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Inflation Reduction Act
DOJ Announces More Equifax Charges – Credits Chinese Hackers
On February 10, 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced the indictment of four members of the Chinese military on charges of hacking into Equifax’s computer networks, maintaining unauthorized access to those networks and stealing sensitive information. The announcement highlights one...
Navigating Waters Protection Rule
Long-watched by businesses affected by the jurisdictional scope of the Clean Water Act, the Administration’s rulemaking for Waters of the United States has been announced and will soon be final. Please join Sara Burgin, Ann Navaro, and Daniel Pope as...
The CFTC Proposes a New Approach to Federal Position Limits - Will This One Stick?
At its open meeting held on January 30, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC" or "the Commission") approved a proposed rulemaking to institute federal position limits in an effort to prevent excessive speculation, squeezes, and corners in both futures...
SEC Examiners Release Cyber Observations: What You Need To Know
On January 27, 2020, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its most recent Cybersecurity and Resiliency Observations. This report highlights specific practices that have been, and can be taken to enhance cybersecurity preparedness and incident response...
Administrative Enforcement Reforms Continue
The current Administration has focused on reforming federal administrative agency enforcement by emphasizing transparency, due process, and fair notice. The concepts of due process and fair notice are well-established legal precepts, and they are critical to the regulated community. For...
HSR Notification Thresholds Increase for 2020
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (“HSR Act”) thresholds, which will become effective on February 27, 2020. The revised thresholds will apply to any merger or acquisition closing on or...
JOAs: “Good Faith” and the implied qualification of express contractual powers
There have been a number of recent English Court decisions concerning implied obligations of good faith. In May 2019, we considered the potential impact of those decisions on joint operating agreements in the oil & gas industry (“ JOAs ”)...
The Global Sustainable Finance Movement
The present and future impacts of climate change, human rights violations, environmental, labor and regulatory violations and poor corporate governance on the quality of investments and credit risks have spurred widespread recognition of the importance of environmental, social and governance...
DOJ and FTC Propose Highly Anticipated Vertical Merger Guidelines
On January 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission released draft Vertical Merger Guidelines for public comment. The new guidelines, which will replace the outdated 1984 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, are intended to assist the business...
Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector: looking back at 2019 and looking ahead in 2020
We review what happened in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector during the year just gone – a year that saw changes to the petroleum royalty regime, an uptick in deal activity and, of course, an election and changes to the leading...
Trump Administration Proposes Unprecedented and Comprehensive Revisions to NEPA Regulations
The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) -- a law that has been referred to as the “Magna Carta” of the nation’s environmental laws – turned 50 years old on January 1, 2020. On January 10, the White House Council on...
NEPA "Neat": The Proposed Rule, Distilled
The Administration has just issued a proposed rule that would amend the federal regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA applies to nearly every federal action of consequence, including federal projects, permits for private activity, grants, funding decisions...
Utilizing REITs for Midstream Assets
The real estate investment trust (REIT) has been a preferred vehicle for investment in income producing real estate portfolios. The REIT provides investors with many federal income tax benefits associated with C-corporations, generally with only a single level of federal...
Guidance Recap for the Upcoming Annual Report and Proxy Season
As reporting companies advance in preparations of their 2019 annual report and 2020 proxy statement, this update includes a recap of some of the more significant disclosure rules adopted and other announcements published by the Securities and Exchange Commission during...
New Law Repeals Parking Tax for Tax-Exempt Organizations
Good news for tax-exempt organizations! The “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020” (H.R. 1865 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)) (the “Act”) signed into law on December 20, 2019, retroactively repealed Section 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, often referred to...