Confidential Register Research Articles

Going Public Secretly: The SEC’s Unavailing Effort to Increase Initial Public Offerings Through Confidential Registration

In an effort to reverse the declining number of IPOs seen over the past two decades, newly-appointed SEC Chairman Jay Clayton announced in mid-2017 that any company seeking to go public could now initially file its registration statement confidentially rather than publicly. This announcement effectively extended a policy that had originally only applied to emerging growth companies—firms with less than $1.07 billion in revenue during their last fiscal year—to larger companies. Because there are advantages to confidentially filing a registration statement, this new policy was meant to encourage more large firms to go public and, as a result, increase the overall number of IPOs. This Note empirically examines the effect of this policy change over the course of its first year to analyze whether it has succeeded in effectuating more IPOs in the marketplace. The data suggest that this new policy has failed. And because it affects a relatively small number of firms, it will likely continue to fail to meaningfully increase the number of IPOs. This Note argues that in order to encourage more companies to go public, the SEC and Congress must stop focusing on changes to the process of going public and instead make being a public company more attractive to both smaller firms, which have the potential to increase the number of IPOs, and larger firms, which can drastically increase the amount of overall public capital raised—another necessary metric in evaluating the success of the IPO market. In recent years, benefits granted to private capital markets have enabled them to flourish as viable alternatives to the public markets. This has led to greater societal inequality since average investors are often shut out from private investments, such as venture capital and private equity. Therefore, this Note argues that in order to save the public markets, benefits awarded to private capital must be reduced. In addition, this Note presents new proposals to further mitigate the structural realities that incentivize companies to remain private and, instead, encourage them to go public: (1) award firms that go public temporary exemptions from burdensome regulations that apply to public companies, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and (2) offer tax credits to companies that conduct IPOs. Enacting such policies would help ensure more of today’s companies see the public markets as attractive sources of capital once again.

Feasibility of district wide screening of health care workers for tuberculosis in Zambia

BackgroundMany health care workers (HCWs) are at increased risk for tuberculosis (TB). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends screening HCWs for TB in high burden settings but this is often not implemented in countries with a high TB incidence. We assessed the feasibility of TB screening among HCWs, including participation rate and yield, as part of a project introducing facility specific TB interventions.MethodsThis study had a cross-sectional design. HCWs (including paid staff and community volunteers) from 13 clinics and two hospitals in the Ndola district of Zambia participated. HCWs were screened by a designated person in their own facility. The agreed screening algorithm for HCWs included annual symptom screening, with sputum smear, culture (or Xpert) and chest x-ray offered to HCWs with at least one TB symptom, i.e. those with presumptive TB.ResultsA total of 1011 out of 1619 (62%) staff and 71 out of 138 (51%) community volunteers were screened within one year, total 1082/1757 (62%). Five percent (52/1082) of those screened were presumptive TB patients. Seventy-three percent (38/52) of presumptive TB patients received all diagnostic tests according to the agreed algorithm. Eighteen out of 1757 staff and volunteers combined were diagnosed with TB within a calendar year, showing a notified TB incidence of 1%. At least five of them were diagnosed during the screening appointment (0.5% of those screened). One of the 18 HCWs died of TB. Seventy-six percent (822/1082) of screened HCWs indicated that they already knew their HIV status. Screening was considered feasible if confidentiality can be guaranteed although challenges such as the time required for screening and sample transport were reported.ConclusionsIt is feasible to conduct and implement screening programs for TB among HCWs in hospitals and clinics, and the notified incidence and yield is high. Advocacy is needed to educate managers and HCWs on the importance of screening and the implementation of locally relevant screening algorithms. It is essential to ensure access to TB infection control, diagnostics, treatment and confidential registration for HCW.

Confidential registration in health services: randomised controlled trial

Background: Human rights legislation safeguards the privacy and dignity of patients. Objective: To assess the effectiveness in terms of patient assessed privacy of confidential registration. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting:...

Managing patients who refuse blood transfusions Register of willing consultants exists

EDITOR, - Commenting on the article by Simon Finfer and colleagues concerning two Jehovah's Witnesses who refused blood transfusions,1 Arabinda Saha and Max Elstein suggest the establishment of a register of consultants willing to accept such patients so that referral and appropriate management can be undertaken.2 For many years Jehovah's Witnesses have themselves researched and maintained such a confidential register, names from which are released to bona fide applicants on a case by case basis. The register contains the names of …

Asset Protection Trusts and Gibraltar's Legislation

‘Asset Protection’ can be defined as the process of organising one's assets and affairs in advance, so as to best guard them in the future against future financial loss. ‘Asset Protection Trusts’ and its acronym ‘APT’ are of recent coinage, and refer to a form of highly focused and pro‐active trust planning that is designed to place specific assets beyond the reach of potential future creditors. This type of planning became popular during the 1980s, largely in response to the problems certain groups of ‘high risk’ professionals experienced in the United States in obtaining affordable professional liability/malpractice cover. Gibraltar has passed legislation by way of amendments to its Bankruptcy Ordinance on 8th March, 1990. The legislation aims specifically at transfers into trusts made by non‐resident individual settlors, and provides for a system of confidential registration with the Gibraltar authorities.

Immersion in water during labor and birth: the need for evaluation.

Despite widespread and increasing use of immersion in water during labor, birth, or both in many different countries, no reliable information is available about its advantages, hazards, and resource implications. We describe the development of immersion in water during labor and birth, the current use of this form of care in the United Kingdom, the research that has been conducted to date, and possible strategies for future research. Three approaches to research are suggested: a survey of existing practice, a randomized controlled trial, and a confidential register of serious adverse events.

Sexually transmitted diseases: an epidemic in adolescent girls?

The prevalence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in adolescent girls aged 15-19 attending a department of genitourinary medicine was compared for the years 1972 and 1982. Data were obtained from the confidential register using the coding of the clinic returns to the Department of Health (form SBH 60). There were 1373 patients in 1972 and 1799 in 1982, 6.4% and 7% respectively of the total female clinic population. The prevalence of syphilis, gonorrhoea, and infection with Trichomonas vaginalis, herpes simplex virus, and warts was almost unchanged. Other conditions, which are not classified as STD, were largely responsible for the increase in new attendances, the prevalence of these conditions having nearly doubled over the ten year period. Thus an epidemic of STD has not been shown in this adolescent female population over the past decade.

On legislative interoperability in civil law protection of intellectual property rights for medicinal products

In the framework of this article, attention is drawn to the importance of legal ordering in the created domestic regulatory framework of intellectual property for medicines on the basis of international law, implemented by approximating national legislation to the norms of the European Community law system in this area. The shortcomings of the standard approaches of Ukrainian lawmaking in the intellectual pharmaceutical industry to the transformation of legal experience in the pharmaceutical industry of the European Community, generating domestic legislative eclecticism, are presented.
 The effect of omitting the clarity of the definitions of the basic concepts in the regulatory legal acts of the national legislation, namely: «homeopathic medicines», «confidential registration information», «independent expert», «reference medicinal product», «original (innovative ionic preparation)», «unlawful use of natural information on the safety and efficacy of a medicinal product», «a similar biological preparation (biosimilar)», on intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry on the education of legally inferior, with protective and protective helplessness, intellectual property objects for medicines, which is a manifestation of the legal incompetence of national legislators.
 Indicated on the negligent attitude of domestic lawmakers to the uncertain classification of inventions in pharmaceuticals, which, like the above definitions of the concepts of intellectual property for medicines, forms a deformed regulatory framework for patenting in this area - the basis for possible offenses in the form of patent trolling, counterfeit pharmaceutical products, corruption schemes in medicine, unfair competition, falsification of drugs, etc., where, first of all First, the level of safety is leveled, as are the spines and effectiveness of drugs. At the same time, it should be noted that the lack of results of proper judicial practice in the field of intellectual property for medicinal products is an indicator of non-functioning legislative mechanisms for the transformation of the European legal system into a national regulatory framework.
 The importance and necessity of restoring ecological pharmacies to consolidate the system of legal regulation of the intellectual pharmaceutical industry by increasing the transparency of the pharmaceutical market and the responsibility of its participants is indicated.
 In our opinion, the legislation in this priority for the state strategy area should be reviewed to eliminate recurrences and contradictions based on the implemented system of monitoring, competent legal analytics and control of compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU legislation. In turn, a well-functioning, fully documented pharmaceutical quality system must be developed that should include Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) with quality control and risk management for quality at the stage of intelligent product creation. Thus, the underestimated pharmacy business, where extracorporeal medicines created in the conditions of individual production (manufacturing) with ensuring compliance with their purpose, the requirements of regulatory (analytical, technical, technological) documents, the State Pharmacopeia of Ukraine, and exclusion of risks for patients, may unreasonably have features patentability, based on international experience, as a manifestation of relevant medicine.

Co-ordination of Family Welfare Services in France

AN INTERESTING new experiment on co-operation between public and private welfare organizations in France deserves the attention of social workers. Until the end of World War I family welfare services were rendered primarily by private social agencies of religious or philanthropic character in order to help families in economic or material difficulties and in problems with their children or relatives. Traditional development had led to a situation in which numerous private health and welfare agencies engaged in family counseling and infant and child care. Dispensaries and clinics sent their home visitors into families for social investigation and advice. More recently, local public welfare agencies, the regional offices of the family allowance funds, and the social insurance administration have employed trained social workers. They too make home calls and visit frequently the same families that are under the care of private agencies. It happened, occasionally, that social workers of several organizations met in the home of a client's family or duplicated each other's efforts in discussing problems, giving advice, taking the social history of the family, and making plans for relief or rehabilitation. On the other hand, people in great need remained without help from any organization because their distress was not known. The overlapping in care was due in part to the fact that there was no social service exchange with a central confidential register which informed the various agencies about those clients who were cared for by other organizations. After the end of World War II social problems were intensified. Families were broken by the death of many members of the armed forces and partisans of the maquis and by prolonged separation from those who became prisoners of war or were taken from their homes as slave laborers. Severe housing shortages, widespread unemployment, lack of food and clothing in the war devastated areas caused suffering and discontent. A change in the method of individual social work with families was needed in order to use the available resources more