Inflation Reduction Act
The US Government Has a New Stopwatch for Cyber Incident Reporting: What You Need to Know Now
Amid the escalating conflict in Ukraine and concerns of Russian cyber threats to the United States, President Joe Biden recently signed a $1.5 trillion government spending deal with serious cybersecurity reporting obligations for critical infrastructure operators intended to shore up...
KYC in a Digital World, How New Sanctions and AML Expectations Have Upped the Stakes and What You Need to Do About it
“Know your customer” is a bed rock principle of anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs, but it’s not always easy, particularly as more sophisticated and aggressive players have taken the field in recent months. For example, in response to Russia’s...
DOJ Announces the First of What Will Likely Be Many Settlements Under its Cyber-Fraud Initiative
The Department of Justice unveiled its Cyber-Fraud Initiative in October 2021, announcing that it planned to use its civil fraud enforcement authority under the False Claims Act to ensure compliance with contractual cyber-security requirements applicable to government contractors. On March...
Amid a Minefield of Sanctions and Export Controls, Here's How to Provide Aid to Ukraine
Over the past week, the Biden Administration has announced unprecedented sanctions and export controls against Russia in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. As the State Department pledges an additional $350 million in military and humanitarian support for Ukraine...
Countering the Threat of Workplace Violence
Rebecca Baker , chair of Bracewell’s labor and employment group, Dr. Kostas A. Katsavdakis , one of the country’s leading experts on threat assessment, and Seth DuCharme , the former principal associate deputy attorney general of the United States who...
An Update on the EU Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence Law – What You Need to Know
In March 2021, the European Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority for the adoption of a binding EU law that requires businesses to conduct environmental and human rights due diligence along their full value chain or face concrete fines, sanctions...
Ransomware: An Enterprise Risk for the Unprepared
For a company with robust data protection and recovery practices, a ransomware attack may cause a few extra headaches, but it won’t wipe the company out. Companies without those protections in place, however, risk allowing ransomware to bankrupt their entire...
Knowing an Insider and Trading Is Not Necessarily "Insider Trading"
Co-coaching your daughters’ basketball team with your brother-in-law and later profiting from buying stock in your brother-in-law’s company is not, in and of itself, insider trading. This seems fairly obvious. On Monday, December 13, 2021, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton...
CPRA Countdown: It's Time to Brush Up on California's Latest Data Privacy Law
On November 3, 2020, California voters approved Proposition 24, a ballot initiative which enacted the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”). The CPRA amends the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the most sweeping consumer data protection law in the U.S. This...
Government Enforcement and Investigations Year-In-Review: The Administration Has Moved Its Pieces into Place
On Monday, President Biden released the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption , which details how the United States will work “domestically and internationally, with governmental and non-governmental partners, to prevent, limit, and respond to corruption and related crimes.” It...
Virginia Is For [Data Privacy] Lovers: Introduction to Virginia's New Consumer Protection Law
On January 1, 2023, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) will go into effect. With passage of the law earlier this year, Virginia joined Colorado and California as the only states to enact comprehensive privacy legislation. The VCDPA includes...
Colorado Privacy Act: New protections for consumers in the Centennial State
On July 1, 2023, the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) will go into effect as the third state law generally governing consumer data privacy and was the second enacted in 2021. If you do business with consumers in Colorado, regardless of...
The IRS Is Mining for Crypto Account Holders
For years, the cryptocurrency wallets of U.S. taxpayers have existed in a reporting gray zone. However, as it becomes clear that crypto asset transactions are not slowing down, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has signaled its expanded focus on regulation...
What In-House Counsel Need to Know About Managing Environmental, Social and Governance Issues
Rachel Goldman and David Shargel presented “ESG Fundamentals for In-House Counsel – What In-House Counsel Need to Know About Managing Environmental, Social and Governance Issues” virtually to members of In-House Connect. In-House Connect is an in-house counsel network that brings...
2021 Year-in-Review – U.S. State Privacy Legislation
The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated our reliance on digital services and platforms, which brings new challenges and expectations for data privacy. But, to date, there has been little movement towards all-encompassing federal privacy legislation. Therefore, the issue of consumer...