The court-ordered stay of the SEC’s new climate rules (discussed in our prior post here) has been lifted, at least for the time being. The stay was in effect for only a week and was lifted by the same court that imposed it, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The court lifted the stay in connection with the transfer of the case to the Eighth Circuit, which was assigned responsibility for reviewing the petition filed in the Fifth Circuit as well as similar petitions filed in other circuits. The court’s order did not provide a rationale for the reversal.  Interestingly ..read more

On Friday, March 15, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an administrative stay on the application of the SEC’s new rules regarding climate-related disclosures for investors, which we covered in previous posts here, here and here. While similar litigation is pending in other jurisdictions, the Fifth Circuit was the first to rule, issuing a one-sentence order imposing the stay only nine days after the rules were adopted. The petitioners – led by participants in the fracking industry but including several states – challenge the rule under the “major-questions do ..read more

Much has been said about the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (“FEPA”) that President Biden signed into the law in December 2023, with particular attention given to the corrupt foreign officials who seek bribes from individuals or entities in the United States. By targeting the demand side of bribery, FEPA serves as a complement to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which targets individuals and companies that pay bribes to foreign government officials. Although FEPA’s main purpose is to stop foreign officials and their cronies from peddling their graft within the United States, the ..read more

A few days before Christmas, the Senate followed the House in bringing its legislative year to a swift but unsatisfying end. Although enough bipartisan goodwill was mustered to pass a massive National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024, lawmakers remain embroiled in bitter partisan squabbles that are paralyzing critical federal funding measures. Yet only hours before heading back home for the holidays, Senators from both the mainstream and activist quarters of the parties came together to unanimously pass a novel measure — one that would provide U.S. industry with robust guidance ..read more

Microsoft commissioned Foley Hoag to conduct a human rights impact assessment (HRIA) on the impact of Microsoft’s cloud and artificial intelligence technologies.  Specifically, we sought to understand the impacts that such technologies have on communities of color in the United States when those technologies are licensed to law enforcement agencies.  Microsoft commissioned the HRIA in response to a shareholder letter expressing concern regarding the human rights impact of certain Microsoft products in various contexts. Foley Hoag’s HRIA is the first of its kind.  Since 2011, bus ..read more

Nine months after the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) went into effect, the Biden Administration shows no signs of easing up on its tenacious enforcement of the Act’s import ban.  At the same time, the Administration’s approach is still developing and it will take more data collection, multi-stakeholder information sharing, as well as insights from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) own shipment reviews before industry sees a more predictable and stable enforcement regime. In effect since June 2022, the UFLPA amended Section 307 of the Tariff Act by providing CBP with p ..read more

Key Takeaways: Starting on June 21, 2022, all goods produced in whole or in part in the Xinjiang region or by entities on the UFLPA Entity List will be presumed to be made with forced labor and will be prohibited from entry into the U.S. Importers must provide “clear and convincing” evidence to CBP to rebut the presumption of forced labor. Guidance recently released by the Biden administration describes the documentation and supply chain due diligence required to release a detained shipment. _____________________________________________________________________ On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Depa ..read more

Key Takeaways: U.S., UK, and EU impose additional sanctions in response to Russia’s continued escalation of conflict in Ukraine U.S. imposes sanctions on human rights violators and senior Russian defense officials UK sanctions over 370 Russian individuals, including 51 oligarchs and their family members EU imposes investment and trade restrictions and sanctions Russian oligarchs, propagandists, state-owned entities, and defense sector entities ____________________________________________________________________ On March 15, 2022, the U.S., UK, and EU announced new sanctions against various i ..read more

Key Takeaways: New Executive Order prohibits certain imports and exports, and authorizes the Department of the Treasury to impose significant restrictions on U.S. investment in Russia Additional wave of sanctions targeting Russian “elites” close to President Vladimir Putin OFAC guidance clarifies that Russia-related sanctions prohibitions apply to cryptocurrency transactions ___________________________________________________________________________ On March 11, 2022, President Biden signed a new Russia-related Executive Order, Prohibiting Certain Imports, Exports, and New Investment wi ..read more

Key Takeaways: The Biden administration announces ban on import of Russian energy commodities and prohibition on new investment in the Russian energy sector New General License provides wind-down period until April 22, 2022 for certain energy imports from Russia pursuant to agreements entered into before March 8, 2022 EU and UK expand their sanctions programs against Russia and Belarus, including additional sanctions on oligarchs FinCEN issued an alert to all financial institutions to be vigilant against efforts to evade the expansive sanctions and other restrictions imposed in conn ..read more