On October 25, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on H.R. 3010, the “Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011.” Witnesses scheduled at the hearing included C. Boyden Gray, Boyden Gray & Associates (and former Section Chair), Christopher C. DeMuth of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Arnold Baker, owner of Baker Ready-Mix Building […]
On July 15, in Electronic Privacy Information Center v. DHS, No. 10-1157, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that a decision by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to screen airline passengers by using advanced imaging technology (AIT) instead of magnetometers should have been the subject of notice-and-comment rulemaking before […]
On July 29, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published in the Federal Register a final rule that amends the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) regulations applicable to Money Services Businesses with regard to stored value. The FinCEN notice states that the final rule “amends the regulations by: renaming ‘stored value’ as ‘prepaid access’ and defining […]
On August 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the convictions of four executives of General Reinsurance Corporation (“Gen Re”) and one of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) on charges of of conspiracy, mail fraud, securities fraud, and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and remanded the case […]
On July 22, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)) issued an interim rule, with request for public comment, setting forth its rules relating to investigations. These rules are to govern investigations undertaken pursuant to section 1052 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5562), which authorizes the CFPB to investigate whether persons […]
On July 29, President Obama announced an agreement with 13 major automakers to increase fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2025. The announcement noted that the President “was joined by Ford, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo – […]
On July 26, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a component of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued its first periodic report examining the scientific and technical literature with respect to a possible link between the September 11 World Trade Center (WTC) attacks and the incidence of cancer. NIOSH concluded […]
On July 15, the Department of State issued a statement concerning implementation of section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank). Section 1502 pertains to reporting requirements established for certain companies on whether they use certain minerals sourced from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that have helped […]
On June 27, the United Kingdom Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued two new sets of guidance on compliance with United Kingdom competition law. The OFT, which worked with business groups to develop the new guidance, stated in a press release that the first guide, How Your Business Can Achieve Compliance, “is aimed at businesses […]
On July 14, the General Accountability Office issued a report setting forth reporting by 11 regulatory agencies on the fiscal resources they estimated to be available to implement regulatory reform under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. The report noted that the amount of new funding the agencies reported as associated with implementing Dodd-Frank varied […]
On July 12, in L’Oreal SA v. eBay International AG, Case C-324/09, the European Court of Justice issued a decision in which it indicated that online auction services such as eBay may be liable when users of such services offer for sale goods that infringe on intellectual property rights. The case came to the European […]
On July 11, President Obama issued an Executive Order that directs independent regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, to take — as Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass Sunstein stated in his White House blog […]
On July 7, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission announced that they “have made changes to reduce the filing burden and streamline the form parties must file when seeking antitrust clearance of proposed mergers and acquisitions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act and the Premerger Notification Rules.” According to the Justice […]
On July 27, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz signed an antitrust memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s three antitrust agencies to promote communication and cooperation among the agencies in the two countries. The MOU sets out a two-part framework for […]
On June 17, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice issued an updated Policy Guide to Merger Remedies. The Guide, which updates the Antitrust Division’s 2004 guidance, states that “it is intended to provide guidance to Antitrust Division staff in their work analyzing proposed remedies for mergers.” It includes material on key principles in […]