UK FCA Expectations on Call Recording in a Remote Working Environment — Market Watch 66
On 11 January 2021, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published the 66th edition of its Market Watch newsletter. The newsletter sets out the FCA’s expectations for firms on recording telephone conversations and electronic communications when alternative working arrangements are in place, including increased homeworking in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The newsletter follows on from an update on 8 January 2021 to the market trading and reporting statement on the FCA’s Coronavirus (Covid-19): Information for firms webpage. In that update, the FCA notes that, given the extensive duration of alternative working arrangements during the pandemic, the FCA now expects firms to record all relevant communications (including voice calls) when working outside the office.
Lawfare Publishes Article on “Why Schrems II Might Not Be a Problem for EU-U.S. Data Transfers”
Lawfare recently published “Why Schrems II Might Not Be a Problem for EU-U.S. Data Transfers*,” written by Sidley Partner Alan Charles Raul. This article was adapted from a longer article on our Data Matters blog, “Schrems II Concerns Regarding U.S. National Security Surveillance Do Not Apply to Most Companies Transferring Personal Data to the U.S. Under Standard Contractual Clauses.”
(*Note that this article was published by the Lawfare Institute in cooperation with Brookings.)
Schrems II Concerns Regarding U.S. National Security Surveillance Do Not Apply to Most Companies Transferring Personal Data to the U.S. Under Standard Contractual Clauses
The thesis articulated in the article linked here is that (1) nearly all companies relying on standard contractual clauses for data transfers to the US under the EU General Data Protection Regulation are not electronic communications service providers for purposes of FISA 702 (i.e., only companies in the business of providing communications services would be covered) and (2) data transfers from Europe to the US under SCCs may not be targeted under FISA 702 and EO 12333 because they are (i) quintessential “US person communications” because either the data exporter is a U.S. person or the data importer is a U.S. person, or more likely, both are US persons and (ii) received by a person located in the U.S. Accordingly, the concerns expressed by the EU Court of Justice in Schrems II should not be problematic for nearly all U.S. companies relying on SCCs.
U.S. Launches Review of Export Controls on Emerging Technologies: Five Key Takeaways
The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) initiating a 30-day public comment process regarding export controls for certain emerging technologies. The notice launches the implementation of a key provision of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA), part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019 (NDAA). In the ECRA, Congress authorized BIS to establish controls on the export, reexport and transfer (in country) of “emerging and foundational technologies.” The ANPRM, including a list of the 14 proposed representative technology categories and subcategories subject to review, can be found here. Our prior updates on the NDAA and ECRA can be found here.