On September 14, the European Court of Justice held, in Akzo Nobel Chemicals v. European Commission, No. C-550/O7 P, that the legal professional privilege did not apply to e-mail communications between a corporate oficer and a corporate in-house lawyer. The decision stemmed from a 2003 investigation by Commission oficials into alleged anticompetitive practices involving two […]
For those interested in commodities issues, the Financial Times has put out a special report on the subject with a variety of articles and analyses. This post was originally published on the legacy ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Notice and Comment blog, which merged with the Yale Journal on Regulation Notice and […]
On September 7, the Canadian Competition Bureau announced that “it will hold a series of roundtables to explore the merits of revising the Merger Enforcement Guidelines.” Those Guidelines, which were issued in 2004, set out the framework that the Competition Bureau uses to evaluate the potential competitive effects of mergers. The announcement also stated that […]
On September 8, BP issued its internal investigations report into the accident on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April 20. In brief, BP stated that “[t]he investigation found that no single factor caused the Macondo well tragedy. Rather, a sequence of failures involving a number of different parties led […]
On June 24, Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the United Kingdom communications industries, issued a consultation paper on traffic management and net neutrality. An Ofcom statement reported that the purpose of the consultation paper is to open up a discussion on how existing and future powers “might be used to address traffic […]
On July 13, the Australian Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill (No. 2) 2010 received final assent. According to the summary by the Australian Parliament, the lengthy bill (402 pages total) “amends: the Trade Practices Act 1974, Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 and Corporations Act 2001 to implement a national consumer law […]
On September 1, the Veterans Administration announced that it “proposes to reorganize and rewrite in plain language its regulations concerning service-connected and other disability compensation.” The VA proposed the revisions as part of its “reorganization of all of its compensation and pension regulations in a logical, claimant-focused, and user-friendly format.” The VA stated thet “[t]he […]
On September 2, the Securities and Exchange Cmomission announced that it “has adopted a temporary rule requiring municipal advisors to register with the SEC by October 1.” The SEC stated that this deadline “was established by the newly-enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.” Subject to certain exemptions, Dodd-Frank defines “municipal advisors” — […]
On September 1, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published in the Federal Register an update to its examination guidelines “concerning the law of obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 in light of recent precedential decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued since the 2007 decision by the United […]
On Septemebr 1, the World Trade Organization issued a release reporting that the value of world merchandise trade rose around 25 percent in the first six months of 2010, “up strongly from the same period of 2009.” The release also stated that “[t]his surge in trade growth marks a continuation of the trend begun in […]
On August 30, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the publication in the Federal Register of final regulations concerning off-exchange retail foreign currency transactions. According to the announcement, the rules “implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.” In brief, “[t]he […]
On August 30, the White House issued a statement reporting that on August 31, President Obama would announce “a major step forward in the Administration’s efforts to fundamentally reform the export control system and will outline the foundation of our new export control system.” According to the statement, the Administration’s planned changes would address four […]
On August 20, the American Bar Association filed its brief in the D.C. Court of Appeals in ABA v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 10-5057. The ABA, as appellee in the case, successfully challenged at the district court level the application of the FTC’s so-called “red flags rule,” which the brief states “imposes substantial obligations [on […]
On August 30, Veterans Administration (VA) Eric Shinseki announced on the White House Blog that the VA is issuing a new regulation creating presumptions that there is a service connection between exposure to Agent Orange and three diseases: Parkinson’s disease, hairy cell and other chronic B-cell leukemia, and ischemic heart disease. In the announcement, Secretary […]
On August 26, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced 14 proposed measures – especially focused on illegal import practices from non-market economies – that, according to the Secretary, “will strengthen trade enforcement and help keep U.S companies competitive.” The 14 measures, summarized in the release, are intended to help strengthen the administration of U.S. […]