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Episode 323: Hats off to the French! (And I don’t say that often.)

By Stewart Baker

July 6, 2020

In the News Roundup, Dave Aitel (@daveaitel), Mark MacCarthy (@Mark_MacCarthy), and Nick Weaver (@ncweaver) and I discuss how French and Dutch investigators pulled off the coup of the year this April, when they totally pwned a shady “secure phone” system used by massive numbers of European criminals. Nick Weaver explains that hacking the phones of Entrochat users gave them access to large troves of remarkably candid criminal text conversations. And, I argue, it shows the…

Investigations and Enforcement Blog

US Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Investigations: The Perils of Parallel Proceedings (Part 2: Investigation Strategy)

By Wendy Wysong, Ali Burney & Hena Schommer

July 6, 2020

In our first post in this series, we described the different agencies that could be involved in an investigation of export controls and sanctions violations, noting that the agencies have overlapping jurisdiction but different enforcement priorities, authority, requirements, and penalties. In this post, we focus on how the potential involvement of multiple agencies in an investigation of export controls and/or economic sanctions will impact the way the investigation proceeds, its scope, and its underlying strategy.…

Investigations and Enforcement Blog

Higher Education Under the Prosecutorial Microscope

By Patrick Linehan, Brittany Prelogar, Ed Krauland & Caitlin Conroy

July 6, 2020

Institutions of Higher Education are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of high-profile criminal enforcement efforts. Recent headlines have highlighted a number of investigations and prosecutions that have achieved literal celebrity status: The indictments and convictions of wealthy parents of college applicants in the Varsity Blues investigation, who are alleged to have paid bribes in order to gain their children’s admission to prestigious colleges. The indictments and convictions of college coaches, sports agents, and sportswear…

PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog

FERC Declines to Answer Question of Impact of Off-System QFs Choosing Constrained Points of Delivery

By Jennifer Key

July 3, 2020

In a July 2, 2020 Order, FERC declined to answer a question in a Petition for Declaratory Order (PDO) concerning whether a set of off-system QFs could deliver power to a utility at a Point of Delivery (POD) that was constrained. This question is important because if answered affirmatively, it could result in the utility’s ratepayers having to pay upgrade costs to ensure that all firm transmission service reservations can be accommodated in addition…

International Compliance Blog

BIS Issues New FAQs Regarding the Expansion of the Military End Use / Military End User Rule

By Hena Schommer, Wendy Wysong, Meredith Rathbone & Jack Hayes

July 2, 2020

The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) has issued new FAQs on its website addressing the new military end use / military end user rule (“MEU Rule”) and the expansion of the MEU controls for China, Russia, and Venezuela. For a summary of the MEU rule changes, please see our prior blog post detailing the changes to Section 744.21 and other related provisions in the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). There are…

International Compliance Blog

European Commission Provides Guidance on the Scope of the Asset Freeze under the EU’s Ukraine-Related Sanctions

By Stefan Tsakanakis, Guy Soussan & Simon Hirsbrunner

July 2, 2020

Following a joint request from several EU national competent authorities (“NCAs”), the European Commission issued an opinion on asset freeze measures imposed on non-EU entities that are controlled by designated persons targeted by EU Council Regulation No 269/2014. The Regulation concerns restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (“the Regulation”). In its opinion, the Commission takes position on the interpretation of article 2 of the …

Investigations and Enforcement Blog

New Cooperation Agreement Between the DOJ Antitrust Division and SEC

By Patrick Linehan & Rachel Peck

July 1, 2020

On June 22, 2020 the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (Antitrust Division) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that they had signed an interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to allow for more cooperation and communication between the two agencies. Although these agencies have worked together in the past, this is the first time the Antitrust Division and the SEC have entered into a formal agreement. The agencies hope that this agreement will improve…

International Compliance Blog

Developing: US Announces Tightened Export Controls on Hong Kong

By Peter Jeydel, Nicholas Turner, Wendy Wysong, Brian Egan & Ed Krauland

June 29, 2020

On June 29, 2020, the US Department of State announced that the US government “will today end exports of US-origin defense equipment and will take steps toward imposing the same restrictions on US defense and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong as it does for China.” The US Department of Commerce also announced on June 29, 2020, that, as part of the “revocation of Hong Kong’s special status,” the “Commerce Department regulations affording preferential treatment to…

Cyberblog

Episode 322: Bill Barr Crosses the Rubicon

By Stewart Baker

June 29, 2020

For the first time in twenty years, the Justice Department is finally free to campaign for the encryption access bill it has always wanted. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Lawful Access To Encrypted Data Act. (Ars Technica, Press Release) As Nick Weaver points out in the news roundup, this bill is not a compromise. It’s exactly what DOJ wants – a mandate…

SDNY Blog

Chief Judge McMahon Upholds New York’s COVID-19 Eviction Suspension

By Charles Michael

June 29, 2020

In an opinion today, Chief Judge McMahon upheld a New York executive order that allowed tenants to apply their security deposits towards rent and that temporarily suspended evictions. She ruled that the executive order did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Takings Clause because landlords necessarily have entered into a heavily regulated area of the economy, and because the executive order was consistent with the type of ordinary ebb and flow of that regulation — as…

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Episode 323: Hats off to the French! (And I don’t say that often.)

US Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Investigations: The Perils of Parallel Proceedings (Part 2: Investigation Strategy)

Higher Education Under the Prosecutorial Microscope

FERC Declines to Answer Question of Impact of Off-System QFs Choosing Constrained Points of Delivery

BIS Issues New FAQs Regarding the Expansion of the Military End Use / Military End User Rule

European Commission Provides Guidance on the Scope of the Asset Freeze under the EU’s Ukraine-Related Sanctions

New Cooperation Agreement Between the DOJ Antitrust Division and SEC

Developing: US Announces Tightened Export Controls on Hong Kong

Episode 322: Bill Barr Crosses the Rubicon

Chief Judge McMahon Upholds New York’s COVID-19 Eviction Suspension

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