With Governor Lee’s order allowing curbside and delivery of alcohol set to expire at midnight April 30, we were expecting to see an extension of these privileges in connection with new guidelines for re-opening restaurants. We have the guidelines, but no mention of alcohol delivery and curbside service. The governor could still extend these privileges, but so far, he has not. Governor Lee said the state is releasing additional guidelines next week ...
As discussed on this blog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a number of orders providing conditional regulatory relief for certain publicly traded company filing obligations as a result of the challenges created by the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) ...
On April 22, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order temporarily suspending the entry of certain immigrants into the United States. The Executive Order only affects foreign nationals who are currently outside the United States applying for permanent residence through the immigrant visa process at a U.S. consular post. Initially, the Executive Order will be in effect for 60 days, unless the administration determines that it should be extended ...
The initial $350 billion in forgivable loans under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) were claimed within 13 days. Given the initial interest, Congress on Thursday, April 23 approved an additional $484 billion of coronavirus-relief funding, including an additional $310 billion for the government-backed PPP and $75 billion in new funding for healthcare providers. President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday, April 24 ...
Metro Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced a detailed plan for the staged reopening of restaurants, bars and music venues, as soon as May 1. The real question is: will anyone reopen their dining room on May 1st? You can read the entire Roadmap here. Initial reactions do not look good if you are in the market for a sitdown meal on May 1 ...
With the promise of low-interest or no-interest loans, and even the possibility of loan forgiveness, small businesses rocked by COVID-19 have recently turned to banks to apply for federally guaranteed funds. These funds are vital to many small businesses in order to help them stabilize their financial health during the widespread economic fallout from the pandemic. They are seeking these funds under the recently enacted CARES Act ...
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently updated its Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (CDI) to confirm that its recent orders extending the due date for SEC filings by up to 45 additional days in light of COVID-19 pandemic are applicable to the incorporation by reference of disclosure into Part III of Form 10-K. (Additional information on the prior orders is available here and here ...
Every healthcare provider in the country is under significant operational and financial strain. Those on the front lines of emergency care are working frantically to either increase surge capacity or deal with the surge that has already come. Others are suffering financially from the stoppage of non-emergency procedures and patient visits. In the midst of this unprecedented public health crisis, there is a modicum of good news from a source that is not known for spreading joy ...
With COVID-19 numbers beginning to stabilize and some states announcing re-opening dates, many businesses are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With that, many employers are asking key questions: What do we do to get ready and how do we do so without jeopardizing the safety of our workforce and our customers or clients? There is much to consider and there seems to be no crystal clear path forward for employers ...
This post is out of date. Look for specifics about reopening at our newer posts at Last Call. There has been plenty of speculation about what the new normal will be for dining out after stay-at-home orders are lifted. California took the lead in providing some guidance for restaurants. At a press conference on April 14, California Governor Gavin Newsom discussed what the new normal will look like for dining in a restaurant. As Yoda might say, “Normal, it will be not ...
In the age of COVID-19, “irrevocable” doesn’t always mean “forever.” The IRS is providing significant tax advantages to companies that are now permitted to take back their once irrevocable elections regarding the deduction of interest expenses for improvements to non-residential real estate ...
The Federal Reserve System (the “Fed”) has recently announced programs intended to help businesses not covered by the loan provisions under the purview of the Small Business Administration, specifically PPP and EIDL loans available under the CARES Act. In order to facilitate lending to larger corporations, the Fed instituted the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (“PMCCF”) and the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (“SMCCF”) ...
In its attempt to provide relief to corporate America, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Fed”) did not neglect lenders in all of the commotion. The Fed recently instituted several programs meant to provide liquidity to economic markets through lending directly to financial institutions, altering capital requirements and relaxing Fed examinations of financial institutions ...
In the past few weeks, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a number of press releases in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. Calling the outbreak an “extraordinary situation,” the USPTO has announced that it will be providing additional time for the filing of certain patent and trademark documents and for payments of specific mandatory fees ...
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) recently granted temporary relief and issued guidance to assist companies that are in imminent danger of immediate delisting and/or that are experiencing urgent liquidity needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ...
In what seems a long time past, yet was actually only three weeks ago, Congress enacted theFamilies First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) that includes Emergency Family and Medical Expansion Act and The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act. The legislation, largely administered by the Department of Labor, provides payroll tax credits to employers in order to ease the burden of new provisions requiring certain paid leave for employees due to COVID-19 ...
On April 10, Health and Human Services (“HHS”) began providing a $30 billion portion of the latest COVID-19 relief fund to healthcare providers. Information on this funding may be found here. While the government announced this funding as coming with “no strings attached” in its April 7 briefing, the relief payment (the “Payment”) does come with certain terms and conditions that a provider must certify compliance with ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched all aspects of both the hemp and marijuana industries and their supply chains, as many other industries have experienced. To provide significant relief for the entire economy, the U.S. federal government passed The Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), collectively, the largest aid package ever passed ...
On April 6, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued five warning letters chastising companies for their unapproved products related to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Two days later, the FDA issued another four warning letters for similar reasons. Two of the five warning letters issued on April 6 were issued to companies in connection with their CBD products, and one of the warning letters issued on April 8 was issued to a CBD company as well ...
On April 9, the federal banking agencies issued an interim final rule to encourage lending to small businesses through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) established under the CARES Act. Specifically, the agencies are applying a 0% risk weight to PPP covered loans for regulatory capital purposes ...
On April 8, 2020, the IRS published Revenue Procedure 2020-23 (Rev. Proc. 2020-23) that provides partnerships a limited opportunity to amend their 2018 and 2019 tax returns and issue amended Schedule K-1s to partners to take advantage of the retrospective Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act changes ...
