October 2017

In the past three weeks, China’s State Council and the State Cryptography Administration (“SCA”) issued two documents that reveal a major change in the regulatory regime governing commercial encryption products in China, potentially paving the way for the draft Encryption Law to establish a uniformed encryption regime. This development and its practical implications will be…

Administration Also Revises Russia Sanctions, Terminates Most Sudan Sanctions

On October 13, President Trump announced that he would no longer certify to Congress that the suspension of U.S. sanctions against Iran pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) is “appropriate and proportionate” to the steps that Iran has taken to terminate its illicit…

On 29 July 2017, the new German Competition Registry Act (Wettbewerbsregistergesetz – WRegG) became effective. Organisations offering public tenders worth EUR 30,000 or more will have to check the register to verify whether participating undertakings are excluded from public procurement because of past offences. The new register will be hosted by the Federal Cartel Office…

Construction contractors take note: the government contractor defense is alive and well in the Fifth Circuit. In Sewell v. Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, the Fifth Circuit recently confirmed that construction companies can successfully assert the government contractor defense in response to tort lawsuits that arise from their performance of federal public…

In a speech delivered at the United States Naval Academy on October 10, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein waded into the public debate between data privacy and law enforcement interests.  As part of a discussion moderated by former Covington cybersecurity attorney Jeff Kosseff, Rosenstein’s remarks discussed cyber issues facing law enforcement with a particular focus…

On 14 September 2017, the Committee for Human Medicinal Products (“CHMP”) of the European Medicines Agency adopted ICH Guideline E18 (the “Guideline”) on genomic sampling and the management of genomic data.  The Guideline takes effect on 28 February 2018.

The International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use…

The U.K. government has provided updated and firmer guidance on the section 54 Modern Slavery Act transparency in supply chain reporting requirement (about which see more here). Organisations are now expected to publish transparency statements ‘at most’ six months after the organisation’s financial year end. Businesses are also encouraged to leave statements from previous…

Steve Surdu is a Senior Cybersecurity Advisor at Covington and a member of the firm’s Cybersecurity Incident Response Team. Prior to joining the firm, Steve served as Vice President of Professional Services at Mandiant, a leading cybersecurity firm.

Steve has more than 35 years of experience both as a consultant and as a senior executive…