November 2018

In October, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) imposed a fine of 1.6 million GBP for a land agreement which it found to infringe competition law. This is the first time that the CMA has taken enforcement action and issued a fine in relation to a land agreement, despite such agreements having been covered…

On October 29, 2018, the Departments of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor jointly issued proposed regulations providing employer plan sponsors greater flexibility in integrating health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) with other health insurance coverage.  The proposed regulations would take effect for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and would make…

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) has proposed a new rule limiting the use of “brand name or equal” contract competitions, calling on contracting officers to publicly justify their need for a brand name-type product before issuing a solicitation.  The rule would implement Section 888(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, which directed the…

In March 2017, World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim announced that the World Bank would provide a record $57 billion in financing for projects in sub-Saharan Africa in the 2018–2020 fiscal year period. Consistent with that commitment, the World Bank’s most recent annual report indicates that $19.8 billion was issued to partner countries and…

Recently, key stakeholders from both the Legislative and Executive branches took steps to advance the debate over how the U.S. government should encourage the benefits and mitigate the risks of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”).  In Congress, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Information Technology released a bipartisan white paper that made various…

In three related bid protest decisions made public last week, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) reaffirmed the principle that agencies must meaningfully consider price when making best value tradeoff decisions.  GAO sustained the protests, stressing that merely paying lip service to price while selecting a more expensive, higher-rated offeror is not sufficient — agencies must…

In three related bid protest decisions made public last week, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) reaffirmed the principle that agencies must meaningfully consider price when making best value tradeoff decisions.  GAO sustained the protests, stressing that merely paying lip service to price while selecting a more expensive, higher-rated offeror is not sufficient — agencies must…

We are pleased to share that partner Ben Haley has relocated to the firm’s Johannesburg office to lead the firm’s Africa-focused compliance and investigations efforts. Mr. Haley is an experienced compliance and investigations lawyer who assists corporations and individuals in navigating the dynamic enforcement environment. In addition to representing companies and individuals in complex internal…

The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) announced in early September intention to create a Privacy Framework.  This Privacy Framework would provide voluntary guidelines that assist organizations in managing privacy risks.  The NIST announcement recognized that the Privacy Framework is timely because disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the internet…