DROPLETS
Treasury's NPRM would extend outbound investment rules beyond China to Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela, ban covered biotech, super-intelligence and photonics investments, with comments due December 7, 2026.
Treasury's notice of proposed rulemaking, issued October 22, 2026, would be the most far-reaching expansion of the Outbound Investment Security Program to date, implementing the COINS Act. It adds Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela to the "countries of concern" list, extends coverage to citizens and permanent residents of those states, including majority-owned or controlled entities, and replaces the tiered AI framework with a flat prohibition on covered "super intelligence" systems, including agentic harnesses, humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles and unmanned systems. Biotechnology becomes a prohibited sector covering vaccines, cell and gene therapies, monoclonal antibodies, brain-computer interfaces, sequencing, flow cytometers, mass spectrometry, lab automation and cloud-lab infrastructure. Photonics, hypersonics, high-performance computing, high-bandwidth memory and radiation-hardened chips also come into scope, alongside a $50,000 de minimis exception for notifications, new secondary-transaction and bank-lending safe harbors, an added diligence factor, and a nonbindi
…
The Board revived the Wright Line burden-shifting test in Lion Elastomers III, alongside new captive-audience bans in Delaware and Maryland and a circuit split on Section 10(j) irreparable harm.
In a September 2026 labor law roundup, the NLRB's Lion Elastomers III (375 NLRB No. 41, Sept. 23, 2026) restored the Wright Line burden-shifting framework first set out in General Motors LLC to decide when an employee's misconduct during otherwise protected Section 7 activity loses NLRA protection, following the Fifth Circuit's vacatur of Lion Elastomers II — the Board's first significant precedent shift since General Counsel Crystal Carey's GC Memorandum 26-04. In a separate decision, the Board held in Michigan Education Association (375 NLRB No. 42) that employers need not disclose attorney-client privileged material in response to union information requests and that the traditional balancing test does not apply, though employers must still establish privilege. The Seventh Circuit in Hamada v. Laborforce affirmed denial of a Section 10(j) injunction, holding that generalized harm to union support does not establish irreparable harm, a developing circuit split with the Second Circuit. Separately, Delaware and Maryland captive-audience meeting restrictions took effect Sept. 30 and Oc
…
The six-month pilot (submissions due April 22, 2027) offers civil False Claims Act resolution for previously unknown HHS-program misconduct at a 1.25-1.6x repayment multiplier, with no CIA and no required factual admissions.
On October 22, 2026, DOJ's Civil Division and HHS opened the Healthcare False Claims Act Self-Disclosure Pilot Program (FCA SDPP), accepting submissions through 11:59 p.m. on April 22, 2027 for conduct potentially violating the FCA in connection with HHS-funded federal health care programs. The protocol requires six categories of submission information and offers repayment at 1.25 to 1.6x a "Base Self-Disclosure Repayment," with no civil monetary penalties, no Corporate Integrity Agreement, and no required factual admissions — favorable compared with DOJ's discretionary cooperation-credit framework under Justice Manual 4-4.112 and the HHS-OIG Self-Disclosure Protocol. Sophisticated counsel will note significant open questions: eligibility turns on conduct not already known to the government, so a sealed qui tam complaint can render a disclosure ineligible after submission; sampling methodology for extrapolated damages is unspecified; AKS-related disclosures require documenting remuneration and revenue; individual practitioners' eligibility is unresolved; CMS permissive-exclusion rele
…
A proposed FTC consent order resolves the agency's vertical-theory challenge to Publicis's $2.2 billion purchase of LiveRamp, a notable signal for advertising-data and ad tech deal review.
The Federal Trade Commission announced on 19 October 2026 that it has reached a proposed consent order settling its concerns over Publicis's $2.2 billion acquisition of LiveRamp, the advertising data and audience-connectivity platform. Reporting from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati characterises the case as notable for relying on a purely vertical theory, in the sense that the theory did not rest on horizontal effects from the merging parties directly competing. That framing matters to advertising, media and data-driven businesses: a vertical theory can support challenge to an otherwise limited overlap if the parties' positions across the advertising supply chain raise foreclosure, access or information-transfer concerns.
…
A federal banking agencies' systematic removal of reputation risk references from 15 interagency guidance documents is reshaping what examiners treat as supervisory risk at US banks and credit unions.
A Husch Blackwell alert reports that, beginning in June, the federal banking agencies systematically removed reputation risk references from 15 interagency guidance documents. Because interagency guidance shapes examination procedures and examiner expectations, retiring a named risk category can change what examiners look for and how findings are framed, particularly where reputational considerations have sat alongside safety-and-soundness risk.
…
The SEC's September 16, 2026 proposing releases would revise federal proxy rules under the Exchange Act, and securities counsel should calendar the comment period and assess impact.
On September 16, 2026, the SEC issued two proposing releases that would amend the federal proxy rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A Dorsey & Whitney client alert flags the proposals, but the available material does not set out their provisions, so the specific solicitation, disclosure and shareholder-engagement changes in each release should be confirmed against the proposing releases themselves before advice is given.
Why it matters: the proxy rules are the operating system for every reporting company's annual meeting — notice, access to the ballot, and the mechanics of solicitation by management and activists alike. Two parallel releases point to a broad rather than cosmetic revision, and issuers, activist investors and their advisers will need to test calendars and disclosure against whatever is proposed.
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Ropes & Gray's October 2026 greenwashing update flags the Supreme Court's October 5, 2026 argument in Suncor v. Boulder County, a decision that could reshape environmental-disclosure exposure.
Per Ropes & Gray's October 2026 greenwashing litigation update, significant U.S. greenwashing litigation developments unfolded through the summer and early fall of 2026, and the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on October 5, 2026 in Suncor v. Boulder County. The update is a practice-side survey of the cases, filings and procedural postures counsel are tracking in the space.
Why it matters: greenwashing exposure now sits at the intersection of environmental, consumer, securities and shareholder-claim regimes, and a Supreme Court ruling in Suncor v. Boulder County would carry implications well beyond the parties — for companies making climate, sustainability or sustainability-linked representations, for investors and plaintiffs' firms litigating them, and for disclosure drafting and marketing-substantiation review. A single source summarizes this cluster; the lower-court history and questions presented should be verified against the docket before being relied on.
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The FCC's Sept. 30, 2026 Report and Order (FCC 26-67) rewrites how businesses must handle consumer requests to stop autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts under the TCPA.
On September 30, 2026, the FCC adopted a Report and Order (FCC 26-67) amending how businesses must respond to consumer requests to stop autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The available reporting describes the order as giving businesses greater control over opt-out handling, shifting implementation from a prescribed default toward a framework businesses manage themselves — though the excerpt does not set out the operative mechanics, the effective date, or any comment or waiver window, so those details need confirmation against the released text.
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The FCC's new rule lets callers swap the TCPA's "any reasonable means" revocation standard for a defined set of honored opt-out channels, which the source says should reduce consent-based TCPA litigation exposure.
Faegre Drinker reports that the FCC has adopted rules under which callers may replace the TCPA's open-ended "revocation of consent" standard with a defined set of opt-out channels. The source indicates the alternative framework gives callers a path to reduce litigation exposure where revocation disputes have generated frequent litigation over what counts as honoring an opt-out request, provided the caller actually complies with the channels it offers. The "any reasonable means" standard had become a recurring contested issue in TCPA consent and revocation disputes, feeding class action and motion practice across the federal courts. For consumer-facing clients in banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications and direct marketing, the immediate question is operational: whether opt-out disclosures, IVR and live-agent scripts, CRM suppression lists and outsourced calling platforms are aligned with the new defined-channel approach. Counsel should watch the effective date, any FCC or court challenge, and the precise conditions attached to the safe-harbor path, none of which the source
…
FDA's final PDURS guidance adds a labeling decision tree, a formal "standalone" software category, and model prescribing-information language for companion apps, sharpening when app output is FDA-required versus promotional labeling.
On October 20, 2026, FDA announced final guidance titled Regulatory Considerations for Prescription Drug Use-Related Software, completing a process begun with a September 2023 draft and a 2018 Federal Register request for comments. The guidance addresses software disseminated by or on behalf of a drug sponsor that generates "end-user output" textually related to the sponsor's drug products, and treats that output as a form of drug labeling even where the software itself is not a regulated device.
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SEC proposal would reopen fund cross trading in level 2 securities, add NAV and current-market pricing, shift oversight to CCOs and add N-PORT reporting; comments due December 14, 2026.
On October 9, 2026 (91 Fed. Reg. 65,622 on October 15), the SEC proposed amendments to Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which since Rule 2a-5's September 2022 compliance date has limited cross trading to level 1 securities, effectively excluding most fixed income. The proposal would extend eligibility to level 2 securities, with level 3 and non-leveled holdings remaining ineligible, and replace existing pricing rules with two alternatives: NAV pricing at the next NAV computation, available only when both funds share valuation processes, or a current market price set using unaffiliated pricing sources with periodic reasonableness reviews. De minimis payments to unaffiliated clearing, settlement, custody and reporting providers would be permitted.
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DOJ's Directive 26-13, issued to all DOJ personnel on October 7, 2026, sets a new approach to asset seizure and forfeiture in fraud cases, with direct implications for corporate targets, their banks, and defense strategy.
On October 7, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued Directive 26-13, "A Comprehensive Approach in the Fight Against Fraud," to all Department of Justice personnel. According to a Husch Blackwell client alert — the only reporting in this cluster — the memo addresses how DOJ will approach asset seizure and forfeiture in fraud matters and what it means for companies.
Why sophisticated counsel should care: asset seizure and forfeiture are among the most consequential levers in federal fraud enforcement, and a written DOJ-wide directive signals a standardized prosecutorial posture rather than case-by-case discretion. For corporate clients and their banks, that can affect how aggressively prosecutors move against seized funds, how broadly the net is drawn across multi-party fraud schemes, and how defense teams sequence challenges to freezing, detention, and forfeiture proceedings against parallel regulatory and civil tracks. The alert frames the directive as company-facing, suggesting operational takeaways for compliance and internal investigations functions.
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The Manhattan district attorney has created the office's first Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force, adding criminal antitrust — likely under the Donnelly Act — to a local prosecutor's corporate-crime mandate.
On Oct. 14, 2026, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the office's first Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force, led by veteran prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos and staffed with roughly five assistant district attorneys and two investigative analysts. The unit institutionalizes criminal antitrust investigation inside a local prosecutor's office, where such enforcement has historically sat with DOJ's Antitrust Division and the New York Attorney General's Antitrust Bureau; any charges would likely proceed under the Donnelly Act (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 340 et seq.), which largely mirrors Sherman Act Section 1.
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Two years after the EU adopted its green-transition consumer directive, Member States are transposing the green-claims and consumer-terms rules unevenly, leaving brands to run one campaign across a patchwork of national duties.
Mayer Brown's client alert revisits the EU directive on empowering consumers for the green transition two years after its adoption, doing two things: setting out what the directive actually requires of businesses, and surveying how far Member States have progressed in transposing it. The core obligations are familiar but broad — generic environmental claims and sustainability labels must be substantiated, carbon-neutral and offsetting claims are policed, and consumers gain enhanced rights where a contract rests on a sustainability commitment, including information duties on future environmental performance.
…
China's MOFCOM and MOST issued draft revisions to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export covering AI, biopharma and photovoltaic technologies.
On 16 October 2026, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) released draft revisions to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export, proposing new or tightened controls on artificial intelligence, biopharma and photovoltaic technologies. The reporting available here does not set out the specific controlled items, the consultation mechanics or the licensing carve-outs, so the exact scope of the proposal should be confirmed against the published draft text rather than assumed.
Catalogue changes of this kind reach well beyond the immediate licensor or seller. They reshape technical annexes and compliance clauses in supply, joint-development and distribution agreements; trigger notice, audit and record-keeping duties; and require re-screening of counterparties, end users, end uses and Chinese-origin components in diligence. Tightening on AI-related technology also interacts with US and EU outbound investment screening, chip-sector controls and export classification work already underway in major-firm practices.
…
DOJ's Civil Division and HHS opened a six-month pilot on Oct. 22, 2026 giving healthcare entities a new channel to self-disclose potential False Claims Act liability.
On October 22, 2026, DOJ's Civil Division and HHS announced a six-month Healthcare False Claims Act Self-Disclosure Pilot Program (FCA SDPP), as reported by McDermott Will & Emery.
The significance is programmatic rather than doctrinal. The pilot creates a time-limited, government-run channel for healthcare entities that identify their own potential False Claims Act exposure to report it under self-disclosure protocols. Under the general FCA framework, qualifying self-disclosures typically permit mitigation of available damages and penalties relative to what a government-initiated investigation or FCA case would produce; the pilot appears designed to make that route more accessible to the sector.
…
Treasury's NPRM would extend outbound investment rules beyond China to Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela, ban covered biotech, super-intelligence and photonics investments, with comments due December 7, 2026.
Treasury's notice of proposed rulemaking, issued October 22, 2026, would be the most far-reaching expansion of the Outbound Investment Security Program to date, implementing the COINS Act. It adds Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela to the "countries of concern" list, extends coverage to citizens and permanent residents of those states, including majority-owned or controlled entities, and replaces the tiered AI framework with a flat prohibition on covered "super intelligence" systems, including agentic harnesses, humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles and unmanned systems. Biotechnology becomes a prohibited sector covering vaccines, cell and gene therapies, monoclonal antibodies, brain-computer interfaces, sequencing, flow cytometers, mass spectrometry, lab automation and cloud-lab infrastructure. Photonics, hypersonics, high-performance computing, high-bandwidth memory and radiation-hardened chips also come into scope, alongside a $50,000 de minimis exception for notifications, new secondary-transaction and bank-lending safe harbors, an added diligence factor, and a nonbindi
…
A proposed FTC consent order resolves the agency's vertical-theory challenge to Publicis's $2.2 billion purchase of LiveRamp, a notable signal for advertising-data and ad tech deal review.
The Federal Trade Commission announced on 19 October 2026 that it has reached a proposed consent order settling its concerns over Publicis's $2.2 billion acquisition of LiveRamp, the advertising data and audience-connectivity platform. Reporting from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati characterises the case as notable for relying on a purely vertical theory, in the sense that the theory did not rest on horizontal effects from the merging parties directly competing. That framing matters to advertising, media and data-driven businesses: a vertical theory can support challenge to an otherwise limited overlap if the parties' positions across the advertising supply chain raise foreclosure, access or information-transfer concerns.
…
The Manhattan district attorney has created the office's first Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force, adding criminal antitrust — likely under the Donnelly Act — to a local prosecutor's corporate-crime mandate.
On Oct. 14, 2026, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the office's first Corporate Crime and Antitrust Task Force, led by veteran prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos and staffed with roughly five assistant district attorneys and two investigative analysts. The unit institutionalizes criminal antitrust investigation inside a local prosecutor's office, where such enforcement has historically sat with DOJ's Antitrust Division and the New York Attorney General's Antitrust Bureau; any charges would likely proceed under the Donnelly Act (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 340 et seq.), which largely mirrors Sherman Act Section 1.
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The FCC's Sept. 30, 2026 Report and Order (FCC 26-67) rewrites how businesses must handle consumer requests to stop autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts under the TCPA.
On September 30, 2026, the FCC adopted a Report and Order (FCC 26-67) amending how businesses must respond to consumer requests to stop autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The available reporting describes the order as giving businesses greater control over opt-out handling, shifting implementation from a prescribed default toward a framework businesses manage themselves — though the excerpt does not set out the operative mechanics, the effective date, or any comment or waiver window, so those details need confirmation against the released text.
…
The FCC's new rule lets callers swap the TCPA's "any reasonable means" revocation standard for a defined set of honored opt-out channels, which the source says should reduce consent-based TCPA litigation exposure.
Faegre Drinker reports that the FCC has adopted rules under which callers may replace the TCPA's open-ended "revocation of consent" standard with a defined set of opt-out channels. The source indicates the alternative framework gives callers a path to reduce litigation exposure where revocation disputes have generated frequent litigation over what counts as honoring an opt-out request, provided the caller actually complies with the channels it offers. The "any reasonable means" standard had become a recurring contested issue in TCPA consent and revocation disputes, feeding class action and motion practice across the federal courts. For consumer-facing clients in banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications and direct marketing, the immediate question is operational: whether opt-out disclosures, IVR and live-agent scripts, CRM suppression lists and outsourced calling platforms are aligned with the new defined-channel approach. Counsel should watch the effective date, any FCC or court challenge, and the precise conditions attached to the safe-harbor path, none of which the source
…
Two years after the EU adopted its green-transition consumer directive, Member States are transposing the green-claims and consumer-terms rules unevenly, leaving brands to run one campaign across a patchwork of national duties.
Mayer Brown's client alert revisits the EU directive on empowering consumers for the green transition two years after its adoption, doing two things: setting out what the directive actually requires of businesses, and surveying how far Member States have progressed in transposing it. The core obligations are familiar but broad — generic environmental claims and sustainability labels must be substantiated, carbon-neutral and offsetting claims are policed, and consumers gain enhanced rights where a contract rests on a sustainability commitment, including information duties on future environmental performance.
…
The Board revived the Wright Line burden-shifting test in Lion Elastomers III, alongside new captive-audience bans in Delaware and Maryland and a circuit split on Section 10(j) irreparable harm.
In a September 2026 labor law roundup, the NLRB's Lion Elastomers III (375 NLRB No. 41, Sept. 23, 2026) restored the Wright Line burden-shifting framework first set out in General Motors LLC to decide when an employee's misconduct during otherwise protected Section 7 activity loses NLRA protection, following the Fifth Circuit's vacatur of Lion Elastomers II — the Board's first significant precedent shift since General Counsel Crystal Carey's GC Memorandum 26-04. In a separate decision, the Board held in Michigan Education Association (375 NLRB No. 42) that employers need not disclose attorney-client privileged material in response to union information requests and that the traditional balancing test does not apply, though employers must still establish privilege. The Seventh Circuit in Hamada v. Laborforce affirmed denial of a Section 10(j) injunction, holding that generalized harm to union support does not establish irreparable harm, a developing circuit split with the Second Circuit. Separately, Delaware and Maryland captive-audience meeting restrictions took effect Sept. 30 and Oc
…
Ropes & Gray's October 2026 greenwashing update flags the Supreme Court's October 5, 2026 argument in Suncor v. Boulder County, a decision that could reshape environmental-disclosure exposure.
Per Ropes & Gray's October 2026 greenwashing litigation update, significant U.S. greenwashing litigation developments unfolded through the summer and early fall of 2026, and the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on October 5, 2026 in Suncor v. Boulder County. The update is a practice-side survey of the cases, filings and procedural postures counsel are tracking in the space.
Why it matters: greenwashing exposure now sits at the intersection of environmental, consumer, securities and shareholder-claim regimes, and a Supreme Court ruling in Suncor v. Boulder County would carry implications well beyond the parties — for companies making climate, sustainability or sustainability-linked representations, for investors and plaintiffs' firms litigating them, and for disclosure drafting and marketing-substantiation review. A single source summarizes this cluster; the lower-court history and questions presented should be verified against the docket before being relied on.
…
FDA's final PDURS guidance adds a labeling decision tree, a formal "standalone" software category, and model prescribing-information language for companion apps, sharpening when app output is FDA-required versus promotional labeling.
On October 20, 2026, FDA announced final guidance titled Regulatory Considerations for Prescription Drug Use-Related Software, completing a process begun with a September 2023 draft and a 2018 Federal Register request for comments. The guidance addresses software disseminated by or on behalf of a drug sponsor that generates "end-user output" textually related to the sponsor's drug products, and treats that output as a form of drug labeling even where the software itself is not a regulated device.
…
A federal banking agencies' systematic removal of reputation risk references from 15 interagency guidance documents is reshaping what examiners treat as supervisory risk at US banks and credit unions.
A Husch Blackwell alert reports that, beginning in June, the federal banking agencies systematically removed reputation risk references from 15 interagency guidance documents. Because interagency guidance shapes examination procedures and examiner expectations, retiring a named risk category can change what examiners look for and how findings are framed, particularly where reputational considerations have sat alongside safety-and-soundness risk.
…
The six-month pilot (submissions due April 22, 2027) offers civil False Claims Act resolution for previously unknown HHS-program misconduct at a 1.25-1.6x repayment multiplier, with no CIA and no required factual admissions.
On October 22, 2026, DOJ's Civil Division and HHS opened the Healthcare False Claims Act Self-Disclosure Pilot Program (FCA SDPP), accepting submissions through 11:59 p.m. on April 22, 2027 for conduct potentially violating the FCA in connection with HHS-funded federal health care programs. The protocol requires six categories of submission information and offers repayment at 1.25 to 1.6x a "Base Self-Disclosure Repayment," with no civil monetary penalties, no Corporate Integrity Agreement, and no required factual admissions — favorable compared with DOJ's discretionary cooperation-credit framework under Justice Manual 4-4.112 and the HHS-OIG Self-Disclosure Protocol. Sophisticated counsel will note significant open questions: eligibility turns on conduct not already known to the government, so a sealed qui tam complaint can render a disclosure ineligible after submission; sampling methodology for extrapolated damages is unspecified; AKS-related disclosures require documenting remuneration and revenue; individual practitioners' eligibility is unresolved; CMS permissive-exclusion rele
…
DOJ's Civil Division and HHS opened a six-month pilot on Oct. 22, 2026 giving healthcare entities a new channel to self-disclose potential False Claims Act liability.
On October 22, 2026, DOJ's Civil Division and HHS announced a six-month Healthcare False Claims Act Self-Disclosure Pilot Program (FCA SDPP), as reported by McDermott Will & Emery.
The significance is programmatic rather than doctrinal. The pilot creates a time-limited, government-run channel for healthcare entities that identify their own potential False Claims Act exposure to report it under self-disclosure protocols. Under the general FCA framework, qualifying self-disclosures typically permit mitigation of available damages and penalties relative to what a government-initiated investigation or FCA case would produce; the pilot appears designed to make that route more accessible to the sector.
…
Treasury's NPRM would extend outbound investment rules beyond China to Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela, ban covered biotech, super-intelligence and photonics investments, with comments due December 7, 2026.
Treasury's notice of proposed rulemaking, issued October 22, 2026, would be the most far-reaching expansion of the Outbound Investment Security Program to date, implementing the COINS Act. It adds Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela to the "countries of concern" list, extends coverage to citizens and permanent residents of those states, including majority-owned or controlled entities, and replaces the tiered AI framework with a flat prohibition on covered "super intelligence" systems, including agentic harnesses, humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles and unmanned systems. Biotechnology becomes a prohibited sector covering vaccines, cell and gene therapies, monoclonal antibodies, brain-computer interfaces, sequencing, flow cytometers, mass spectrometry, lab automation and cloud-lab infrastructure. Photonics, hypersonics, high-performance computing, high-bandwidth memory and radiation-hardened chips also come into scope, alongside a $50,000 de minimis exception for notifications, new secondary-transaction and bank-lending safe harbors, an added diligence factor, and a nonbindi
…
China's MOFCOM and MOST issued draft revisions to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export covering AI, biopharma and photovoltaic technologies.
On 16 October 2026, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) released draft revisions to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export, proposing new or tightened controls on artificial intelligence, biopharma and photovoltaic technologies. The reporting available here does not set out the specific controlled items, the consultation mechanics or the licensing carve-outs, so the exact scope of the proposal should be confirmed against the published draft text rather than assumed.
Catalogue changes of this kind reach well beyond the immediate licensor or seller. They reshape technical annexes and compliance clauses in supply, joint-development and distribution agreements; trigger notice, audit and record-keeping duties; and require re-screening of counterparties, end users, end uses and Chinese-origin components in diligence. Tightening on AI-related technology also interacts with US and EU outbound investment screening, chip-sector controls and export classification work already underway in major-firm practices.
…
The SEC's September 16, 2026 proposing releases would revise federal proxy rules under the Exchange Act, and securities counsel should calendar the comment period and assess impact.
On September 16, 2026, the SEC issued two proposing releases that would amend the federal proxy rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A Dorsey & Whitney client alert flags the proposals, but the available material does not set out their provisions, so the specific solicitation, disclosure and shareholder-engagement changes in each release should be confirmed against the proposing releases themselves before advice is given.
Why it matters: the proxy rules are the operating system for every reporting company's annual meeting — notice, access to the ballot, and the mechanics of solicitation by management and activists alike. Two parallel releases point to a broad rather than cosmetic revision, and issuers, activist investors and their advisers will need to test calendars and disclosure against whatever is proposed.
…
SEC proposal would reopen fund cross trading in level 2 securities, add NAV and current-market pricing, shift oversight to CCOs and add N-PORT reporting; comments due December 14, 2026.
On October 9, 2026 (91 Fed. Reg. 65,622 on October 15), the SEC proposed amendments to Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which since Rule 2a-5's September 2022 compliance date has limited cross trading to level 1 securities, effectively excluding most fixed income. The proposal would extend eligibility to level 2 securities, with level 3 and non-leveled holdings remaining ineligible, and replace existing pricing rules with two alternatives: NAV pricing at the next NAV computation, available only when both funds share valuation processes, or a current market price set using unaffiliated pricing sources with periodic reasonableness reviews. De minimis payments to unaffiliated clearing, settlement, custody and reporting providers would be permitted.
…
DOJ's Directive 26-13, issued to all DOJ personnel on October 7, 2026, sets a new approach to asset seizure and forfeiture in fraud cases, with direct implications for corporate targets, their banks, and defense strategy.
On October 7, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued Directive 26-13, "A Comprehensive Approach in the Fight Against Fraud," to all Department of Justice personnel. According to a Husch Blackwell client alert — the only reporting in this cluster — the memo addresses how DOJ will approach asset seizure and forfeiture in fraud matters and what it means for companies.
Why sophisticated counsel should care: asset seizure and forfeiture are among the most consequential levers in federal fraud enforcement, and a written DOJ-wide directive signals a standardized prosecutorial posture rather than case-by-case discretion. For corporate clients and their banks, that can affect how aggressively prosecutors move against seized funds, how broadly the net is drawn across multi-party fraud schemes, and how defense teams sequence challenges to freezing, detention, and forfeiture proceedings against parallel regulatory and civil tracks. The alert frames the directive as company-facing, suggesting operational takeaways for compliance and internal investigations functions.
…
Grade 3 — worth a glance, not the full analysis.
- CPSC Says Micromobility Safety Standards Inadequate, Seeks Comments
CPSC has preliminarily determined that current voluntary micromobility standards (ANSI/CAN/UL/ULC) do not adequately address known lithium-ion battery fire hazards and is soliciting comments on a proposed rulemaking.
- Mexico's child digital-safety decree published in the Federal Official Gazette
Per Hogan Lovells, a decree on safe digital environments for girls, boys and teenagers was published in Mexico's Federal Official Gazette on October 14, 2026, requiring digital platforms to implement protective measures for minors.
- US Outbound Investment Regime Draws First Penalty; COINS Act Rules Proposed
Perkins Coie reports the first enforcement penalty under the US Outbound Investment Security Program alongside proposed COINS Act rules, a signal for US investors and multinational financial institutions screening outbound deals.
- FDA Finalizes Guidance on Identity and Safety Data in NDI Notifications
FDA has finalized guidance on what identity and safety information manufacturers and distributors must include in New Dietary Ingredient notifications, a change supplement brands and counsel should map against current submission workflows.
- FDA Accepts First Disclosed Keytruda Biosimilar aBLA for Review
Formycon and Zydus said FDA accepted their FYB206 (pembrolizumab) aBLA for review on October 13, 2026 — the first publicly disclosed biosimilar application to Merck's Keytruda.
- EC clears Airbus/Air France JV in a procedural first on efficiencies
The Commission cleared the Airbus/Air France JV (M.11295) on 27 April 2026, published 14 October, in what the case team called the first use of a new procedural route for efficiencies - procedural, not substantive, precedent.
- ASIC Consults on Extending CFD Product Intervention Order
Australia's ASIC opened a consultation on 12 October 2026 proposing to extend and amend the product intervention order governing retail contracts for difference, with the order expected to remain in place while feedback is considered.
- Democrats Put Defense Contractors on Notice for 2027 Oversight
HPSCI Ranking Member Jim Himes's September 28 letter to NDIA and HASC Democrats' consideration of reviving a Pentagon oversight subcommittee point to a contractor-directed inquiry agenda if Democrats take the House in 2027.
- Enanta v. Pfizer: Hasty Provisionals Cost Millions in Lost Revenue
A Haynes and Boone alert draws practice lessons from Enanta v. Pfizer, warning that thin provisional disclosure, tight filing budgets and rushed timelines can forfeit patent protection worth millions.
- NCUA Proposes 13th Round of Credit Union Deregulation
The National Credit Union Administration on October 20 announced three proposals under the 13th round of its Deregulation Project, continuing its review of agency rules against credit unions' safety, soundness and resilience.
- Proposed New York Bill Would Bar Healthcare Non-Competes
New York Senators Hinchey and Fahy introduced Senate Bill S10722 on October 16, 2026, which would broadly prohibit post-employment non-compete agreements for licensed healthcare professionals in the state.
- California regulators order lenders to report on LA wildfire insurance payouts
California's DFPI and the Business and Consumer Services Agency have ordered financial institutions to report how they handle insurance payouts for survivors of the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires.
- SEC Proposes Transfer Agent Rule on Restrictive Legend Removal
The SEC has proposed a new rule governing how transfer agents process the removal of restrictive legends from securities, with comments due on or before November 3, 2026.
- Fed Proposes GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules; SEC Opens Self-Custody Path
Akin Gump's September CryptoLink roundup reports proposed Fed GENIUS Act stablecoin backing rules, an SEC proposal letting advisers self-custody crypto, and a temporary SEC exemption for tokenized stock trading venues.
- CARB Gives Update on SB 253 Climate Disclosure Rulemaking
CARB staff briefed the board on the status of regulatory and public-engagement work to implement California's SB 253 corporate emissions reporting, a status signal for large in-state emitters and their advisers.
- NYC Consumer Agency Proposes Rules for Automated Customer Service
The city's consumer protection agency has proposed rules covering AI chatbots, automated phone systems and rules-based bots, including mandatory AI disclosure and access to a human representative.
- SEC Enforcement Roundup: September 2026 Actions and CLARITY Act Uncertainty
Morrison & Foerster's monthly recap flags five SEC enforcement actions from September 2026 and notes the CLARITY Act would have been the first federal crypto market-structure framework.
- Menopause Accommodation Duties Spread Across State and Federal Law
Growing state and local menopause-discrimination bans, a pending federal accommodation bill, and unsettled PWFA and ADA coverage push employers to revisit accommodation and benefit policies.
- NLRB Reinstates Wright Line Standard for Misconduct in Protected Activity
Faegre Drinker reports the NLRB has reinstated the Wright Line framework for assessing employer motive when discipline involves both employee misconduct and protected union activity.
- Colombia Decree 1416 Sets Rules for SAS Debt Issuers in Capital Markets
A Colombian emergency-economy decree reportedly regulates simplified joint stock companies (S.A.S.) as debt issuers in the local securities market, affecting how such issuers can access the capital markets.
- Illinois expands health care transaction notice law effective Jan. 1, 2027
Illinois Public Act 104-0782 extends health care transaction notice requirements to transactions involving entities that directly or indirectly own or control health care facilities, taking effect January 1, 2027.
- FINRA Again Delays Offering Review Fee Changes to 2029
FINRA has postponed the effective date of its revised public offering and private placement filing fees to 2029, keeping current fee schedules in place and sparing near-term offering budgets from repricing.
- Oregon Court of Appeals Caps Wage-Deduction Damages at $200 Per Category
In Winn v. Blakeslee Vineyard Estate, 352 Or App 803 (2026), Oregon's Court of Appeals held the $200 statutory damages under ORS 652.615 run once per category of violation, not per paycheck; Chief Judge Lagesen dissented.
- California Restaurant Association challenges SB 54 EPR law on state tax theory
The California Restaurant Association has filed in state court against California's SB 54 packaging EPR law, arguing EPR charges violate the state Constitution's ban on private taxation, alongside a 17-state federal challenge.
- Perkins Coie playbook chapter on structuring land deals for data centers
A new playbook chapter sets out how data center developers structure land acquisitions, ground leases and site-control arrangements as hyperscale site selection shifts away from proximity to customers.
- EU FDI Screening Figures Signal Growing Constraint on Cross-Border Deals
A Jones Day client alert on newly published EU foreign investment screening data indicates that filing volume and clearance risk are becoming a more binding factor for cross-border investors.
- Digital Lab Notebooks and AI: Open Questions in Life Sciences Patent Disputes
A Steptoe IP analysis examines how AI and digital lab notebooks raise questions about inventorship, disclosure and prior art in life sciences patent disputes.
- Chile Law 21,828 Sets March 2027 Gender Equity Reporting Deadline
Chilean Law 21,828 will require certain companies to file a gender equity report on women's labor inclusion by March 2027, creating a new compliance workstream for employers with Chilean operations.
- UK Proposes Employment Reforms on Non-Competes, Whistleblowing, Status
UK proposals following the Employment Rights Act 2025 would tighten non-compete rules, expand whistleblowing protection and revisit employment status tests, pointing to more drafting and compliance work for employers.
- Cabo Concepts judgment sets practical UK disclosure lessons
Mrs Justice Bacon's ruling in Cabo Concepts Ltd v MGA Entertainment (UK) Ltd [2026] EWHC 768 (Ch), where both sides fell short of disclosure duties, gives UK commercial litigators a template for avoiding adverse costs exposure.
- Guide: Enforcing International Commercial Arbitral Awards in New York
Steptoe publishes a practitioner guide to enforcing international commercial arbitral awards in U.S. courts, covering the New York Convention framework for recognition and enforcement in New York.
- Massachusetts HPC Expands Material Change Filing Rules in Amended 958 CMR 7.00
Massachusetts' health care cost regulator has codified prior guidance in amended regulations, widening the categories of provider and payer changes that trigger material change notices and cost and market impact reviews.
- PFAS Restrictions Collide With Data Center Build-Out: Risk Map for Developers
Sheppard Mullin maps how state PFAS water and foam rules, grid and water strain, and organized local opposition create permitting and liability exposure for new data centers.
- Steptoe alert: interim measures in New York-seated international arbitration
A Steptoe client alert published 27 October 2026 addresses interim measures in support of international arbitrations seated in New York; the cluster supplies only the headline and publication date.
- Ninth Circuit: Breach of Confidence Confers Standing in Health Data Case
A Ninth Circuit ruling credits a breach of confidence as a cognizable injury in a health data security dispute, giving plaintiffs a concrete standing theory.
- SEC Proposes Rule 17a-7 Overhaul Expanding Fund Cross-Trading
The SEC's proposed amendments to Rule 17a-7 would widen cross-trading eligibility for registered funds and advisers while adding new compliance-officer responsibilities, with a comment period to follow.
- SEC Division of Examinations Publishes FY2027 Examination Priorities
The SEC Division of Examinations published its fiscal year 2027 examination priorities on October 23, 2026, with Chairman Paul Atkins framing examinations as a source of insight into emerging risks.
- DOE Opens Section 45Z Emissions Value Request Process for Off-Table Fuels
Clean fuel producers whose fuels, feedstocks, or pathways fall outside the emissions rate table can now ask DOE for Provisional Emissions Rates needed to quantify Section 45Z clean fuel production credits.
- UK Employment Rights Act 2025 Rolls Out 'Fire and Rehire' Reforms
Skadden's UK employment flash reports that implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025 is continuing, reshaping UK employers' options for dismissals followed by offers of re-engagement.
- New Jersey Proposes Deleting 60% Cap on Posted Pay Ranges
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has proposed deleting the 60 percent spread cap on posted pay ranges under its pay transparency rules, leaving other requirements intact and comments open until December 18, 2026.
- DOJ, HHS Launch Six-Month Healthcare FCA Self-Disclosure Pilot
DOJ and HHS announced on Oct. 22 a six-month pilot giving healthcare providers a channel to self-report possible False Claims Act violations, reframing how FCA exposure gets addressed.
- Corent v. AWS protective order sets AI-use rules for patent discovery
Stipulated C.D. Cal. order preapproves specific AI tools, requires seven-business-day notice for others, and bars AI processing of source code.
- Foley Lardner Guide on Winning Collective Bargaining Arbitrations
Foley & Lardner published a practitioner guide to prevailing in grievance arbitrations under collective bargaining agreements, arguing these proceedings are more frequent and consequential than jury trials.
- California Delays Anti-Clawback Law, Adds Financial Services Exceptions
AB 1697 postpones California's anti-clawback requirements and creates new exceptions, including for financial services professionals, shifting when employers must retain bonus and commission records.
- SEC Staff Issues Long-Awaited Form S-8 Interpretations on Equity Compensation
The SEC Division of Corporation Finance's new and revised Form S-8 interpretations clarify how issuers may use the streamlined registration statement for equity compensation, delivering relief long sought by public-company counsel.
- Proclamation narrows Section 338 Canada tariff product list
An October 23 presidential proclamation removes certain Canadian goods, including plywood sheets and paper products, from the scope of Section 338 tariffs.
- France takes two steps toward stronger ANSM powers on critical medicine supply
Hogan Lovells reports that on 7 October 2026 France took two new initiatives to monitor and manage supply tensions in medicines of major therapeutic interest, signalling a possible strengthening of ANSM's regulatory powers.
- Black Sea escalation reaches NATO waters, war-risk cover and grain flows
A Steptoe risk outlook reports nearly 390 vessels struck July–September, a Joint War Committee listing of most of the Black Sea as a war-risk area, and October drone strikes inside Romanian and Bulgarian waters.
- EU Product Liability Directive: New Recoverable Damages Ahead of Dec 2026 Deadline
Faegre Drinker analyzes the EU Product Liability Directive's newly codified categories of recoverable damages, including standalone medically recognized psychological harm, as member states face a December 9, 2026 implementation deadline.