This alert is a continuation from a March 3, 2021 post.

On 3rd March 2021, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £100 million Taxpayer Protection Taskforce (Taskforce) to scrutinise claims made under Government financial business support schemes designed to help companies and individuals navigate their way through the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In U.S. ex rel. Freedman v. Bayada Home Health Care, Inc., No. 3:19-cv-18753-FLW-ZNQ, 2021 WL 1904735 (D.N.J. May 12, 2021), a New Jersey District Court found that the relator failed to plead a cognizable theory of liability under the FCA based on defendant Bayada Home Health Care, Inc. (“Bayada”) allegedly fraudulent acquisition of a home health agency that subsequently billed Medicare for seemingly legitimate claims.

In 2011, the Ocean County Board of Health (“Ocean County”) began considering whether to sell its home healthcare agency. That fall, Bayada asked George Gilmore, an attorney and local Republican Party chair, to “lobby” on its behalf in its attempt to purchase Ocean County’s home healthcare agency. Gilmore engaged in various efforts to that end, and signed a retention agreement for legal services in March 2012. Additionally, days before Bayada submitted its proposal to Ocean County, Bayada’s then-COO offered Gilmore a “success fee” on top of his retention agreement. Bayada did not inform Ocean County of its contingency fee arrangement with Gilmore, despite the fact that the RFP and New Jersey state regulations prohibit paying lobbyists in that way. Bayada was awarded the contract, despite bidding $500,000 less than the other bidder. Bayada obtained Ocean County’s license in December 2014, enrolled as a Medicare provider in January 2015, and billed approximately $36 million in Medicare claims to the federal government through 2019.

McGuireWoods has long been an avid supporter of the advancement of professional women. As part of our initiative seeking to expand the leadership of women in private equity, we are continuing our series of profiling women leaders in private equity. We are hopeful that this series will serve to inspire other women to pursue their…

Onex Corp. has announced that Onex Partners V will acquire Newport Healthcare.

Newport, based in Newport, R.I., is a provider of healing centers for teens and young adults struggling with primary mental health issues. Founded in 2008, the company’s offerings include residential treatment centers, partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs.

Onex Partners is…

On June 14, 2021, the Board of the newly-formed California Privacy Protection Agency (“CPPA”) held its first public meeting.  The Board had an extensive agenda, covering topics such as the laws affecting the Board and CPPA, initial hiring strategy for the CPPA, policies and practices on delegations of authority and conflicts of interest, establishment of subcommittees of the Board, notice to the Attorney General regarding the assumption of rulemaking under the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), and setting future agenda items and a meeting schedule for the Board.  (As a refresher, when the CPRA passed as a ballot measure last Fall, it established the CPPA as a first-of-its-kind agency solely devoted to the regulation and enforcement of consumer privacy.  The CPPA is tasked with enforcing the CPRA and developing a set of regulations providing guidance for businesses on how to comply with that new law.  For more on the CPRA, please see our post here.)

While the CPPA Board’s June 14 full-day meeting covered a lot of ground, it is clear there is much work to be done for the CPPA to emerge as an independent, fully-functional agency, let alone promulgating regulations in time to meet the CPRA’s July 1, 2022 deadline for final regulations.  Overall, the Board members appeared to be committed to working through these challenges, but acknowledged that they are under a lot of time pressure.

After years of litigation, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency’s (“OCC”) special purpose national bank charter (“fintech charter”) survives to see another day.  On June 3, 2021, the Second Circuit reversed the district court’s decision denying the OCC’s motion to dismiss, delivering a blow to the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) and paving the way for the OCC to again accept applications for its fintech charter.

On June 8, the White House released the findings of a 100-day assessment of critical supply chains, identifying actions needed to bolster domestic manufacturing of critical goods, reduce dependence on foreign nations for supply chain needs, create jobs and address unfair trade practices.

For highlights of the report detailing structural weaknesses in supply chains for…

Northlane Capital Partners (NCP) has announced it has invested in EBS d/b/a The Difference Card.

The Difference Card, based in White Plains, N.Y., is a provider of healthcare cost containment solutions. Founded in 2001, the company generally targets small and mid-sized businesses and serves nearly 800 U.S. employers.

NCP, based in Bethesda, Md.,…