During the past year, there were important government reports examining the defrauding of health insurance programs, new trends and government initiatives relating to fraud, and insurance fraud cases involving significant numbers of defendants. When added together, it is not difficult to understand why insurance fraud remains such a key area of focus for government officials, carriers and attorneys.
A recent Fourth Circuit decision held that shareholders must meet a high bar in demonstrating scienter to avoid early dismissal of the case. The decision also shows the fact-intensive approach courts use to distinguish fraudulent statements from those that, even if mistaken, were made innocently.
The year started with Portland, Oregon's ban on the use of facial recognition technology by private entities in places of "public" accommodation. It concluded with the rendering of important appellate decisions on the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. In the middle, was the continued flurry of litigation, class action settlements, and legislative activity.
By undoing some of the higher profile policy changes of the prior administration that many perceived as business-friendly, the current administration has served notice on the business and financial community of a return to practices characteristic of a more aggressive enforcement regime.
When, at the culmination of environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), a municipality resolves to require a developer to ameliorate environmental impacts, can anyone other than the municipality itself enforce the requirement?
Major crisis events, such as political uprisings or financial downturns, are typically followed by an increase in fraud in the business sector and heightened risk to corporate IP and other sensitive information. Anecdotally, this seems to be proving out again in the recent and ongoing fallout from the pandemic. Even before this Great Resignation movement, corporations across the globe were reporting increases in suspicious activity, data leakage, IP theft and other data risks stemming from departing employees and remote workers.
It started as a hushed rumor in the beltway, then became a known fact by those going to join the administration. And now we all know: The Biden administration has brought with it a renewed focus on data privacy and cybersecurity.
Recognizing the ever-increasing cyber threats to businesses, government entities, and individuals, the White House announced that Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies must migrate toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Architecture by September 2024. Under Zero Trust, trust is the ultimate vulnerability of any system and, therefore, trust has to be eliminated from a business' cybersecurity approach.
This article discusses the potential criminal and civil penalties that companies can face if their employees engage in insider trading in digital assets, and suggests several measures that exchanges can take to reduce their exposure from such risks.
The past 12 months have seen a steady drumbeat of action by federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies of which in-house counsel should take note. Whether new guidance, regulation, investigations, or enforcement activity, the message is clear: The federal government is paying close attention to how companies are handling and protecting their data — especially consumer and sensitive data.
