Gibson Dunn lawyers provide a look at personal data and other privacy-related legal developments across Europe for the first quarter of 2022.
April 7, 2022
On March 30, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, by a three-to-one vote, issued a press release announcing proposed new rules intended to enhance disclosure and investor protections in initial public offerings by special purpose acquisition companies and in subsequent business combinations between SPACs and private operating companies.
April 6, 2022
The UK’s competition watchdog has prohibited a proposed merger that the European Commission had cleared little more than one month ago. On the same day, the US Department of Justice announced that it considered the deal problematic. These developments highlight the growing uncertainties that companies now face in getting global deals through and underline the need for careful, strategic planning to manage competition law risks.
April 5, 2022
On March 31, 2022, the Supreme Court held 8-1 that federal jurisdiction to confirm or vacate an arbitral award under Sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act must exist independent of the underlying controversy - that is, courts cannot “look through” to the underlying dispute to establish federal subject-matter jurisdiction.
March 31, 2022
On March 16, 2022, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed two new bills into law that expand non-discrimination protections in the workplace. As a result, New York now prohibits employers from releasing employee personnel files in retaliation for such employee’s engagement in protected activity. Additionally, the state will be announcing a state-run sexual harassment hotline that will need to be referenced in anti-harassment policies and postings.
March 28, 2022
The European Union has reached political agreement on its landmark Digital Markets Act legislation. The EU-wide DMA will apply in addition to competition law rules and targets the largest digital platforms. The legislation which introduces a broad-based regulation of digital markets should be formally adopted in the coming weeks and will enter into force at the beginning of 2023.
March 28, 2022
In a closely followed decision that directly addresses an issue of critical importance for the interactive fantasy sports industry, in which daily fantasy sports are a subset, the New York Court of Appeals held on March 22, 2022 that interactive fantasy sports contests do not constitute “gambling” within the meaning of New York’s constitutional prohibition on gambling.
March 25, 2022
Our lawyers discuss how Russia’s restrictions on the media violate its international human rights obligations, and also may breach obligations it owes foreign investors under investment treaties to which it is party.
March 24, 2022
On March 15, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act, which creates two new reporting obligations on owners and operators of critical infrastructure.
March 22, 2022
On 2 March 2022, Heads of State, Environment Ministers, and representatives from 175 countries endorsed a resolution at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi to negotiate an international legally binding agreement to “end plastic pollution” by the end of 2024.
March 21, 2022
Our lawyers discuss a recent ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery which addresses “sandbagging,” where a buyer closes an acquisition on the basis of representations in the purchase agreement it knows to be false, then proceeds to sue the seller post-closing based on a breach of those same representations.
March 21, 2022
On 2 March 2022, the United States signed the Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (also known as the “Hague Judgments Convention.”) The Hague Judgments Convention seeks to enhance access to justice and facilitate international trade and investment by encouraging the free flow of judgments across national borders.
March 18, 2022
In this article, Gibson Dunn attorneys analyze carbon-neutral LNG transactions and consider the measurement of emissions and transaction reporting, with a view to establishing whether carbon-neutral LNG trades are the beginning of a new paradigm that the LNG industry will need to adopt in order to address the requirements of governments, customers and stakeholders.
March 16, 2022
On 23 February 2022, the European Commission published its long-awaited draft directive on “Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence,” which sets out mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence obligations for corporates, together with a civil liability regime to enforce compliance with the obligations to prevent, mitigate and bring adverse impacts to an end.
March 11, 2022
Utah is poised to join California, Virginia, and Colorado in enacting comprehensive data privacy legislation. Although Utah’s law largely follows the Virginia and Colorado models—with a few provisions that may ease the burden on businesses—it adds to an increasingly active state legislative landscape.
March 11, 2022
On March 9, 2022 the SEC held a virtual open meeting where it considered a rule proposal for new cybersecurity disclosure requirements for public companies. Our lawyers provide a summary description of the rule proposal, as well as a Commissioner’s concerns related to the proposal.
March 11, 2022
On March 9, 2022, President Biden signed a long-awaited Executive Order regarding the U.S. government’s strategy for digital assets. Our lawyers review the three principal takeaways from the Executive Order.
March 10, 2022
On February 14, 2022, the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced they had reached a $5.5 million settlement with NCH Healthcare System to resolve common law claims arising from NCH’s donations to local government entities—payments that the government alleged were used improperly to fund Florida’s share of Medicaid payments made to NCH.
March 7, 2022
Increased enforcement by agencies such as the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department – and the 2021 withdrawal of the Vertical Merger Guidelines – signals an era of uncertainty for certain kinds of mergers between a supplier or input provider and a customer that, in the past, would have closed with few if any remedies.
March 2, 2022
The United States has now imposed additional new sanctions and sweeping export controls that not only target key pillars of the economies of Russia and Belarus but will also have significant collateral effects across a wide range of other sectors in Russia.
February 28, 2022