On February 1, the South African Competition Commission announced the establishment of a “fast-track settlement” process for construction firms “who have been party to collusive practices in bidding for projects in the public and private sectors.” The Commission has been conducting an investigation in the construction industry that “has uncovered widespread anticompetitive conduct through various […]

On January 13, according to a New York Times article, Renault filed a criminal compaint with the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Paris, alleging that a foreign company tried to obtain secrets relating to Renault’s electric-car program. Renault previously had suspended three of its executives, whom it suspected of seeking to pass on data […]

On January 11, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) requested comment on a proposal to amend FINRA Rule 5122. Rule 5122, according to the FINRA regulatory notice, “requires, subject to certain exemptions, disclosure in the offering document of the intended use of offering proceeds, expenses, and the amount of selling compensation to be paid to […]

On January 12, immediately after the January 11 issuance of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Oil Drilling’s final report, United Kingdom Energy Minister Charles Hendry issued a statement that offered favorable comments on the report. The statement also announced that the United Kingdom Government intended to review the United […]

On January 11, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Sill and Offshore Drilling issued its final report to the President. The report reached seven principal conclsions: 1. “The explosive loss of the Macondo well could have been prevented.” 2. “The immediate causes of the Macondo well blowout can be traced to a […]

On January 27, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) issued its final report on the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The FCIC, created in 2009 pursuant to the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, Public Law 111-21, reached six general conclusions in the majority report: (1) the crisis was avoidable; (2) “widespread failures in financial regulation and supervisionproved […]

On February 16, on the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) blog, Chairman Paul Verkuil announced that ACUS had implemented Google Apps for Government. Chairman Verkuil stated that ACUS had “recently launched a collaborative workspace for Members and staff using Google Apps for Government to share documents, calendars and websites.” This post was originally […]

On February 2, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking on agricultural swaps. According to the notice, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) “provides that swaps in an agricultural commodity (as defined by the Commission) are prohibited unless entered into pursuant to a […]

On January 20, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued two sets of final rules to implement various provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank). The first rule, which implements section 943 of Dodd-Frank, involves “new rules related to representations and warranties in asset-backed securities offerings. The final rules […]

On February 8, the Financial Times published an article on growing concerns among some in the commodities industry that so-called “algorithmic” trading — futures trading with high-speed computers — is causing price distortions. As the article put it, “Ten years ago it took the sugar market six months to move 2 cents. In the past […]

On January 20, in Tesler v. Government of the United States of America, a panel of the High Court of Justice in London dismissed an appeal by Jeffrey Tesler, who had been indicted in the United States on charges of conspiring to violate, and aiding and abetting violations of, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). […]

On January 11, the ABA announced that the Task Force on Federal Lobbying Laws, organized by the ABA Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section, had issued a report that recommends changes in various provisions of federal lobbying laws. In brief, the report, according to the ABA press release, recommends (1) greater transparency with respect to […]

On January 18, President Obama issued a new Executive Order on “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.” The Executive Order supplements and reaffirms the principles, structures, and definitions governing contemporary regulatory review that were established in Executive Order 12866, and mostly sets forth broad principles applicable to regulation and regulatory review. Subsection 1(a) of the Executive […]

On January 11, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Mayo Foundation v. United States. Mayo involved a challenge to a Treasury Department regulation providing that the services of full-time employees, which include employees normally scheduled to work 40 hours or more a week, are required to pay taxes under the Federal […]

On November 30, the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) will hold a forum on “Transforming E-rulemaking to Promote Public Participation and Efficiency.” Paul Verkuil, ACUS Chair, will provide an introduction to the forum, which will include a keynote address by Cass Sunstein, Administrator of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and eight […]