Six months ago, President Donald Trump announced his decision to abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the "JCPOA")—and re-impose U.S. nuclear-related sanctions on the Iranian regime. The second and final wind-down period for those sanctions expired on November 5, 2018, triggering the "snap back" of remaining U.S. secondary sanctions on Iran's oil, energy, and financial sectors, among other measures.
November 9, 2018
This is the latest update of significant developments related to regulatory, administrative, and legal actions involving schools. This quarter saw the Ninth Circuit issue its long-awaited decision in United States ex rel. Rose v. Stephens Institute, a number of other interesting developments related to the False Claims Act ("FCA"), a flurry of activity from the Department of Education and other federal agencies, and more.
November 6, 2018
On October 3, 2018, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
November 6, 2018
On October 24, 2018, Glass Lewis released its updated U.S. proxy voting policy guidelines for 2019, including guidelines for shareholder proposals.
November 1, 2018
Last week, President Trump signed into law the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (the "Act") that, among other things, amends Section 205 of the Federal Power Act to make it easier to challenge new electric transmission rates for utilities regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC" or "the Commission").
October 31, 2018
This update provides an overview and summary of significant class action developments during the third quarter of 2018 (July through September), as well as a brief look ahead to some of the key class action issues anticipated for the end of 2018 and into 2019.
October 24, 2018
The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") is increasingly focusing on the advertising, data privacy/security, and e-commerce processes of prominent companies marketing legitimate, valuable products and services, as compared to the types of fraudsters and shams that have been a central focus of FTC attention in the past.
October 24, 2018
On October 19, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") and the Treasury Department issued proposed regulations (the "Proposed Regulations") providing rules regarding the establishment and operation of "qualified opportunity funds" and their investment in "opportunity zones."
October 22, 2018
On October 16, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued a long-awaited order on the return on equity ("ROE") to be used by electric utilities in New England for setting their transmission rates.
October 18, 2018
On October 16, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a report warning public companies about the importance of internal controls to prevent cyber fraud. The report described the SEC Division of Enforcement's investigation of multiple public companies which had collectively lost nearly $100 million in a range of cyber-scams typically involving phony emails requesting payments to vendors or corporate executives.
October 17, 2018
On October 9, 2018, in Flood v. Synutra Intth'l, Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court further refined when in a controller transaction the procedural safeguards of Kahn v. M & F Worldwide Corp. ("MFW") must be implemented to obtain business judgment rule review of the transaction.
October 15, 2018
Since the result of the Brexit referendum was announced in June 2016, there has been significant commentary regarding the potential effects of the UK's withdrawal from the EU on the financial services industry.
October 11, 2018
We are pleased to provide the following update on recent legal developments in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous systems (or "AI" for short), and their implications for companies developing or using products based on these technologies.
October 10, 2018
Our discussions with politicians, civil servants, journalists and other commentators lead us to believe that the most likely outcome of the Brexit negotiations is that a deal will be agreed at the “softer” end of the spectrum, that the Conservative Government will survive and that Theresa May will remain as Prime Minister at least until a Brexit deal is agreed (although perhaps not thereafter).
October 10, 2018
Over the last several months, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has expressed a clear interest in protecting the U.S. financial system from illicit activities in the digital currency space and has posited that transactions involving digital currencies be treated similarly to transactions involving traditional fiat currency.
October 5, 2018
On September 30, 2018, Governor Edmund G. Brown signed several new workplace laws, and vetoed others, that arose out of the #MeToo movement. We briefly review the newly signed legislation and also highlight bills that Governor Brown rejected.
October 5, 2018
California continues to lead the United States in focusing attention on privacy and security of user data and devices. Last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law two identical bills requiring manufacturers to include "reasonable security feature[s]" on all devices which are "capable of connecting to the Internet" (commonly known as the Internet of Things).
October 5, 2018
This Client Alert provides an update on shareholder activism activity involving NYSE- and NASDAQ-listed companies with equity market capitalizations above $1 billion during the first half of 2018.
October 3, 2018
On October 1, 2018, in Akorn, Inc. v. Fresenius Kabi AG, the Delaware Court of Chancery determined conclusively for the first time that a buyer had validly terminated a merger agreement due to the occurrence of a "material adverse effect" (MAE).
October 2, 2018
On September 28, 2018, President Trump signed into law amendments to Section 203 of the Federal Power Act that, among other things, narrow the scope of transactions that require prior approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”).
October 1, 2018