Inflation Reduction Act
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...
What Once Was Old Is New Again: DOJ and FTC Issue Draft New Merger Guidelines
On July 19, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a draft version of new Merger Guidelines (Merger Guidelines), which would replace the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines (the...
Voluntary Carbon Credits – A Free Market Solution
OVERVIEW In February of this year, the International Emissions Trading Association (“ IETA ”) published a comprehensive set of standardised agreements for the sale and purchase of voluntary carbon credits (“ VCCs ”). The international market for VCCs has been...
BOEM Releases Proposed Rule on Supplemental Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations
On June 29, 2023, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed rule that, if adopted, would substantially revise the financial assurance requirements applicable to offshore oil and gas operations. [1] The proposed rule is...
Supreme Court “Clarifies” Employer Duty to Make Religious Accommodations
On June 29, 2023, in Groff v. DeJoy , the US Supreme Court unanimously adopted a new interpretation of the standard for when an employee’s religious accommodation poses an “undue hardship” for an employer under Title VII of the Civil...
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.
FTC Proposes Sweeping Changes to US Merger Filing Requirements
On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in concurrence with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), announced a proposal to drastically overhaul the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification process. The proposed rulemaking is yet another...
Updated Texas Property Tax Incentives Program Adds New Wrinkles
Bracewell’s Bucky Brannen reviews differences between Texas’ new property tax incentives program and the previous version of the program, identifying potential obstacles and considerations for applicants.
Treasury Department and IRS Release Long-Awaited Guidance on Credit Transfers
On June 14, 2023, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released long-awaited guidance (the Credit Transfer Guidance) regarding the transfer of energy transition tax credits under Section 6418, [1] which was enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act...
Treasury Department and IRS Release Additional Guidance for the Advanced Energy Project Credit Allocation Program
On May 31, 2023, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2023-44 (the Notice). The Notice provides additional guidance for the new program under Section 48C(e) created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA)...
Treasury Department and IRS Release Guidance on the New Domestic Content Bonus Credit
The domestic content bonus credit (the DC Bonus), which was introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA), provides an enhanced tax credit for renewable energy and storage projects constructed with sufficient US-sourced materials and components (the Domestic...
FINRA Facts and Trends: May 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 FINRA’s appearance at SIFMA...
SEC Adopts New Repurchase Disclosure Rules
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a package of amendments, originally proposed in late 2021, to the disclosure requirements for corporate issuers’ share repurchases. The SEC stated that the new rules are designed to provide investors with more...
SLGS Window Closing May 2, 2023
The US Department of the Treasury announced the suspension of sales of US Treasury Obligations – State and Local Government Series (i.e., SLGS), effective 10:00 a.m. ET, May 2, 2023. New subscriptions for SLGS received after such time will not...
Eight Key Amendments of the 2022 ICSID Arbitration Rules
The fourth amendments to the ICSID Arbitration Rules are the most extensive since their inception. [1] Unless an underlying treaty or agreement provides otherwise, the revised 2022 Arbitration Rules of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)...