The Situation: The U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") has issued guidance revising its 2016 voluntary disclosure policy to provide companies stronger incentives to voluntarily self-report apparent potentially willful trade...more
1/13/2020
/ Cooperation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Self-Reporting ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
White Collar Crimes
The Situation: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS," or the "Committee") recently published draft regulations implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act ("FIRRMA"), which...more
10/31/2019
/ Biotechnology ,
CFIUS ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Data Collection ,
Draft Guidance ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
ITAR ,
Life Sciences ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Real Estate Transactions
The Situation: The United States government has been ramping up its efforts to protect sensitive data and is making clear it expects its contractors to protect data they receive and create. According to a recent Inspector...more
10/25/2019
/ Cloud Computing ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NIST ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain
Ambiguous, undefined terms create uncertainty and confusion, including whether owned or controlled subsidiaries of U.S. companies outside the United States are subject to this reporting requirement.
On June 21, the...more
Companies in the banking/financial, energy, logistics, and shipping sectors should assess their operations to mitigate sanctions compliance risks.
On Monday, April 22, 2019, the Trump Administration announced that, in the...more
The Situation: Using a novel approach, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") concurrently designated a non-U.S. individual to the Foreign Sanctions Evaders ("FSE") List in connection...more
Signed into law in August 2018, the Export Control Reform Act ("ECRA") significantly alters U.S. export policy by placing new emphasis and potential controls on critical technologies essential to the nation's security. As...more
The Situation: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently held that a bid need not contain all of the information listed in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR clause 52.225-9) to qualify for the "unreasonable...more
The Situation: The U.S. government imposed initial sanctions on Russia under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991. The sanctions relate to the March 2018 attempted assassination of...more
The Situation: Ever since President Trump launched major trade initiatives last year, there has been considerable uncertainty about how the administration would proceed. Recent developments have clarified the intentions of...more
6/21/2018
/ China ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Imports ,
NAFTA ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Section 232 ,
Section 301 ,
Semiconductors ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
On May 11, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs ("Committee") released a "discussion draft" of the Committee's amendment to the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017...more
The Situation: On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States has withdrawn from the Iran Nuclear Deal and will fully reimpose its suspended sanctions targeting Iran.
The Result: All currently...more
5/14/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Exporters ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
National Security ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
TSRA
On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States would cease participating in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA"), commonly known as the Iran Deal. This will reimpose, by no later than November 5,...more
5/10/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
New Guidance ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
The Situation: The Trump Administration has imposed sanctions against a number of high-profile Russian individuals and entities by adding them to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons ("SDN") List.
The...more
4/12/2018
/ Blocked Person ,
CAATSA ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Licenses ,
Government Officials ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
While 2017 was an evolutionary year for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS"), 2018 portends to be a revolutionary year. A number of factors, including a new President, growing concerns over...more
The Situation: Regulations implementing tightened U.S. policy towards engagement with Cuba have rolled back a number of Obama-era initiatives and are effective immediately.
The Result: Provisions that encourage Cuban...more
12/1/2017
/ Cuba ,
Cuba Restricted List ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Policy ,
General Licenses ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Private Sector ,
Trade Relations ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Trump Administration
Congress recently introduced two pieces of legislation that could significantly change foreign direct investment review in the United States. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 ("FIRRMA") seeks to...more
On Friday, October 13, 2017, President Trump announced that he would not certify that the suspension of sanctions pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ("JCPOA") (commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal) is...more
The Situation: CFIUS recently released its annual report to Congress regarding transactions reviewed by CFIUS during 2015, as well as limited information regarding transactions reviewed during 2016....more
10/13/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Annual Reports ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Mitigation ,
National Security
On October 6, 2017, the United States announced that, effective October 12, 2017, it will substantially revoke sanctions on Sudan and the Government of Sudan in recognition of the Government of Sudan's sustained positive...more
In Short -
The Situation: Over the past several months, North Korea has engaged in several activities, particularly relating to missile and nuclear testing, that violate several United Nations resolutions and that...more
10/3/2017
/ Aircraft ,
Blocked Person ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Accounts ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
National Security ,
North Korea ,
Nuclear Weapons ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Third Country Entities (TCEs) ,
Trade Restrictions ,
Trump Administration ,
Vessels
On August 24, 2017, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order imposing new sanctions intended to restrict financing connected to the Government of Venezuela. These sanctions supplement existing sanctions imposed by the...more
9/5/2017
/ Bonds ,
Citgo ,
Debt-Equity ,
Dividends ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration ,
Venezuela
On August 2, 2017, President Trump signed the "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act" ("Act") into law. The Act, which codifies and strengthens sanctions against Russia and expands sanctions against Iran and...more
8/8/2017
/ Congressional Override ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Imports ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
North Korea ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
SSI List ,
State-Owned Enterprises ,
Trump Administration
On July 11, 2017, President Trump issued an executive order that postpones any decision regarding whether to terminate the comprehensive sanctions regime against Sudan for an additional three months—until October 12, 2017....more
In our December 2016 Commentary on the "Government Contracts Ramifications of the Trump Election" and our January 2017 update, we predicted that the Trump Administration would seek to strengthen domestic preferences in...more
5/4/2017
/ Buy America ,
Buy American Act ,
Domestic Hiring Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Public Interest Waivers ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
Steel Industry ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration ,
USTR ,
WTO