January 2021

On January 30, 2021, the European Commission published the Regulation establishing an export authorization and notification scheme relating to COVID-19 vaccines and their active substances.  It applies “for a limited duration” to COVID-19 vaccines covered by Advanced Purchased Agreements (“APAs”) concluded with the Union.  As regards APAs contracted by third countries, “the Commission will endeavour…

As described in our previous post, on December 21, 2020, another round of COVID relief legislation was passed, providing an enhanced employee retention credit (“ERC”) with various new features and greater benefit amounts.  The legislation was subsequently enacted when President Trump signed the law on December 27.  On January 26, the IRS issued a…

On 22 January 2021 the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (“BMWi”) published a draft for the 17th amendment (“Draft Amendment”) of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (“AWV”). While the Draft Amendment remains subject to comments and further consultation, it already provides early guidance on sectors that may come under close Foreign Direct…

Can African governments head off a sustained spike in the spread of COVID-19 and recover economically in 2021? How will the Biden administration engage the continent? Will companies implement more effective due diligence efforts in their supply chains to prevent human rights abuses? What impact will efforts to battle corruption and mitigate climate change have…

On January 12, 2021, the German Ministry for the Economy and Energy released a new draft Law on Data Protection and the Protection of Privacy in Telecommunications and Telemedia (“TTDSG” or “draft law”).  If enacted, the draft law will replace the existing data protection and privacy provisions of Germany’s Telemedia Act and Telecommunications Act (“Telemedia…

On January 12, 2020, the Spanish Supervisory Authority (“AEPD”) issued guidance on how to audit personal data processing activities that involve Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) (available here, in Spanish).  The AEPD’s guidance is directed at data controllers and processors, as well as AI developers, data protection officers (“DPO”), and auditors.  The guidance aims to help…

On January 7, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) reached a proposed settlement with Tapjoy, a California-based company that operates an advertising platform within mobile gaming applications.  According to its complaint, the FTC alleges that Tapjoy deceived consumers by failing to provide in-game rewards it promised for completing actions associated with third-party advertisements.…