SEC vs CFTC: two different reporting systems that require the reporting of similar data.

SEC and CFTC Record Similar Data with Two Different Systems
Oct28

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri Over the past several years, experts have called for the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to harmonize their regulatory standards in order to minimize duplicative or contradictory regulatory reporting requirements.[1] Not doing so has led to market participants creating “two different reporting systems and/or processes – one for the CFTC and one for the SEC” despite both require the reporting of similar data.[2] The obstacles posed to cross-jurisdictional transparency in following the regulatory rules and the

October 28, 2020
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Chicago’s New Plan to Partially Re-Open Schools for Special Needs Kids Amid Concerns Over Halting the Spread of COVID-19

Special Needs Kids Need A New Plan on Re-Open Schools
Oct19

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The protective measures taken against potentially crowded facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has left many special needs parents in the Chicago Public School system anxious as to when to partake of these interpersonal activities again.[1] While many parents recognize the importance of social distance learning at this time, parents of very young children or special needs children are particularly concerned that remote learning is not meeting the distinctive needs of their children and could fundamentally disrupt their education in the long term.

October 19, 2020
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Trump’s New Final Rule for the H-1B Visa and How It Helps Stifle Work-Based Immigration

Immigration Work-Based visa H-1b Changes Employment
Oct16

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri A recurring talking point from the Trump Administration has been that “illegal immigration” allegedly steal jobs from American workers.[1] He has consistently tried to link illegal immigration (however tenuously) to detrimental changes in the U.S. by pointing to the performance of the U.S. economy and the job market.[2] In the early days of his campaign, he was very clear that, in his view as well as that of his supporters, immigrants were “taking our jobs…our manufacturing jobs…[and] our money.”[3]   Since taking office in 2017,

October 16, 2020
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SEC Codifies New Disclosure Requirements for Banking Registrants

SEC Codifies Disclosure Requirements for Banking Registrants
Oct14

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri For the past 30 years, the rules and requirements for banks and savings & loan registrants for making disclosures to investors have been a mess as they simply duplicated other rules and requirements of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).[1] This failed to take into account major changes in financial reporting since 1986 when the last substantive update to Industry Guide 3, Statistical Disclosure by Bank Holding Companies, the guide published by the SEC’s Division of

October 14, 2020
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Physical Violence Towards Special Needs Children

Special Needs Children and Physical Violence
Oct12

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri Educating children with special needs requires a heightened degree of specialized training, experience, individualized attention, patience and above all empathy beyond that required for children in general. Missteps and errors by those who do not know what they’re doing can potentially cause serious damage to both that child’s educational as well as their emotional well-being. As such, the relationship between adult supervisors/teachers/principals and children with special needs is an unequal one where the child is potentially vulnerable to errors or wrongful actions by the adult.   This is painfully apparent with the phenomena of physical abuse

October 12, 2020
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EB-5 To The Rescue

EB-5 TO THE RESCUE by Taher Kameli
Oct09

Written by Taher Kameli America needs help, here comes EB5? The “EB-5 Program” refers to employment-based immigration under section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (codified as 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)).  The EB-5 Program has been in existence since the 1980’s, and until recently, long-term stakeholders in the community thought that they had seen it all. But with the pandemic continuing to impact every sector of the U.S. and global economy, industry experts are now required to speculate as to how the EB-5 Program will be impacted.   Based on this introduction, one would expect the next couple paragraphs to

October 9, 2020
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How The Department of Labor’s New Definition of “Independent Contractors” Can Wrongfully Exclude Workers From Federal Labor Protections

Independent Contractor Might Recieve New Proposed Definition
Oct07

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In what could be seen as a boon to employers, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed regulation setting out a new definition of who was or was not an “independent contractor.”[1] This regulation, if approved and finalized, would make it easier for employers to classify much of their workforce as “independent contractors” and be excused from providing them labor protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.[2] On the other hand, however, it may affect the security of workers as they could lose considerable protections and benefits

October 7, 2020
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Immigrant Surveillance – The DHS’ Proposal to Expand Biometric Collection to Limit Immigration

Limit Immigration DHS Propose to Expand Biometric Collection
Oct05

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri Mass surveillance and crackdown on immigration are not new phenomena in the United States and both have metastasized considerably over the last two decades in the wake of the war on terror and the broader debate over immigration to the US. Issues involving National Security Agency (NSA) spying of private telecommunications, use of older social media to place suspicion individuals and disproportionate targeting of certain minority groups have been hot button topics due in part to revelations by whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Glenn Greenwald. Immigration in particular

October 5, 2020
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Illegal Profits From False Claims About COVID-19 Vaccines

False Claims on COVID-19 Vaccine Making Illegal Profits
Sep28

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri Due to the need for a vaccine in light of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, biotechnology companies developing vaccine candidates have become the source of immense profit to stockholders investing in these companies.[1] Investors are betting on companies with promising candidates for successful vaccines, hoping to make millions, if not billions, off of the sale of these drugs. Already insiders from 11 small companies dependent on drug success or failure have sold over $1 billion in shares since March, in response to announcements of positive test results from heads of pharmaceutical

September 28, 2020
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Supreme Court Conditionally Recognizes the SEC’s Right to Disgorgement

SEC Right to Disgorgement Recognized by The Supreme Court
Sep25

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long argued that as part of penalties sought from parties accused of unlawful activities in violation of securities laws, the SEC had a right to disgorge from the profits of the liable party as part of the remedies it could seek.[1] Disgorgement refers to a remedy by which parties who profited from illegal or wrongful conduct (“ill-gotten gains” so to speak) must return those profits that they made from that conduct to those they harmed in order to make them whole.[2]

September 25, 2020
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