Entries by admin_fidj

Proposed rulemaking by DEA will bring its regulations governing forfeitures in line with the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently published a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the consolidation of seizure and forfeiture regulations in the Department of Justice which will harmonize the regulations of the DEA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pertaining to the seizure and forfeiture of assets and bring those procedures for seizure and forfeiture under one regulation. That notice of proposed rulemaking can be found here. Generally, assets may be seized and forfeited to the government if they were used in violation of a law providing for forfeiture, are contraband, violate a regulatory statute, or are connected in some way to the laundering of monetary proceeds of a specified unlawful activity.

IRS’s Second Guidance on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

As we previously discussed here, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) enacted in March 2010 imposes a 30 percent withholding tax on foreign banks who do not properly disclose accounts held by U.S. taxpayers. In its implementation of FATCA, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued two Notices providing guidance to those that are affected. As previously discussed in our blog, the IRS issued its first guidance regarding its implementation of FATCA in late 2010. In this original guidance, the IRS required foreign institutions to document every account regardless of whether it had documentation on file.

Drug Company Immunity A Possibility In North Carolina

The North Carolina legislature is currently considering a bill that would provide immunity from lawsuits for drug companies in cases where the drug product in question had received FDA approval. If passed, North Carolina would be only the second state to provide such immunity for drug manufacturers. Michigan, which passed a similar law in 2005, was the first state to do so.

DOJ Will No Longer Seek Chevron Deference for Revenue Rulings and Revenue Procedures

On May 7, 2011, the Department of Justice announced it will no longer argue for Chevron deference to apply to revenue rulings and revenue procedures. The announcement comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mayo Found. for Med. Educ. & Research v. U.S., 131 S. Ct. 704 (2011) in which the Court held all regulations should be analyzed using Chevron deference regardless of the agency which promulgated them.

Senate passes Food Safety Crime Bill with greatly enhanced penalties

The United States Senate recently passed a food safety crime bill sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy that will significantly strengthen criminal penalties for companies and persons that knowingly violate food safety standards and place tainted products on the market.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Treatment Suffers a Setback

In a study published in Nature, researchers report that tissues made from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, might be rejected by a patient’s immune system, even when the tissue is transplanted into the same person from which the cells were made.