On November 28, the Small Business Administration (SBA) finalized a rule that requires veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) to obtain formal SBA certification to...more
Although not receiving much media attention, in October 2022, the nationwide injunction on Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (the “EO”) was lifted. The injunction,...more
On October 20, 2022, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) issued the “CFIUS Enforcement and Penalty Guidelines” (the “Guidelines”). These are the first-ever Guidelines issued by CFIUS which is a...more
On September 30, 2022, the United States instituted new sanctions to address the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict. The new sanctions follow the Leaders of the Group of Seven’s (“G7”) statement condemning Russia’s referendum...more
10/19/2022
/ Annexation ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Defense Sector ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
G7 ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
As the war continues in Ukraine, pressure from the European Union (“E.U.”) and the United States (“U.S.”) continue to mount on Russia’s global interests. On April 6, 2022, the United States issued Executive Order 14071,...more
The Russian Federation’s intensifying war efforts across Ukraine prompted the U.S. government to announce that it will implement a ban on Russian oil and gas imports. Under the ban, the U.S. will not import “Russian crude oil...more
3/10/2022
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Bans ,
UK ,
Ukraine
The United States and the European Union announced new economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. It is important to appreciate the timing of the implementation of the sanctions and...more
The international community continues to heighten the compliance burden for companies with business ties to Ukraine and Russia following a new round of sanctions. On February 26, 2022, the United States, along with several...more
3/3/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
NYDFS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
SWIFT ,
Ukraine
As the Russian-Ukraine conflict continues to elicit intensifying economic responses from multiple countries, the frequency and rapidity of these new sanctions have left companies scrambling to align their internal and...more
3/2/2022
/ Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Debt Restructuring ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Supply Chain ,
SWIFT ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, the United States and other countries have intensified economic sanctions against the Russian Federation. These sanctions ride on the heels of initial sanctions issued prior to...more
2/28/2022
/ Australia ,
Canada ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
Japan ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
Ukraine
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalates, the U.S. Government has started to implement new sanctions on Russian entities on top of the ones that already existed. On February 21, 2022, the Executive Order on Blocking Property...more
2/25/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Supply Chain ,
Ukraine
On Friday, December 17, 2021, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted the stay on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine mandate (the “OSHA Rule”). The OSHA Rule requires businesses with 100 or...more
On December 7, a Georgia federal judge blocked the highly contentious federal contractor vaccine mandate from going into effect nationwide. Upon issuing the injunction, the judge ruled that “even in times of crisis this Court...more
On November 4, 2021, the White House extended the deadline for covered federal contractors to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate established by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. Now, instead of being in compliance...more
11/12/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 15, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a policy statement (“Statement”) addressing the scope of its Health Breach Notification Rule (“Rule”) on health apps and connected devices. The Rule, first issued...more
On June 4, 2021, the European Commission (the “EC”) adopted the highly anticipated updated Standard Contractual Clauses (the “Updated SCCs”) for international data transfers following the Court of Justice of the European...more
On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated NCAA v. Alston opinion. The unanimous decision affirmed that, under federal antitrust law, the NCAA cannot restrict benefits related to education for...more
In an unprecedented move, the Fourth Circuit in Steves and Sons Inc. v. JELD-WEN Inc. recently affirmed an order requiring a company to unwind the acquisition of competitor business in connection with an antitrust action...more
A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) decision provides unsuccessful government contractors yet another avenue to pursue a bid protest. Notably, the Federal Circuit resolved the looming...more
In an increasingly datafied and globalized world, businesses have become reliant upon the seamless flow of cross-border data transfers. Transatlantic data flows play an important role in the U.S. economy. The U.S. and the...more
3/19/2021
/ Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Cross-Border ,
EDPS ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Social Media ,
Standard Contractual Clauses
A common tactic by competitors is to seek adversaries’ (or even supply-chain partners’) data that is maintained by the United States, an individual state, or even municipal governmental agencies. These efforts are meant to...more
3/16/2021
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Data Collection ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FOIA ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Privileged Communication ,
Privileged Documents ,
Public Records ,
SCOTUS ,
Sierra Club ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service v Sierra Club
On March 7, 2021, President Biden signed an executive order aiming to increase voters’ access to elections. The executive order serves as an “initial step” in President Biden’s plan to work with Congress to attempt to...more
In the wake of COVID-19, small businesses have faced unique challenges and hardships. In response, the government created a federal relief program under the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), aimed toward...more
3/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Independent Contractors ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
Self Employed ,
Small Business ,
Small Business Loans ,
Sole Proprietorship
Many investors, traditional and progressive, are looking hard at cryptocurrency investments as a way to diversify their portfolios. However, there are still multiple known “unknowns” about this new market, including the...more
2/24/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Export Controls ,
FinCEN ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
Due to COVID-19, there have been a significant amount of economic incentive programs and government contract opportunities to assist in stimulus and responding to the crisis. This is in addition to the typical government...more