Insights

BOEM Finalizes Long-Awaited Overhaul of Offshore Oil and Gas Financial Assurance Regulations

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its finalization of a rule substantially revising the financial assurance requirements applicable to offshore oil and gas operations. The final rule revises criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use...

Cybersecurity Disclosure Considerations for Municipal Issuers

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...

Certain CCUS Projects Now Eligible for Financing with Tax-Exempt Bonds

Tax-exempt bonds can now be added to the list of ways in which carbon capture, utilization and storage (“CCUS”) projects can be financed. Specifically, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the “Act”) amends section 142(a) of the Internal Revenue Code...

Winter 2021 Edition, NABL Column Federal Securities Law

Article originally appeared in The Bond Buyer. Transition Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s last day at the SEC was December 23, 2020. [1] Commissioner Elad L. Roisman was designated Acting Chairman by then President Trump on December 23, 2020, effective...

Florida Water System Hack Highlights Challenges for Public Utility Cybersecurity

Earlier this month, fears usually confined to dystopian novels and Hollywood movies were realized in Oldsmar, Florida when an unknown hacker breached the city’s water treatment system by successfully accessing its control systems and increasing sodium hydroxide to deadly levels...

Revisiting Force Majeure and Other Contractual Considerations Amid COVID-19

In addition to the tragic human toll that it has caused, the coronavirus pandemic has also wreaked havoc on businesses throughout world, leaving countless companies and individuals unable to perform their contractual obligations. While many businesses have reopened since our...

Look for the Daylight: Advice for Young Lawyers From Jane Macon

What advice does Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Jane Macon have for younger lawyers? She shares her thoughts with KLRN’s Arthur Emerson.

FY 2021 Sequestration Reduction Rate for Direct Pay Tax Credit Bonds Set at 5.7%

According to the IRS website , the sequester reduction rate applied to payments made to issuers of direct pay tax credit bonds in fiscal year 2021 will be 5.7 percent . This percentage will apply to all subsidy payments scheduled...

SEC Leaders Ask Municipal Issuers for Voluntary COVID-19 Disclosure

On May 4, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton and Rebecca Olsen, Director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities, issued a statement entitled “The Importance of Disclosure for our Municipal Markets” 1 stating that “in light of the...

IRS Relief for Governmental Issuers Seeking to Temporarily Buy Back VRDOs and Commercial Paper

Responding to volatility in the market and liquidity constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in Notice 2020-25 (the “Notice”), the IRS provides temporary relief for governmental issuers seeking to purchase their own tax-exempt variable rate demand obligations that are “qualified...

IRS Allows Telephonic TEFRA Hearings in Light of COVID-19

As a result of the prohibitions on public gatherings resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, issuers of tax-exempt private activity bonds have been facing difficulty complying with the federal tax laws requiring that a public hearing be held to allow interested...

IRS Extends Due Date for First Quarter Form 8038 Filings

Summary As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Notice 2020-23 the IRS extended the due date for issuers of tax-exempt obligations to file Forms 8038 or 8038-G for transactions that closed during the first quarter of 2020. Specifically, the...

Texas Governor Allows Temporary Suspension of Certain Open Meeting Statutes

On March 16, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott granted the Office of the Attorney General’s request for a temporary suspension of certain open meeting statutes. This temporary suspension allows for telephonic or videoconference meetings of governmental bodies that are accessible...

New Law Repeals Parking Tax for Tax-Exempt Organizations

Good news for tax-exempt organizations! The “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020” (H.R. 1865 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)) (the “Act”) signed into law on December 20, 2019, retroactively repealed Section 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, often referred to...