Since March, pursuant to the new Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has “identified” more than 135 companies that relied on auditors headquartered in mainland...more
Key Points -
As part of highly coordinated U.S. government and allied and partner country responses to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus’ enabling of it, BIS imposed on February 24, 2022, and March 2,...more
Key Points -
CFIUS added New Zealand to its white list of “excepted foreign states,” joining Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in the group of countries whose investors may qualify for jurisdictional carve-outs and...more
Key Points -
On November 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a notice of proposed rulemaking related to “connected software applications” (“apps”) that aims to expressly incorporate transactions involving...more
On October 18, 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department released a long awaited report on its first of its kind “top to bottom” review of U.S. economic and financial sanctions. The report does not make or recommend any immediate or...more
Key Points -
On June 9, President Biden signed an executive order (“EO”) revoking a series of Trump-era EOs targeting specific Chinese “connected software applications” (“apps”), including TikTok and WeChat.
The EO calls...more
6/23/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Supply Chain
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14032 (Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People’s Republic of China) (“CMIC EO”) that modifies the Trump-era...more
Key Points
- On January 19, 2021, the U.S. Commerce Department published an interim final rule (IFR) to implement Executive Order 13873 of May 15, 2019, on “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and...more
2/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
National Security ,
Personal Data ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Public Comment ,
Sensitive Personal Information ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Commerce Department
The U.S. government has recently imposed controls pertaining to “Communist Chinese Military Companies” (CCMCs or “1237 entities”); Chinese “Military End Users” (MEUs); and Chinese “Military-Intelligence End Users” (MIEUs)....more
Key Points
- On November 12, 2020, President Trump issued a new EO prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in transactions in publicly traded securities of certain CCMCs, or any securities that are derivative of, or are...more
1/4/2021
/ China ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Derivatives ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Instruments ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Private Equity ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
SDN List ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
- On September 15, Treasury published a Final Rule adopting changes to the CFIUS mandatory filing framework for covered transactions involving critical technologies.
- Rather than being pegged to targeted industries...more
9/22/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Exceptions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Filing Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Investment ,
General Licenses ,
National Security ,
Technology Transfer Agreements
- On July 8, 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a Request for Information (RFI) concerning Executive Order 13920, “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System” (the “E.O.”). The E.O. authorizes the DOE to block...more
7/13/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Request For Information ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Supply Chain
- On May 21, 2020, Treasury published a Proposed Rule to align the CFIUS mandatory filing framework for transactions involving critical technologies with existing export-licensing requirements.
- Under the Proposed Rule,...more
5/26/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Comment Period ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Filing Requirements ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
General Licenses ,
National Security ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Technology Sector ,
U.S. Treasury
ANTICORRUPTION DEVELOPMENTS -
New Guilty Plea in College Admissions Scandal -
On April 21, 2020, Jorge Salcedo, a former tennis coach at a prominent California university, entered into a plea agreement related to his...more
5/14/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
College Admissions ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
General Licenses ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Red Notices ,
Sanction Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblowers
Investment facilitation is among the new generation issues being discussed at the World Trade Organization (WTO), alongside issues such as electronic commerce and digital trade. The concept of “investment facilitation” refers...more
- On May 1, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order (E.O.) aimed at curtailing the use of foreign-sourced electric equipment installed on the U.S. “bulk-power system,” which is commonly understood to mean the U.S....more
IN THIS ISSUE -
• Anticorruption Developments
• Export Control Sanctions and Customs Enforcement
• Export Control and Sanctions Developments
• Global Investigations Resources
• Writing and Speaking...more
4/15/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
College Admissions ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Racketeering ,
Red Notices ,
Restitution ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
USTR ,
Whistleblowers