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Inflation Reduction Act
“Export Controls Are the New Sanctions” and Other Enforcement Trends for 2024
2023 was a banner year in the sanctions space and regulators seem primed to continue that performance in 2024. In December 2023, numerous government officials and industry experts convened at the New York Forum on Economic Sanctions to discuss lessons...
Compliance Risk After SEC Warning Against ‘AI Washing’
Bracewell’s David Shargel, Rachel Goldman and Patrick Morley write about the enforcement priority coming in 2024 as a result of a breakout year for generative artificial intelligence, with businesses of every kind racing to adopt AI tools. Companies and their compliance programs must take steps now to avoid costly regulatory sanctions and shareholder lawsuits.
Navigating Compliance Trends With a Roadmap to a Corporate Culture of Integrity
The Department of Justice has published — and continues to update and emphasize — a set of practical guidelines on what it views as an effective compliance program and how it makes decisions about bringing charges and evaluating resolutions. Companies...
What is AI Washing? The SEC’s Latest Target
Is AI the new green? Recent comments by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler suggest the regulator is primed to begin turning its enforcement efforts against so-called “AI washing,” presenting a new area of risk for some companies that...
FINRA Facts and Trends: December 2023
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month, we report on a significant proposed rule...
FINRA Facts and Trends: October 2023
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month, we report on ongoing constitutional challenges to...
Personal Devices and Messaging Platforms in the Workplace: Tips, Tactics and Best Practices for In-House Counsel
Federal regulators have cracked down on the use of texts messages and messaging platforms for business communications, using their broad authority to root out record retention violations, resulting in significant fines and sanctions. In 2022 alone, the Securities and Exchange...
Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Denies Fishing Groups’ Challenge to Major Offshore Wind Project
Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts has rejected another challenge to federal permits and approvals for the Vineyard Wind Project (Vineyard Wind or the Project). Vineyard Wind is under construction off the coast...
FINRA Facts and Trends: September 2023
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month, we report on a case that sheds...
Generic ESG Statements and Securities Class Actions: Goldman Sachs Secures Second Circuit Victory in Long-Running Class Certification Battle
A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s class certification in the decade-long Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. Goldman Sachs Group litigation regarding allegedly false public disclosures made by Goldman regarding...
FINRA Facts and Trends: July 2023
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month, we report on a challenge in the...
An Evil Bear May Provide High Court TM Ruling Clarification
The US Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products leaves unanswered questions about the intersection of the First Amendment and trademark rights, which may be answered by the reconsideration of a dismissed case involving Disney and Lotso the bear from "Toy Story 3."
There Ought to Be a Law Before Enforcing Unwritten Crypto Rules
Bracewell’s Keith Blackman assesses government agencies’ gradual regulation by enforcement approach to penalizing cryptocurrency failures, and how the future of this regulation might look.
DSAs: Calculating Security and the Role of Expert Determination
Decommissioning. A word familiar to all of those who are involved in oil and gas exploration and production around the globe. It is defined in the Cambridge English Dictionary as “ taking a factory or other industrial building out of...
Supreme Court Reaffirms Registering To Do Business May Subject You to Lawsuits
Last week the US Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of state laws requiring businesses to consent to lawsuits in the state after registering with state authorities to conduct business there. In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co ., [1] the...