On March 31, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) rescinded a range of policy statements issued under the leadership of former Director Kathleen L. Kraninger. These rescissions concerned one policy statement governing communications between institutions subject to CFPB supervision and their examiners, and seven policy statements issued during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide regulatory … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, May 18, 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced that it will reconsider its June 5, 2020 final rule (“final rule”) overhauling its regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (the “CRA”). The final rule, which applies only to national banks, federal savings associations, and insured federal branches (“OCC-regulated banks”), … Continue Reading
On May 3, 2021, media outlets reported that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will appoint Michael Hsu to serve as Acting Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. Hsu currently serves as an Associate Director of the Division of Supervision and Regulation at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he heads the Large Institution … Continue Reading
On Wednesday 28 April, the UK Parliament adopted the National Security & Investment Law (“NS&I Law”). The law received Royal Assent the following day and will come into legal effect in late 2021. The NS&I Law will introduce mandatory notification and pre-clearance requirements for transactions in 17 ‘core’ sectors. This long-awaited piece of legislation, has … Continue Reading
On April 22, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in AMG Capital Management v. Federal Trade Commission that § 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Act does not authorize the FTC to obtain equitable monetary relief, such as restitution for consumer harm. This development will make it more complicated for the FTC to obtain consumer … Continue Reading
A heightened focus on green finance and green investments has renewed legislative impetus, culminating in a series of regulatory developments across the European Union and more recently, the UK. Some of these notable developments encompass green efforts by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures; the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU; and the European Commission’s … Continue Reading
As a reminder, the UK Treasury (HMT) published its Consultation on the Second Phase of the Future Regulatory Framework Review (FRFR) in October 2020. The Consultation is open for input until 19 February 2021.The FRFR aims to set out how the UK’s financial services regulatory framework should change in light of the UK’s exit from … Continue Reading
The nullification of recent Trump Administration regulations is yet another item on the busy agenda for congressional Democrats in the 117th Congress. With Democrats holding both the presidency and narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress, some Democrats have advocated using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal Trump-era rules finalized after August 21, 2020, … Continue Reading
On January 1, 2021, the Senate voted to override President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (the “NDAA” or “Act”), which includes over 200 pages of significant reforms to the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and other anti-money laundering (“AML”) laws that have been working their way through Congress for several years. The Senate’s … Continue Reading
If your company delivers technical data to the Department of Defense, you should take a close look at the Federal Circuit’s decision issued yesterday in The Boeing Co. v. Secretary of the Air Force. The Court acknowledged that contractors may retain ownership and other interests in unlimited rights data, and it held that they may … Continue Reading
On 25 November 2020, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on European Data Governance (“Data Governance Act”). The proposed Act aims to facilitate data sharing across the EU and between sectors, and is one of the deliverables included in the European Strategy for Data, adopted in February 2020. (See our previous blog … Continue Reading
On November 2, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a press release announcing organizational changes to several areas of the agency’s operating divisions. According to CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert, these changes are intended to better align the agency’s structure with its strategic objectives. As depicted in the agency’s new organizational chart, … Continue Reading
At an open meeting on October 15, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) voted to adopt three final rules. First, the Commission adopted by a 3–2 vote a final rule overhauling its regulatory framework governing speculative position limits on a large variety of commodities. Second, the Commission unanimously approved amendments to … Continue Reading
On September 22, 2020, President Trump issued the Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping (“EO”) establishing requirements aimed at “promoting unity in the Federal workforce,” by prohibiting workplace training on “divisive concepts,” including “race or sex stereotyping” and “race or sex scapegoating” as newly-defined in the EO. The EO is broadly applicable to … Continue Reading
As tensions continue to rise between China and the United States, the Chinese government has taken a step forward in actualizing the “Unreliable Entity List,” first announced by China’s Ministry of Commerce on May 31, 2019, following the addition of Huawei and affiliates to the U.S. Commerce Department’s “Entity List.” Now, as the U.S. government … Continue Reading
As of January 2021, many imports and exports of agricultural products covered by EU tariff quotas will be subject to the new licensing rules of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/760 (“Delegated Regulation”) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/761 (“Implementing Regulation”) (together, “Licensing Regulations” or “Regulations”). The new Regulations introduce significant changes to – and are … Continue Reading
As we noted in a client alert late last week, the federal banking agencies released on August 13, 2020, a joint statement on enforcement of Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”) requirements. At the time, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation made reference to a possible separate “Statement on Enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act” from FinCEN. … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a decision on Friday finding that the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) followed the wrong order of succession after Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April 2019. As a result, the Acting Secretaries who have served since then were invalidly selected. In particular, GAO has questioned the appointments of Acting … Continue Reading
