The Supreme Court has updated an important Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) exemption for the digital age.  In Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, the Supreme Court this week significantly expanded the scope of FOIA Exemption 4, which shields from disclosure “trade secrets and commercial or…
Continue Reading

On June 24, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (“EO” or “Order”) imposing new economic sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office. The EO blocks all of the Supreme Leader’s property and interests in property in the United States, that…
Continue Reading

The SEC adopted its long-awaited Regulation Best Interest, establishing new standard of conduct regulations for SEC-registered broker-dealers and their associated persons that are natural persons.  At the same time, the SEC adopted (i) a new relationship summary disclosure requirement, on Form CRS, for broker-dealers and investment advisers who offer services…
Continue Reading

In his final speech to the FIA, Chairman Giancarlo last week discussed three cross border swaps proposals that he will schedule for Commission consideration before he steps down on July 15.  Giancarlo has been particularly focused during his tenure on advancing a cross border swaps framework based on regulatory deference…
Continue Reading

As summer gets underway, we have updated our brief deck summarizing the leadership and staffing changes among federal financial regulators, including announced nominations, confirmations, resignations and expiring terms.  The first slide summarizes the state of play for the agencies’ principals; the later slides provide a deeper look on an agency-by-agency…
Continue Reading

Financial services regulatory reform continues to evolve in 2019.  As we observe the changing landscape, here is the Summer Spotlight Edition of our reference tool, which provides context and summarizes current developments across a range of key regulatory areas, agencies and actors.  We will continue to track these issues and…
Continue Reading

There are two kinds of guidances, according to recently appointed Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Claire McCusker Murray, which should be treated quite differently.[1]  Her explanation is worth quoting at length:

The key is to distinguish between two categories of guidance, the part that mirrors what the law requires

…
Continue Reading

On May 21, 2019, the Department of Commerce published a final rule adding Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and 68 of its non-U.S. affiliates located in 26 countries (collectively, “Huawei”) to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (“BIS”) Entity List.  Commerce had previously announced its intention…
Continue Reading

The House Financial Services Committee unanimously recommended to the full House on May 9, 2019 a bill that would reform the U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) regime.  H.R. 2514, the Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating Technology, and Examiner Reform Act of 2019 (the COUNTER Act), would amend the Bank Secrecy Act…
Continue Reading