The Senate has yet to take action on the 21st Century Act (FIT21) (H.R.4763) which passed the House by a comfortable margin of 279-136 on May 22, 2024. FIT21 is a proposed landmark piece of legislation that would enact a...more
9/13/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Fraud ,
Investment Fraud ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
South Korea ,
Unfair Trade Practices Act ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE) ,
Whistleblowers
CryptoLink is a compilation of news stories published by outside organizations. Akin aggregates the stories, but the information contained in them does not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of the firm. Akin's...more
8/16/2024
/ Bitcoin ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Penalties ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
UK
CryptoLink is a compilation of news stories published by outside organizations. Akin aggregates the stories, but the information contained in them does not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of the firm. Akin's...more
7/25/2024
/ Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
FDIC ,
Fraud ,
Investment ,
IRS ,
Jurisdiction ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
U.S. Treasury
CryptoLink is a compilation of news stories published by outside organizations. Akin aggregates the stories, but the information contained in them does not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of the firm. Akin's May...more
6/13/2024
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
CFTC ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Ethereum ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Wells Notice ,
Wire Fraud
The big news in crypto policy came out of the Senate this month. On April 17, Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) partnered once again in the digital asset space, this time introducing the...more
Health care was one of the most active issue areas in 2023 and this trend is expected to continue when Congress returns in the New Year for the second session of the 118th Congress. The activity by the health committees of...more
1/2/2024
/ Appropriation ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Clinical Laboratories ,
Congressional Oversight ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Diagnostic Tests ,
Drug Pricing ,
Fiscal Year ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Price Transparency ,
Proposed Rules ,
Supply Shortages
Introduction -
Congress returns from the August recess with a robust agenda and limited time to pursue it. The calendar is further constrained by the September 30 deadline to pass appropriations packages or a continuing...more
9/5/2023
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Climate Change ,
Continuing Resolution ,
EBITDA ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Government Shutdown ,
Healthcare ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Life Sciences ,
NDAA ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Health care has been one of the most active issue areas in the 118th Congress. The activity by the health committees of jurisdiction in both the House and the Senate has been fueled in part by efforts to reauthorize various...more
9/1/2023
/ Animal Drugs ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Healthcare ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Opioid ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Supply Shortages ,
Telehealth ,
Transparency
On Saturday, June 3, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R. 3746; the “Act”). In addition to suspending the debt limit through January 1, 2025, the Act implements caps on both non-defense...more
Key Points -
USCIS’ deauthorization of previously approved EB-5 Regional Centers has been rescinded, and the EB-5 program is once again active.
EB-5 investors will no longer be required to wait several months for...more
Key Points -
On August 3, 2022, Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Boozman (R-AR)—the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee—introduced the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 (S....more
For those individuals leaving the Trump administration or interested in serving under the Biden administration, two important developments will impact those decisions. In one of his final acts as President, Donald Trump...more
With recounts and runoffs underway in multiple races, candidates and political party committees are actively soliciting contributions to fund the efforts.
Individuals or political action committees (PACs) looking to...more
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has released updated contribution limits for individuals, political action committees (PACs), and state and national party committees for the 2019-2020 election cycle...more
On August 3, 2018, Judge Beryl Howell, the Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a ruling invalidating long-standing Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations because the FEC had...more
On June 8, 2018, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock signed an executive order requiring recipients of major government contracts to disclose certain political activities. All business entities seeking contracts valued at more than...more
6/20/2018
/ Capital Expenditures ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Committees ,
Political Contributions ,
Political Parties ,
State and Local Government ,
Transparency
The $1.3 trillion spending bill to fund the government for the remainder of FY 2018 (September 30) contained several provisions affecting campaign finance laws and regulations.
Two provisions specifically prohibit the...more
4/3/2018
/ 501(c)(4) ,
Appropriations Bill ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Budget ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
New Rules ,
Political Contributions ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Exempt Entities
With President Trump signing into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 this past Friday, Congress established a new bipartisan, bicameral committee with the express goal of improving “the solvency of multiemployer pension...more
As we enter the new year, there are new changes in state and federal lobbying, gift and campaign finance laws.
California: In September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed new campaign finance laws that require political committees...more
1/18/2018
/ Ballot Measures ,
Campaign Finance Reform ,
Capital Contributions ,
Constitutional Amendment ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Communications ,
Ethics ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
General Assembly ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Greitens ,
Governor McAuliffe ,
Governor Scott ,
Lobbying ,
Lobbyists ,
New Legislation ,
New Rules ,
Political Committees ,
Political Contributions ,
Reversal ,
Secretary of State ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration
A former Senior Advisor to President Obama has been fined $90,000 for violating the City of Chicago’s lobbying ordinances by communicating with Mayor Rahm Emanuel on behalf of his client without registering as a lobbyist with...more
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has released updated contribution limits for individuals, political action committees (PACs), and state and national party committees for the 2017-2018 election cycle. The limit for...more
As we enter the new year, please note the following recent changes made to state and federal lobbying, gift and campaign finance laws...more
As the second session of the 114th Congress comes to a close, the House and Senate are busy preparing for the first session of the 115th Congress, which will convene on January 3, 2017. The House will be in session for 145...more
On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a new rule that modifies who is “exempt” from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. Corporations with Political Action...more
If you only read one thing . . .
- Beginning with the Q3 2016 lobbying report, the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) is requiring California lobbyist employers to itemize “other lobbying...more