In Yegiazaryan v. Smagin, the Supreme Court of the United States built upon its decision in RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community, which concerned whether the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) ...more
On May 19, 2023, the United States along with other members of the G7 and other allied countries imposed additional sanctions and export controls meant to further restrict Russian economic activity and degrade Russia’s...more
6/5/2023
/ Aircraft ,
Belarus ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Research and Development ,
Russia ,
Technology Sector ,
Transportation Industry ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Ukraine ,
US Department of State ,
Vessels
On April 28, 2023, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Rachel Rollins, joined by national and local federal enforcement officials from the Disruptive Technology Strike Force (DTSF), described the DTSF mission and...more
On April 6, 2023, Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) agreed to pay $3.3 million to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
The centrality of international trade laws in the development and execution of U.S. foreign policy has never been more evident than in 2022. Companies that have not invested in international trade compliance programs are...more
4/21/2023
/ Belarus ,
Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Human Rights ,
International Trade ,
Iran ,
National Security ,
Nicaragua ,
Russia ,
Trade Restrictions ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
UK ,
US Department of State ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) ,
Venezuela ,
Virtual Currency ,
Withhold Release Orders (WROs)
U.S. Policy Developments -
Since the fall of 2022, DOJ has made several policy pronouncements in connection with its efforts to combat corporate crime. While it remains to be seen how these policies will ultimately affect...more
4/5/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FATF ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Remediation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements
Last month, former University of Kansas Professor Feng “Franklin” Tao was sentenced to time served and two years of supervised release for making false statements in the University of Kansas’s conflict of interest and...more
In order to continue restricting Russia’s ability to finance war efforts against Ukraine, on February 3, 2023, the G7 nations implemented two new price caps on seaborne petroleum products that originate in Russia (“Russian...more
CFIUS reviewed a record number of transactions in 2021 according to its most recent annual report – and shows no signs of slowing down.
High technology (including quantum computing), life sciences, and green energy...more
2/9/2023
/ Aerospace ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Biotechnology ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Clean Energy ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Processors ,
Defense Production Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Infrastructure ,
Insurance Industry ,
International Trade ,
Life Sciences ,
National Security ,
OSTP ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Semiconductors ,
Supply Chain ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications
Earlier in January 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced revisions to its Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for the first time since 2017. In his speech...more
2/1/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Mergers ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
White Collar Crimes
During oral argument in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, the Court raised several questions about whether a state-owned entity, Halkbank, was immune from U.S. criminal prosecution under the common law.
The...more
The Supreme Court of the United States is set to determine whether the United States can prosecute a commercial bank, which is majority-owned by the Republic of Turkey, for allegedly violating U.S. law. In 2019, U.S. federal...more
Following the initial announcement in September 2022 by the Group of Seven Nations (“G7”) that they would set a price cap on Russian-origin oil and petroleum products, the U.S., the EU, and the UK have moved to implement the...more
On October 28, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco released a memo setting out “Initial Revisions to Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policies.” The memo indicated that the Department of Justice would place greater...more
U.S. augments current sanctions on Nicaragua by imposing additional sanctions on the Nicaraguan mining authority and the former Nicaraguan head of state security, and expanding sanctions authorities allowing the U.S. to...more
I. Additional Export Controls on Russia and Belarus -
(a) Export restrictions on a wide range of EAR99 items -
Effective September 15, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)...more
9/27/2022
/ Belarus ,
Expiration Date ,
Export Controls ,
Extensions ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil Prices ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Commerce Department
On August 31, 2022, in a lengthy order, Judge Timothy Hillman of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts denied motions to dismiss that were filed by multiple defendant banks (the “Banks”) in an attempt to avoid liability...more
On August 12, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a 2-1 decision affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut to partly overturn the conviction of Lawrence Hoskins...more
8/23/2022
/ Acquittals ,
Alstom ,
Appeals ,
Bribery ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Money Laundering ,
White Collar Crimes
On July 13, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the whistleblower protections contained in Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) do not apply to employees who report potential...more
I. OFAC Prohibits Gold Importation from the Russian Federation -
Implementing the declaration of G-7 leaders on June 26, 2022, the United States has joined the UK, Canada and Japan in prohibiting the importation of newly...more
I. OFAC Publishes FAQs Addressing Ban on New Investment in Russia On April 6, 2022, President Biden signed Executive Order (“EO”) 14071, which prohibits all “new investment in the Russian Federation by a United States...more
June 23, 2022 Key Takeaways: In two recent speeches, Matthew Axelrod, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), has signaled policy changes related to...more
6/23/2022
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Sanctions ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
U.S. Commerce Department
BIS Imposes New Export Controls on Certain Industrial EAR99 Items -
Currently, all items on the Export Administration Regulations’ (“EAR“) Commerce Control List (“CCL”) require a license for export, re-export or transfer...more
6/14/2022
/ Belarus ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Entity List ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
General Licenses ,
Imports ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
UK ,
Ukraine
I. U.S. Persons Prohibited from Providing Accounting, Trust and Corporate Formation, and Management Consulting Services to Russia -
On May 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
U.S. Actions Following increased sanctions on Russian banks and a new Executive Order banning investment in the Russian Federation (reported by Foley Hoag here), on April 7, 2022, the U.S. sanctioned two major Russian...more