOL’s announcement of new employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates (see US Department of Labor Announces Emergency COVID-19 Employer Requirements .

Yesterday (6 November 2021), a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, granted an emergency stay prohibiting enforcement of the rules for now, saying they raise “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”   The order, temporarily blocks implementation of the new rules and the Court ordered the U.S. Government to file papers by Monday afternoon in an effort to ensure swift consideration of the request to issue an injunction against the vaccine mandate and corresponding testing requirements under the new rules.

Click here to read the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Emergency Stay Order (November 6, 2021).

Stay tuned!

 

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US Department of Labor Announces Emergency COVID-19 Employer Requirements

NEWS RELEASE

Today, the United States Department of Labor issued a press release announcing an emergency temporary standard to protect workers from coronavirus.

These requirements are intended to implement the COVID-19 vaccine directive announced by President Biden and will apply to employers with 100 or more employees.

The standards will require companies subject to the rules to ensure that:

  • Each vaccinated employee provides proof (type and date) of vaccination status (e.g., immunization record from a health care provider or pharmacy; CDC Covid-19 vaccination card; immunization records from a governmental authority; or other official documentation);
  • Employees who are not vaccinated must produce a negative COVID-19 test at least weekly and wear a mask (face covering) in the workplace;
  • An employee who is vaccinated but unable to provide documentary proof, must provide the employer with a written, signed and dated statement attesting to the fact they were successfully and properly vaccinated; and
  • Employees are given paid time off in order to obtain a Covid-19 vaccination and, if necessary, sick leave to recover from any side effects.

There are also separate rules requiring every staff member in health facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to be vaccinated and health workers and federal contractors  have until January 4, 2022 to obtain either their second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Modernavaccine or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The new rules do not require employers to provide or pay for tests, unless a collective bargaining agreement that applies to the employer requires them to do so.

The standards were published in the US Federal Register this morning and you can read a copy or download the regulations in PDF form here: COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard.

As always, if you have questions or want more information about this or any other Legal Bytes posting, don’t hesitate to contact me, Joe Rosenbaum, or any of the Rimon lawyers with whom you regularly work.

 

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SEC Adds Chinese Government Interference to Required Risk Reporting

Debbie Klis, a Rimon partner based in Washington, DC, has published a post on the Rimon IM Report noting that just yesterday (26 July 2021) a senior SEC official advised that Chinese companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States, must disclose the potential risks associated with the Chinese government interference as part of their normal reporting requirements.

You can read the entire post Chinese Companies Listed on US Exchanges Must Disclose Potential Risk Associated with Potential Government Interference.

You can also learn more about Debbie and her practice here:  Bio: Debbie A. Klis and if you want to obtain more information, feel free to contact Debbie A. Klis directly. Of course you can always contact me, Joe Rosenbaum, or the Rimon Law lawyer with whom you regularly work.

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SCOTUS Reins In FTC Enforcement Powers

Today (April 22, 2021) the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to the practice by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) of imposing restitution requirements on violators of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“Act”).

In a unanimous decision written by Justice Stephen G. Breyer, the Court held that §13(b) of the Act was never intended, nor affords the FTC the authority to obtain restitution or require bad actors in the commercial marketplace to disgorge any monies they may have received as a consequence of their bad acts.

Although the Supreme Court agreed the FTC could enforce the Act through its own administrative proceedings under §5 of the Act, it held that the 1970 addition to the Act that authorized the FTC to seek injunctive relief to stop activities prohibited by the Act, did not also authorize a claim for court-ordered monetary relief.

In this particular case, the lower court granted the FTC’s request for a permanent injunction against the defendant for certain deceptive payday lending practices, but also relied on §13(b) of the Act to require the bad actor (defendant) to disgorge and pay US$1.27 billion in restitution. The defendant appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which rejected defendant’s argument that monetary relief is not within the Commission’s authority to enforce the Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, holding that nothing in the statute explicitly authorizes the FTC to obtain court-ordered monetary relief under §13(b) and the structure and history of the Act precludes a finding that such relief available to the Commission.  This is a significant holding that clearly limits the FTC’s power to seek court-ordered monetary relief under §13(b) of the Act, from those alleged to be in violation of the Act.

You can read and download a copy of the decision in the case right here AMG Capital Management, LLC, et al., Applicants v. Federal Trade Commission, Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 19-508 (Argued January 13, 2021; Decided April 22, 2021).

As always, if you want to know more about the information in this posting or if you have any questions, contact me, Joe Rosenbaum, or any of the lawyers at Rimon Law with whom you regularly work.

 

 

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“Family Office”? What’s In a Name

The Implosion Heard Around the (Financial Markets) World

What Can We Expect from the Regulators?

– Robin Powers, Partner, Rimon, P.C.

Archegos Capital Management’s collapse last week, and the resulting losses for several global banks, has and will impact financial markets for the foreseeable future. Regulatory efforts will likely focus on the ever-expanding shadow banking sector and shed light on its transparency (or lack thereof) and the risks. Shadow banking is a blanket term to describe financial activities that take place among non-bank financial institutions outside the scope of federal regulators and generally is defined to include family offices. *

Scrutiny of nonbanks was already a priority for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen after last year’s Treasury market turmoil surrounding hedge funds, dislocations in the repurchase agreement market in 2019, and of course, the GameStop story earlier this year.

The current regulatory examination follows on the heels of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law 111-203) (commonly referred to as Dodd-Frank) which overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the 2009 financial crisis. Under the Dodd-Frank legislation, family offices won a special carve-out from Congress that allows them to avoid SEC registration if they serve a single family and don’t give investment advice. Family offices made the case to Congress at the time that they only make conservative investments to preserve family wealth and they do not try to beat the markets. And so, despite managing around $10 billion, Archegos is not directly regulated by the SEC because it manages Hwang’s wealth as a single-family office.

CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz said, “The collapse of Archegos Capital Management and the billions of dollars in losses to investors and other market participants is a vivid demonstration of the havoc that errant large investment vehicles called ‘family offices’ can wreak on our financial markets.” He added, “A ‘family office’ has nothing to do with ordinary families. Rather, it is an investment vehicle used by centimillionaires and billionaires to grow their wealth, reduce their taxes, and plan their estates.”

On March 31st U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen led the first meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) under the new Biden administration. The FSOC was scheduled to discuss hedge fund activity and analysts expect it also addressed Archegos.
As calls for closer scrutiny of the shadow banking sector grow louder, we can expect policymakers to revisit systemically important financial institution designations for nonbank financial entities. Being designated as systemically important would allow for tougher regulation and oversight from the Federal Reserve.

Want to know more.  You can always contact me, Joe Rosenbaum, about any posting on Legal Bytes, but if you want to know more about the content of this post or you need assistance, feel free to reach out to Robin Powers directly or any of the Rimon professionals with whom you regularly work.

* Over 10,000 family offices globally manage an estimated $5-15 trillion in assets – larger than the entire hedge fund industry. The largest family offices operate like sophisticated investment firms, but they don’t have the same oversight. Unlike hedge funds, family offices do not have to disclose their assets, bank relationships, and other operational information.
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Investment Adviser Marketing – New Rules for a New World

SEC Amends Rules Applicable to Investment Adviser Marketing
– Niccolo Barber, Rimon Law

On December 22, 2020, the SEC amended the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, with respect to advertisements and payments to solicitors by investment advisers. The amendments create a single rule (“Rule”) that supplants the existing advertising and cash solicitation rules, marking the first time in more than 40 years the SEC has updated its rules governing adviser marketing.

Among the many amendments, the Rule promulgates new requirements relating to an adviser’s use of performance results in advertising materials. Advisers should keep the following points in mind moving forward:
• Gross vs. Net Performance Results. The Rule prohibits any presentation of gross performance in adviser advertisements unless the advertisement equally presents net performance figures. This restriction is predicated on the SEC’s concern that displays advertising of gross performance without any additional context, could create the impression that investors received the full amount of the presented returns shown. Accordingly, advisers should clearly indicate when performance results are portrayed on a gross basis. In addition, to facilitate investors’ understanding of the advertised performance results, net performance must be presented with at least equal prominence to gross performance results in a format designed to facilitate comparison between them.
• Hypothetical Performance. Advisers sometimes include hypothetical performance in their advertisements, such as model performance, back-tested performance, and targeted and projected performance returns. Although the Rule does not prohibit the use of hypothetical performance in advertising materials, it does prescribe significant conditions to its use based on the SEC’s belief that presentations of hypothetical performance pose a high risk of misleading investors. Specifically, an adviser may not utilize hypothetical results unless it: (i) has adopted and implemented policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure the hypothetical performance is relevant to the likely financial situation and investment objectives of the intended audience; (ii) provides sufficient information to enable the intended audience to understand the criteria used and the assumptions made in calculating the advertised hypothetical performance; and (iii) provides sufficient information to enable the intended audience to understand the risks and limitations of using hypothetical performance in making an investment decisions.
Of course, the above points are a high-level overview of the detailed requirements promulgated under the Rule. To read more about the Rule you can read my article entitled SEC Finalizes Amendments to Investment Adviser Advertising Rules and to read the full text of the Rule itself or download your own copy, check out SEC Final Rule – Investment Adviser Marketing. Should you have any questions about the Rule and its implications act on your advertising materials, contact me, Nicco Barber, or any of the Rimon lawyers with whom you regularly work.