DROPLETS

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed "Regulation Crypto Assets," a new framework intended to create a viable compliance path for cryptoasset offerings. The proposal, enjoying unified support from the commissioners, marks a significant shift from the prior administration's enforcement-led approach. It introduces two tailored offering exemptions: a "Startup Exemption" for raises up to $5 million and a tiered "Fundraising Exemption," modeled on Regulation A, for raises up to $75 million annually. It also establishes a safe harbor allowing an issuer to certify when its token is no longer part of an investment contract, addressing a core uncertainty under the Howey test.

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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 28, 2026, added foreign-produced "advanced robotic devices" to its Covered List, a roster of equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable national security risk. Under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, listed equipment cannot receive FCC authorization, effectively barring new or modified models from being imported or sold in the U.S. The action, widely seen as targeting Chinese technology, follows similar prohibitions on drones, routers, and power inverters.

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The US government has formally challenged the European Union's ambitious sustainability regulations, arguing they create unreasonable burdens for American commerce. In a letter to the EU, the US Mission stated that the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) have an adverse extraterritorial impact on US businesses. The US objects to the directives' "double materiality" standard and extensive supply-chain diligence obligations, which it claims will harm the competitiveness of US firms, even those with minimal EU market links. The letter warns that the US will take "any actions necessary" to address these concerns. This executive branch action is mirrored by a legislative proposal, the Stop EU Overreach Act, which would require the US Trade Representative to investigate the EU rules as a potentially unfair trade practice. Counsel for multinational clients should monitor the EU's response and the potential for an escalating trade dispute while continuing to prepare for the directives' complex compliance regimes.

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a final rule that permanently exempts all U.S. companies and persons from the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The rule, effective August 14, 2026, makes permanent the exemptions introduced in a March 2025 interim rule. This action represents a monumental reversal of a major compliance regime that was expected to affect over 32 million U.S. entities. Following a series of constitutional challenges and injunctions against the CTA, FinCEN has now narrowed the reporting obligation to only foreign companies registered to do business in the United States. The agency estimates only 28,000 entities will now be required to report. Furthermore, FinCEN announced it will delete all BOI previously reported by U.S. persons from its database. While this relieves domestic companies of a significant burden, foreign entities operating in the U.S. must still evaluate their reporting obligations for non-U.S. beneficial owners.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued a long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Enacted in July 2025, the Act creates a comprehensive federal licensing and supervisory framework for payment stablecoins. This NPRM proposes definitions for crucial jurisdictional terms, including what it means to “issue a payment stablecoin in the United States” and to “offer or sell” one to a person in the U.S. These definitions are fundamental for the digital asset industry, as they will determine which issuers must obtain a federal license starting in January 2027 and which stablecoins digital asset service providers can lawfully offer to U.S. customers. The rules will significantly impact both domestic and foreign-based issuers and exchanges seeking access to the American market. The Treasury has opened a 60-day public comment period, and market participants are expected to weigh in heavily on the proposal, which will shape the future of the U.S. stablecoin landscape.

In Sripetch v. SEC, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Securities and Exchange Commission may obtain disgorgement of a defendant's ill-gotten gains without proving that investors suffered a corresponding financial loss. Writing for the Court, Justice Gorsuch grounded the decision in traditional equitable principles, explaining that disgorgement is measured by the wrongdoer's gain, not the victim's loss. The ruling resolves a circuit split in the SEC's favor, preserving a powerful enforcement tool used to recover billions annually and foreclosing a key defense in cases like market manipulation or pump-and-dump schemes where proving investor harm is difficult.

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Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig has formally directed agency staff to begin drafting rules for a crypto-asset market structure under the CFTC’s existing statutory authority. The announcement, made during an Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, signals a significant strategic shift, establishing an administrative path for regulation that can proceed independently if the proposed Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act does not pass in the Senate.

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In its first interpretation of amended Delaware General Corporation Law Section 144, the Court of Chancery in 'Dodiya v. Franklin' denied a motion to dismiss, holding that safe-harbor protection for a conflicted transaction was unavailable at the pleading stage. The court found it "reasonably conceivable" that the target's board acted with gross negligence by restoring a conflicted director's access to confidential sale-process information, despite knowing he had previously leaked material nonpublic data to his father, the ultimate acquirer. This decision establishes that the Section 144(a)(1) safe harbor requires not just a disinterested majority vote, but a process conducted "in good faith and without gross negligence." For corporate counsel and dealmakers, this ruling underscores that process controls are critical; merely walling off a conflicted director on paper is insufficient if not enforced. The court also found the stockholder-vote safe harbor under Section 144(a)(2) was unavailable because the proxy statement allegedly misrepresented the conflicted director's exclusion from

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FinCEN's August 14, 2026 final rule marks a fundamental restructuring of the Corporate Transparency Act's beneficial ownership reporting regime. Domestic entities created under U.S. state or tribal law are permanently removed from the definition of "reporting company," eliminating both initial filing requirements and ongoing update obligations. U.S. persons are similarly exempt from beneficial owner or company applicant status, meaning foreign reporting companies need not collect their personal identifying information. Notably, FinCEN will conduct a targeted purge of previously submitted domestic company and U.S. person data from its Beneficial Ownership IT System.

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The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has issued a final rule that removes long-standing disability affirmative action requirements for federal contractors. Effective September 21, 2026, the rule eliminates the 7% disability utilization goal, the associated annual utilization analysis, and the mandatory use of Form CC-305 for inviting applicants and employees to self-identify as having a disability.

This change overhauls a compliance framework that has been in place for more than a decade, easing certain specific data-collection and analytical burdens. However, the rule does not alter contractors' core nondiscrimination duties under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. Contractors must still take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified individuals with disabilities and maintain written affirmative action programs where required.

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The Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court's unprecedented 2024 decision that had found the False Claims Act's (FCA) qui tam provisions unconstitutional under the Appointments Clause. In United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, the appellate court held that private relators are not "Officers of the United States" requiring presidential appointment, aligning its view with every other circuit to have considered the question and resolving a threat to the government's primary anti-fraud tool.

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Mexico's executive branch has introduced a bill to establish a formal national security screening process for foreign direct investment (FDI), modeled on the CFIUS regime in the United States. If enacted, the law would create a mandatory, suspensory pre-closing filing for foreign acquisitions of more than 49% equity in Mexican companies operating in broadly defined "sensitive sectors" including critical technology, energy, and strategic infrastructure.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, has reversed a district court decision that struck down the False Claims Act’s (FCA) qui tam provisions as unconstitutional. The lower court had reasoned that private relators (whistleblowers) act as "officers of the United States" and therefore must be appointed in accordance with Article II’s Appointments Clause. The Eleventh Circuit disagreed, holding that a relator does not occupy a "continuing position established by law" because their role is temporary, personal to a specific case, and not compensated by a government salary.

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The US Department of Labor has proposed a new optional safe harbor to allow electronic delivery of ERISA-required group health plan disclosures. The rule, proposed July 23, 2026, would establish a “notice-and-access” framework similar to that available for retirement plans, permitting administrators to post documents online and send a notice of internet availability. This could significantly reduce administrative burdens and costs for employers, especially for reaching employees without regular work-related computer access, retirees, and other beneficiaries who provide an electronic address.

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In two recent decisions, the UK Court of Appeal clarified the dividing line for granting anti-suit injunctions (ASIs) to block Russian legal proceedings arising from sanctions. The court refused an ASI in FH Holding v UniCredit, where a foreclosure action was brought in Moscow under a specific Russian-law mortgage agreement, finding this did not breach a Vienna arbitration clause in a related facility agreement. Conversely, in JP Morgan v VTB, it granted an ASI to stop Russian tort claims, deeming them a vexatious attempt to circumvent London arbitration agreements and UK sanctions using purpose-built Russian laws.

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The Ninth Circuit ruled in KalshiEX, LLC v. Assad that sports event prediction contracts are not "swaps" under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), exposing them to state-level gaming regulation. The decision allows Nevada to apply its gaming laws to operator Kalshi and rejects the argument that the products fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which had supported Kalshi as an amicus.

This ruling matters because it creates a direct conflict with an April 2026 Third Circuit decision that found such contracts were indeed federally regulated swaps preempting state law. The split introduces significant legal uncertainty for the fast-growing prediction-market industry, which now faces a fractured regulatory landscape. For clients in this sector, the key question is whether they will be governed by a single federal regulator or a complex patchwork of state gaming laws.

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The Australian government has published its anticipated voluntary guidance on climate-related transition planning. Released on August 24, 2026, the framework is designed to help organizations develop strategies for the net-zero transition and adapt to the physical impacts of climate change. The guidance sets out a four-stage planning cycle and a three-tier proportionality framework, allowing companies to tailor their approach based on their climate risk exposure and complexity.

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The UK has implemented a significant new disclosure framework for consumer composite investments (CCIs), replacing the familiar PRIIPs and UCITS key information documents (KIDs). Effective April 6, 2026, with a transition period until June 7, 2027, the rules require firms marketing products like funds, structured products, and derivatives to UK retail investors to adopt a new 'CCI Product Summary.' Sophisticated counsel must note the regime's broad extraterritorial reach, which applies to non-UK manufacturers and distributors, bringing many previously unregulated entities under the Financial Conduct Authority's direct supervision for these activities. The new framework also mandates that manufacturers provide machine-readable 'Core Information Disclosure' to distributors. While the format for the new Product Summary is less prescriptive than the old KIDs, it includes specific methodologies for calculating and presenting risk, return, and cost information. Firms must now identify all in-scope products, develop new disclosure templates, and ensure their data processes can meet the upda

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Governor Inslee signed SB 6355 in March, creating the Washington Electric Transmission Authority (WETA), which took effect in June. WETA is an independent body with a 10-member gubernatorial board to be seated by January 1, 2027, and an executive director to be hired by June 30, 2027. Its remit is to coordinate transmission planning across utilities, BPA, tribes, and developers in corridors identified by the Department of Commerce, with powers to support permitting, partner with developers, own facilities on a transitional basis, and—critically—exercise eminent domain under RCW 8.04 to clear right-of-way disputes that have stalled projects. The authority is not a financing entity; it routes capital needs to the Washington Economic Development Finance Authority. Counsel should watch three near-term developments: the December 1, 2026 tribal consultation framework report, the January 2027 legislative session that may address SEPA exclusions for reconductoring and essential public facility designation, and the Department of Commerce's high-priority corridor designation process, all of wh

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The EEOC has formally adopted its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030, the institutional counterpart to its National Enforcement Plan and the metric framework that will govern agency operations for the next five years. Three strategic goals drive the plan: strategic law enforcement, outreach and training, and organizational excellence, supported by seventeen performance measures with hard numerical targets. Key measures employers should track include a 97% rate for non-monetary targeted equitable relief in conciliation and litigation outcomes, a 90% favorable resolution rate in enforcement suits, and a refocused Systemic Program keyed to matters involving ten or more aggrieved individuals, with explicit retention of Commissioner Charges and directed investigations as tools. The plan also commits the agency to enhanced conciliation monitoring, faster intake processing (10% reduction by FY 2030), a 95% staffing target, and quarterly stakeholder satisfaction tracking, signaling a more disciplined and accountable EEOC. Coupled with the approximately 28% rise in annual private-secto

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have established a formal framework for sharing non-public information. An August 31, 2026, memorandum of understanding (MOU) gives the SEC’s divisions of Enforcement and Corporation Finance a direct channel to request and receive confidential records from the FDA concerning regulated public companies. For life sciences and other FDA-regulated issuers, this significantly raises the stakes for public communications. The SEC can now more easily cross-reference a company's investor-facing statements—regarding clinical trial results, product approval timelines, or the substance of agency meetings—against the FDA's own internal records. The MOU is part of a broader FDA transparency initiative, which includes the recent practice of publishing Complete Response Letters. The agreement heightens the risk of SEC scrutiny and potential enforcement action for disclosures that are perceived as incomplete, inconsistent, or more favorable than the underlying regulatory communications warrant. Companies must ensure all

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a suit by inventor advocacy groups challenging the "right to exclude" language on US patent grants. In US Inventor, Inc. v. Squires, the plaintiffs argued this language became misleading after the Supreme Court's eBay v. MercExchange decision made injunctive relief for infringement discretionary. The court found the groups lacked both organizational and associational standing.

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The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS issued Notice 2026-50, significantly expanding and extending an interim safe harbor for taxpayers claiming the Section 45Q tax credit for carbon capture and sequestration. The guidance responds to continued uncertainty caused by the EPA's proposal to remove certain reporting obligations (under Subpart RR) and its failure to launch its electronic reporting tool for the 2025 reporting year.

Sophisticated counsel should note three key changes. The relief is now extended to carbon oxide used as a tertiary injectant in qualified enhanced oil or natural gas recovery projects. The notice also confirms that taxpayers can rely on the safe harbor to determine amounts subject to recapture. Finally, the safe harbor's availability is extended beyond calendar year 2025, now applying to any year the EPA's reporting tool is not launched by March 31 of the following year, until further guidance is issued. This provides crucial planning certainty for clients developing and financing long-term carbon-capture projects.

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The IMO's proposed Net-Zero Framework would set mandatory GHG limits and emissions pricing across international shipping, with Tier 1 penalties of $100 and Tier 2 penalties of $380 per tonne of CO2 equivalent for non-compliant fleets. FMC Chairman DiBella has publicly questioned whether the resulting costs on U.S. cargo would be inflationary and whether the regime would displace existing systems like the EU ETS. She has gone further, suggesting the framework could itself become the subject of an FMC investigation. Under 46 U.S.C. §§ 42101-42109 and 46 C.F.R. Part 550, the FMC can probe foreign laws, regulations, or carrier practices that create conditions unfavorable to U.S. foreign commerce, with remedies ranging from fee equalization and sailing limits to per-voyage penalties up to $1 million and, in extreme cases, requests to deny port entry. Sophisticated shippers, carriers, and counsel should reassess tariff surcharges, service-contract allocation clauses, and exposure to retaliation against flag states, while tracking the IMO's London session, the November intersessional, and t

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A report by Jonathan Fisher KC, 'Fraud in the Digital Age,' proposes creating a new corporate criminal offense in the UK for providers of regulated user-to-user services who fail to prevent fraud committed by users on their platforms. The proposal aims to close a perceived gap in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA), whose 'failure to prevent fraud' offense applies only to fraud by a company's associates, not by independent third-party users.

If adopted, this would represent a material expansion of corporate criminal liability, making businesses responsible for offenses by people over whom they have no conventional control. The proposal would sit alongside the UK's new Online Safety Act 2023, which already imposes extensive regulatory duties on platforms to address illegal content, including fraud, backed by fines of up to 10% of global revenue. The government has not yet endorsed the proposal but is considering it.

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The Delaware Court of Chancery awarded a $120 million post-trial verdict against a private equity acquiror for fraud in an earnout dispute, finding the buyer knowingly misrepresented the existing payment volume on its platform—a key metric for the seller's earnout potential. The court found dispositive evidence in the acquiror's own internal emails, where the deal team acknowledged the figures shared with the seller were a "red herring."

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has rejected the Ninth Circuit's long-standing "server test" for determining direct copyright infringement from embedded online content. In Emmerich Newspapers, Inc. v. Particle Media, Inc., the court established a new "transmit requirement," which asks which party's server transmitted the content to the end user and whether that transmission was authorized. This holding deepens a circuit split on a critical issue for any company operating a website that displays third-party material, from news aggregators to social media platforms. While the Fifth Circuit suggested its test may often produce similar results to the server test, the different legal reasoning creates significant uncertainty and risk for platforms operating nationwide. The court also found that URLs can, in some cases, qualify as "copyright management information" under the DMCA, creating another potential cause of action. The growing disagreement among federal circuits makes it more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately intervene to establish a national stand

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Washington's Attorney General has released the state's first-ever Data Privacy Report, renewing the push for comprehensive privacy legislation after several years of stalled efforts. Although Washington has yet to pass a broad privacy law like those in California or Virginia, its previous proposals have served as influential blueprints for other states, making this development nationally significant. The report identifies four key concerns: overcollection and secondary use of data, weak consent mechanisms and deceptive design, the sale of sensitive data like biometrics and geolocation, and a lack of transparency in the data-broker industry. For businesses, the report signals that the AG’s office is actively monitoring for privacy-related harms and may use existing tools for enforcement, citing FTC actions against data brokers as examples. Counsel should monitor for new legislative proposals and anticipate increased enforcement scrutiny, particularly regarding the handling of sensitive consumer data and the operations of data brokers.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of infringement claims in 'VDPP, LLC v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.,' ruling that the non-practicing entity (NPE) plaintiff could not claim pre-suit damages because it failed to police its licensees' compliance with patent marking statutes.

This decision is important because it extends the marking obligations under 35 U.S.C. § 287 to an NPE’s licensees, limiting the traditional view that NPEs without products are exempt from marking rules. The court found that VDPP's prior settlement agreements, which licensed the patent to other companies, created a duty for VDPP to make reasonable efforts to ensure those licensees marked their products. The failure to do so—and in one case, expressly waiving the marking requirement—was fatal to its claim for damages preceding actual notice of infringement.

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The music industry's approach to artificial intelligence is evolving from litigation over unauthorized data scraping and deepfakes toward building a market for licensed uses. This shift reflects a maturing ecosystem where stakeholders are exploring workable deal structures rather than relying solely on legal challenges. Sophisticated counsel for both AI developers and rights holders must now navigate emerging multi-layered permission frameworks. These frameworks distinguish between rights for training AI models on existing catalogs and rights governing the output, such as fan remixes, professional productions, or sound-alikes prompted by users.

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On August 13, 2026, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy released 'The Great Transshipment Scam,' estimating $10 billion to $100+ billion in annual tariff revenue losses from goods routed through Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico, and Cambodia to evade Section 301 tariffs. The same day, DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division issued a memorandum identifying global trade and commerce as a primary enforcement focus, covering illicit transshipment, country-of-origin fraud, undervaluation, sanctions evasion, and foreign forced labor schemes. CBP is building an AI 'detective border' that fuses anomaly detection, link analysis, capacity validation, and physical-to-digital verification to flag suspicious routing, bills of lading, origin claims, and container imaging. NFED plans to reach roughly 500 attorneys and staff by late August and continue expanding for two years, deploying sophisticated data analytics. The memo signals that civil customs exposure can escalate to criminal prosecution, with potential coordination across CBP, DOJ, and Commerce. Sophisticated coun

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Five major U.S. financial regulators—the Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA, OCC, and FinCEN—have issued a joint statement to clarify how financial institutions can communicate with customers regarding suspicious activity without violating the strict confidentiality requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act. Federal law prohibits disclosing to any person involved in a transaction that a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) has been filed, a practice known as “tipping off.” This prohibition creates practical challenges for institutions when they need to terminate customer relationships or obtain information related to potentially illicit activity.

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The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a consultation paper, CP26/19, proposing a significant change to how it calculates financial penalties for individuals in non-market abuse cases. The proposal would amend the regulator's policy to explicitly allow for penalty uplifts based on the size of an individual’s income or net assets, aiming to ensure "credible deterrence," particularly for wealthier individuals.

This shift could substantially increase financial exposure for senior managers and other high-net-worth individuals within regulated firms. Critics, such as law firm BCLP in its public response, argue the change could untether penalties from the specific nature and severity of the misconduct. This might lead to arbitrary and inconsistent outcomes, where fines are determined by an individual's overall wealth, including assets like inheritance that are unrelated to their regulated activities. Such an approach, critics contend, risks being perceived as more punitive than deterrent, especially when applied to negligence cases rather than deliberate misconduct. Counsel

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The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has implemented significant deregulatory changes to the equity IPO process, effective August 5, 2026, via its Policy Statement PS26/16. The reforms remove two key requirements introduced in 2018: the mandatory seven-day gap between the publication of a prospectus and connected research, and the obligation to share the same information with unconnected analysts. The FCA concluded the prior regime failed to achieve its goals, as few unconnected analyst reports were published, while the rules added market risk and compliance costs, placing UK listings at a competitive disadvantage. The changes are expected to shorten the IPO timeline, reduce execution risk, and lower costs for issuers. Issuers and their advisers should immediately update internal IPO process documentation and precedent timetables. The FCA will consider further reforms, including a potential relaxation of guidance on pre-mandate issuer/analyst interactions.

Following a series of nine industry roundtables, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have jointly put the financial sector on notice regarding risks from frontier artificial intelligence. The regulators stated that industry awareness must now translate into practical action, testing, and measurable resilience outcomes. They expect regulated entities to demonstrate that their governance processes, key decision-making arrangements, and communication strategies are robust enough to operate at the speed required by emerging AI-driven threats.

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In a recent opinion, the Delaware Court of Chancery allowed a startup's lawsuit to proceed against a strategic investor and its board designee for an alleged “catch and kill” scheme. The startup, Zync Inc., claimed the investor used its contractually-granted board seat and veto rights to block essential financing and a $50 million acquisition, ultimately forcing Zync to shut down. The court denied the investor's motion to dismiss claims of fiduciary breach, aiding and abetting, and tortious interference.

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on August 28, 2026, that sports-event contracts on prediction markets are not "swaps" under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), holding that federal law does not preempt state gambling regulations. The decision creates a direct circuit split with the Third Circuit, which had previously ruled in favor of federal preemption. The conflict injects significant legal and regulatory uncertainty into the rapidly growing prediction market industry, which saw trading volumes of $51 billion in 2025.

Sophisticated counsel and clients in the finance and gaming sectors care because operators like Kalshi and Polymarket now face a fractured regulatory landscape, potentially needing to comply with disparate state gaming laws in the Ninth Circuit while operating under a different, federally regulated regime elsewhere. This complicates business operations and increases compliance costs. The confirmed split makes the issue a strong candidate for Supreme Court review.

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The U.S. Treasury and IRS have released proposed regulations clarifying how employers can contribute to new 'Trump Accounts,' a tax-advantaged savings vehicle for employees' dependents under Internal Revenue Code Section 128. The guidance provides the first concrete framework for employers considering offering this new benefit, addressing key operational questions such as the requirement for a formal written plan, a $2,500 annual per-employee contribution limit (indexed for inflation), and specific nondiscrimination tests modeled on those for dependent care flexible spending accounts. Notably, the rules clarify that employers cannot restrict contributions to a particular trustee and explicitly prohibit investing account funds in ESG-themed index funds. While the proposal answers many threshold questions, it leaves several administrative challenges unresolved, including procedures for contribution corrections and satisfying annual reporting obligations. Employers and their benefits counsel can now begin to evaluate the feasibility of such programs but will need to monitor for final re

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President Trump issued Executive Order 14421 on August 26, 2026, invoking national security authority to restrict U.S. imports of bulk-power system electrical equipment from Covered Foreign Entities—countries subject to U.S. arms embargoes or sanctions under ITAR, currently including China and Russia. The order broadly covers equipment used in substations, control rooms, power generating systems, and associated software and firmware with remote-access capabilities, including transformers, inverters, battery energy storage systems, and industrial control systems.

No immediate private-party obligations arise; the Secretary of Energy must issue implementing regulations by December 24, 2026. Those regulations may prohibit acquisition, importation, transfer, or installation of covered equipment posing undue risk of sabotage, supply disruption, or catastrophic effects on critical infrastructure. Crucially, the Secretary may also impose conditions on already-installed equipment—requiring identification, isolation, monitoring, disconnection, replacement, or removal.

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On August 24, 2026, the U.S. government initiated "Operation Economic Outcast," a major escalation of its Iran sanctions program aimed at third-country enablers. The initiative imposes new sectoral sanctions on Iran's digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping industries. Concurrently, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) suspended five general licenses that had previously authorized certain educational, remittance, and cultural exchange activities. The action also includes nearly 90 new designations of entities, individuals, and vessels across several countries. For sophisticated counsel, this signals a "zero-leakage" enforcement posture with heightened secondary sanctions risk for non-U.S. companies, which are now on notice to sever ties with Iran. The accompanying FinCEN Section 311 action against a UAE bank demonstrates a broader use of regulatory tools to isolate Iran from the global financial system. Companies with any direct or indirect exposure to Iran should immediately review and update their compliance programs and screening protocols, as U.

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California's legislature has passed SB 690, a bill that would curb a recent surge of litigation targeting common website tracking technologies. The bill, now awaiting the governor's signature, specifically eliminates the private right of action for claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act’s (CIPA) “pen register” and “trap and trace” provisions.

This is a critical development for businesses, as plaintiffs have been leveraging these wiretapping-era statutes to bring class actions over the use of routine tools like analytics pixels and cookies, seeking statutory damages of up to $5,000 per violation without proving actual harm. If signed, the law would apply retroactively to many pending cases, offering immediate relief to defendants.

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The SEC has proposed the full rescission of Rule 206(4)-5 of the Investment Advisers Act, its "pay-to-play" rule. Adopted in 2010, the rule prohibits an investment adviser from receiving compensation for services to a government-entity client for two years if the adviser or its associates make a political contribution to an official in a position to influence the award of advisory business. The proposal acknowledges industry criticism that the rule's rigid, strict-liability framework has led to severe consequences for minor violations.

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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued new guidance and launched a voluntary online platform for companies preparing their first greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reports under the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253). Although the final implementing regulation awaits approval, CARB is proceeding as if the inaugural reports for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are due November 10, 2026. Sophisticated counsel should note the significant enforcement discretion outlined in the guidance for this first reporting cycle. Companies that were not already collecting GHG data as of December 5, 2024, are not required to generate new data for this deadline; instead, they may submit a “statement of non-reporting.” The guidance also clarifies that third-party assurance, while ultimately required by the statute, will not be a prerequisite for accepted submissions in 2026. Covered entities should immediately evaluate the guidance to determine their specific obligations and prepare for the upcoming filing.

The Department of Justice’s recently formed National Fraud Enforcement Division has identified healthcare fraud as a primary enforcement priority. According to a memorandum from Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, the division will deploy advanced data analytics to proactively detect and prosecute fraudulent schemes in high-risk areas. These include telemedicine, Medicare and Medicaid billing, controlled substance diversion, and deceptive marketing of healthcare services.

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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued new resources to help companies prepare for the first emissions reporting deadline under the state's climate disclosure law, SB 253. With inaugural reports on 2026 Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due by November 10, 2026, CARB has launched a voluntary online reporting platform, a formal guidance document, and a video tutorial explaining the submission process. While use of the platform is optional—companies may also submit reports via a dedicated email address—these tools provide needed clarity on the mechanics of compliance. The release demonstrates CARB's intent to adhere to the current timeline, even as the underlying regulations await final approval from the state's Office of Administrative Law. Covered entities should now be finalizing their GHG inventories and confirming internal processes for the November submission. The new guidance provides a clear pathway for the inaugural filing, representing a key milestone in the implementation of California's ambitious corporate climate transparency regime.

A Michigan ballot measure slated for the November election proposes one of the nation's most extensive "pay-to-play" laws, creating significant compliance risks for companies doing business in the state. The proposed law would bar political contributions from regulated electric and gas utilities as well as companies holding or seeking state or local government contracts over $250,000. Crucially, the restrictions extend far beyond the corporate entities themselves to cover their "principals"—a broadly defined group including directors, senior officers, 5% owners, lobbyists, and certain immediate family members. The rules would also apply to "affiliated entities," which could implicate corporate PACs and trade associations. The expansive scope means national corporations with Michigan operations will need to re-evaluate their political giving compliance programs and carefully track the personal contributions of a wide range of individuals. If passed, most provisions would take effect 10 days after the election is certified, requiring swift preparation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reversed a district court decision that found the False Claims Act's (FCA) qui tam provisions unconstitutional. In United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, the panel held that private relators who sue on behalf of the government are not 'Officers of the United States' under Article II's Appointments Clause. The decision overturns a first-of-its-kind ruling from the Middle District of Florida and aligns the Eleventh Circuit with every other appellate court to have considered the issue. The ruling restores the status quo for FCA defendants and eliminates, for now, a potent defense in the Eleventh Circuit, a major venue for these cases. However, the constitutional fight is not over. The panel remanded the case for the district court to consider the defendant's other constitutional challenges based on the Take Care and Vesting Clauses. Counsel should also monitor a similar pending case in the Third Circuit. Despite the current unanimity among the circuits, recent comments from several Supreme Court justices sugg

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The Department of Justice has declined to prosecute Campus Eye Management Holdings under its new Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP), marking the first such declination for a healthcare company. The declination was granted after the company voluntarily disclosed misconduct, fully cooperated with investigators, and took remedial action, including agreeing to pay $1 million to affected patients. This resolution is a critical data point for corporate counsel and investors, as it demonstrates the tangible benefits of self-reporting under the new policy. However, it also powerfully illustrates the DOJ's focus on individual accountability. Concurrent with the corporate declination, the department unsealed a seven-count indictment against Campus Eye's founder and former CEO for allegedly orchestrating the $3.4 million Medicare billing fraud and kickback scheme. The case serves as a clear warning and a roadmap, signaling that while a company can earn leniency through cooperation, individuals responsible for the misconduct will be aggressively pursued. It highligh

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The UK Supreme Court has allowed an appeal in Augustine v Data Cars Ltd, significantly altering the causation test for discrimination under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000. Overturning a prior Court of Appeal decision, the court held that a claimant need only demonstrate that their part-time status was an 'effective cause' of the less favourable treatment, not the 'sole reason.' The justices reasoned that the UK's implementing regulations deliberately used the phrase 'on the ground that,' which aligns with established domestic discrimination law, rather than adopting the narrower 'solely' language from the corresponding EU Framework Agreement.

This decision materially lowers the bar for part-time workers bringing discrimination claims and increases litigation risk for employers. Company policies, such as flat-rate fees for benefits or access to systems, that were previously defensible may now be vulnerable if they disproportionately disadvantage part-time employees. Any UK employer with a part-time workforce is affected.

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The Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into quantum-computer developer IonQ's acquisition of semiconductor foundry SkyWater after its two sitting commissioners deadlocked on a remedy. The split allowed the transaction to close without conditions.

Chairman Andrew Ferguson concluded that the deal's vertical-integration risks—primarily that IonQ could foreclose rivals' access to SkyWater's foundry or gain access to their sensitive data—warranted a behavioral consent order. In contrast, Commissioner Mark Meador found insufficient evidence that the deal might substantially lessen competition, citing low foreclosure shares and the presence of alternative suppliers.

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The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has advanced a proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period for certain nonimmigrant workers following the end of their employment. The rule, which has cleared review by the Office of Management and Budget, would affect individuals in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-1B1, L-1, O-1, and TN status.

Since 2017, this discretionary grace period has provided a critical buffer for sponsored employees to seek new employment, change their immigration status, or arrange for departure without immediately falling out of status. Its removal would mark a return to the pre-2017 framework, where job loss could result in the immediate loss of one's legal basis to remain in the country. The change would create significant challenges for employers managing reductions in force and add pressure to accelerate hiring and sponsorship for skilled workers seeking new roles.

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Corporate compliance programs are now being urged to treat forced-labor prevention with the same rigor as anti-corruption efforts. This shift is driven by aggressive enforcement of laws like the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which establishes a rebuttable presumption that goods from certain regions are made with forced labor and are therefore banned from importation. The guide explains that this reverses the burden of proof, requiring importers to affirmatively demonstrate that their supply chains are clean through extensive due diligence and traceability measures. For sophisticated counsel and clients, this transforms supply-chain ethics from a reputational concern into a critical legal and business continuity risk. Failure to adapt can lead to shipment seizures, significant financial loss, and severe brand damage. Companies should now be integrating forced-labor risk assessments directly into their existing compliance frameworks and mapping supply chains beyond direct suppliers to prepare for potential enforcement actions.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has submitted a bill to the Senate to establish a mandatory national security review for foreign acquisitions, similar to the CFIUS process in the United States. The proposed law would empower Mexico's National Foreign Investment Commission (CNIE) to screen deals where a foreign investor seeks to acquire more than 49% of a Mexican company that operates in a wide range of designated critical sectors and exceeds a yet-to-be-determined asset threshold.

This new regime could introduce significant uncertainty and delays into M&A transactions in Mexico. The list of covered industries is extensive, including energy, transportation, healthcare, and technology sectors like AI and semiconductors. A key point of concern is the review timeline: CNIE has 60 business days, extendable by 30, to issue a resolution. If no decision is issued within that period, the transaction is automatically deemed denied, heightening deal risk.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Food and Drug Administration entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on August 31, 2026, to formalize and enhance cooperation and information sharing. The agreement establishes a direct channel for the agencies to exchange non-public information, increasing the likelihood that the SEC will scrutinize company disclosures against data submitted to the FDA.

For sophisticated counsel and their clients in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and medical device sectors, this signals a heightened risk of enforcement actions. Discrepancies between statements to investors and filings with the FDA regarding clinical trials, regulatory approval status, or product safety could become a primary source for SEC investigations. The agencies have created dedicated points of contact to streamline the process. FDA-regulated public companies should immediately review their disclosure controls and procedures to ensure consistency and accuracy across all regulatory and financial reporting. Counsel should monitor for an expected increase in SEC filing r

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed a rule to codify existing no-action relief and reinstate a pre-2012 registration exemption for certain commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs). This move would convert a temporary, staff-level accommodation into a durable, rule-based compliance pathway for managers of private funds offered to qualified eligible persons (QEPs).

Sophisticated counsel should note that the proposal differs materially from the current no-action relief. Most notably, the proposed rule would require a CPO to offer all participants a right of redemption before it could deregister, a requirement absent from the current relief. The proposal also modifies investor eligibility, narrowing the definition for individual investors while broadening it for institutional investors to include certain categories of accredited investors. This creates a strategic dilemma for fund managers, who must weigh the certainty of a final rule against the more straightforward deregistration process available now.

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A study by DLA Piper highlights widespread misleading advertising and safety omissions by online pharmacies and telehealth platforms promoting non-FDA-approved compounded drugs. The analysis of 23 vendors found that 52% made unsupported efficacy claims and 43% had incomplete or misleading safety warnings, particularly for popular treatments in weight loss, erectile dysfunction, and hair loss.

This trend poses a significant risk for the pharmaceutical and telehealth industries, as consumers are often unable to distinguish between FDA-approved medicines and unvetted compounded formulations. The report notes that consumer trust is misplaced, with many believing online sellers are already approved by regulators. In response, the FDA has sharply increased enforcement, issuing over 100 warning letters since September 2025, primarily targeting providers of compounded GLP-1 drugs.

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Attackers are deploying increasingly sophisticated social engineering campaigns against hedge funds and other asset managers, leveraging generative AI to create convincing synthetic voice and video replicas of senior executives. The new wave of "vishing" (voice phishing) and spearphishing attacks uses meticulously researched pretexts from public investor communications and can bypass common multi-factor authentication (MFA) through methods like adversary-in-the-middle proxies.

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