Privacy and Emergency Payments in a Pandemic: How to Think about Privacy and a Central Bank Digital Currency

The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many governments to provide emergency payments to citizens. These one-off and recurring payments revealed the shortcomings of existing financial infrastructures even as electronic payments replaced cash for everyday expenses. Delays in getting government payments to citizens in many countries focused attention on the potential benefits of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). This article outlines the social and economic policy choices involved in designing a CBDC and the consequences of these choices for privacy. Priorities including preventing the criminal abuse of the financial system, geopolitical concerns and private sector innovation compete with, and potentially undermine, privacy. We identify and categorize four key privacy risks as 'losses associated with current CBDC models: loss of anonymity, loss of liberty, loss of individual control, and loss of regulatory control.

China's Covid-19 Response: The Role of Bankruptcy Law and 'Typical' Cases

This article examines responses to the Covid-19 crisis in China in the context of emerging corporate bankruptcy law and practice as demonstrated by the Supreme People's Court selection and publication of eight 'typical cases' involving enterprises in financial difficulty during the pandemic. The article analyses the differences between 'guiding' cases, which have the greatest precedential value, and 'typical' cases and the potential for typical cases to affect the approach of lower courts to bankruptcy cases both during and after the pandemic, which coincided with a significant increase in the number of formal bankruptcy filings in China. We find that the courts claim an important coordinating role in the typical cases and openly apply the law as set out in the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law flexibly - with a focus on reorganisation-type proceedings - and that social stability remains a paramount objective. The strategic use of bankruptcy law as part of the response to the crisis and the publication of these cases by the Supreme People's Court underscore the increasing sophistication of China's corporate bankruptcy law and practice and the continuing role of the state in encouraging the use of debt workout and restructuring techniques within a robust, yet controlled, environment. © 2022 The Authors.

Ambulatory percutaneous nephrolithotomy is safe and effective in extended criteria patients

Introduction & Objective: Ambulatory tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (aPCNL) has been shown to be safe and effective in highly selected patients. However, these selection criteria preclude the vast majority of patients that undergo PCNL. The objective of our study was to compare complication and stone free rates after aPCNL in standard selection criteria vs. extended criteria patients. Methods: Retrospective review of prospective data on all patients who underwent aPCNL at one academic center from 2007-2018. Extended criteria patients were defined as any: Age >75 years, BMI >30 kg/m2, ASA >2, bilateral stones, solitary kidney, staghorn calculi, stone burden >40 mm, multiple tracts, or prior nephrostomy tubes/stents. Primary outcomes were complication rates (Clavien-Dindo classification) and stone free rates (no fragments >/ = 3 mm). All patients were discharged with a ureteric stent and no nephrostomy tube after meeting discharge criteria which included hemodynamic stability, no fever, and no significant pain. Results: We identified 118 patients of which 92 (78%) met extended criteria. Mean BMI was 31 kg/m2 and 45% were ASA 3 or higher. Mean sum maximum stone diameter was 24 mm. Multiple stones were present in 25%, bilateral stones in 7%, staghorn stones in 4%, and pre-existing tubes/stents in 4%. There was no difference in complication (12% vs. 18%, p = 0.56), Emergency department visit (12% vs 18%, p = 0.56), or readmission (4% vs. 5%, p = 1) rates between standard and extended criteria patients respectively (Table 1). Of the complications, 85% were Clavien-Dindo grade 1. Stone free rates were not different between standard (84%) and extended (83%) criteria patients (p = 1). No extended criteria variables were associated with complications in univariate analysis. Stone burden >40mm (OR 5.8, 95% CI 1.4-25.2, p = 0.018) and multiple tracts (13.1, 95% CI 1.1-154.7, p = 0.041) were associated with residual stone fragments. Conclusions: Complication and stone free rates were not different between standard and extended selection criteria patients undergoing aPCNL. This data supports the safety and efficacy of aPCNL in patients using extended selection criteria. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain hospital resources, aPCNL offers a solution to deal with a growing backlog of patients with complex stone disease.