Payments News Update – July 2, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: EU Says Credit-Card Fee Curbs Helped Reduce Prices for Consumers Bloomberg – June 29, 2020 European Union curbs on credit and debit-card fees helped reduce prices for consumers and aided payments across the 27-nation bloc, regulators said in a report published Monday. “Interchange fees for consumer cards have decreased, leading to reduced merchants’ charges for card payments, and ultimately resulting in improved services to consumers...

Under Cover of Pandemic, Nursing Home Residents Illegally Evicted

“It felt opportunistic, where some homes were basically seizing the moment when everyone is looking the other way to move people out.”  (Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, long-term care ombudsman in New Jersey).  With nursing homes involved in more than 40% of coronavirus deaths, in depth reporting by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Amy Julia Harris at the New York Times reveals a new threat to residents’ care and safety: unlawful evictions of disabled...

Constantine Cannon Announces $57 Million Whistleblower Settlement with the Largest Not-For-Profit Home Health Care Agency in the United States

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York settles False Claim Act lawsuit alleging it failed to provide home health care visits and services to tens of thousands of New Yorkers and fraudulently billed Medicare and Medicaid. Constantine Cannon is pleased to announce a $57 million settlement of the False Claims Act lawsuit its whistleblower client brought against the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY).  VNSNY is the largest not-for-profit...

Payments News Update – June 25, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: Apple’s Easy Ride From U.S. Authorities May Be Over Politico – June 24, 2020 The Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general are taking the first steps toward launching an antitrust probe of Apple, turning the iPhone-maker into the latest Silicon Valley giant to face legal jeopardy in Washington, three people involved in the discussions told POLITICO. The individuals said DOJ and the AGs...

Payments News Update – June 18, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: With a Loss Before Britain’s High Court, Visa and Mastercard Face an Interchange Reckoning Digital Transactions News – June 17, 2020 Merchants in the United Kingdom won an important battle against interchange fees on Wednesday but it remains uncertain just how much that will mean to them in terms of remuneration from Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The case also could have ramifications for similar...

Payments News Update – June 12, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: 'Fraud' Lawsuit Slams Plaid on Eve of Historic $5.3-Billion Payday RIABiz – June 9, 2020 As Plaid nears the date when it banks a $5.3 billion dollar check from Visa, it may face a final hurdle from a class action alleging its value proposition depends on a "massive invasion" of the privacy of over 200 million bank and brokerage accounts. Filed on May 5, the suit...

Work-From-Home Brings Increase in SEC Whistleblower Tips, Demonstrating Need for Whistleblower Protection and Support

This month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC has been receiving a “surge” in whistleblower reports under the SEC Whistleblower Program. The article, Tips to SEC Surge as Working From Home Emboldens Whistleblowers, states that the SEC received approximately 4,000 tips between mid-March and mid-May – in the heart of the pandemic – which represented a 35% increase over the equivalent period in 2019. One possible reason for...

SEC Makes $50M Whistleblower Reward: LARGEST AWARD TO DATE

The SEC today announced a $50 million whistleblower award, the largest award to date to a single individual whistleblower under the SEC Whistleblower Program.  This tops the $54 million award to two whistleblowers in September 2018 and the $50 million award to two whistleblowers in March 2018.  It brings the total amount of awards under the program to more that a half-billion dollars.  And it is just the latest in...

Payments News Update – June 4, 2020

Legal and Regulatory Developments SPOTLIGHT: How PayPal’s Case Against the CFPB Could Spawn ‘Uncomfortable’ Results for Payments Players  Digital Transactions News – June 2, 2020 It was easy to lose track of it in the midst of all the impacts of the novel coronavirus, but a crucial federal lawsuit filed six months ago still hangs over the payments industry, carrying far-reaching implications for nearly all players. It’s PayPal Holdings Inc.’s  action...

Project Proposes Legislative Action to Protect and Incentivize AML Whistleblowers

Offshore Alert and the Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists were joined by Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Lawyers Poppy Alexander, Eric Havian, and Michael Ronickher in developing a proposal to enact legislation that would create statutory incentives and protections for whistleblowers with information about money laundering. The proposal, unveiled on May 25, 2020, was developed in response to a challenge in the FT Innovative Lawyers Global Legal Hackathon to figure out ways...