The strengthening partnership between the United States and Africa is having a positive impact on the myriad of trade and investment opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area. At the recent US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC in December 2022, a number of exciting initiatives and investments were announced by the US to boost two-way trade and investment between the two regions.
In May 2022, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) was launched between Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. On account of its specified focus on labor standards and issues, IPEF is likely to have an ongoing impact on labor regulations and trends among partner countries, including Vietnam.
On 14 December 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed four separate rulemakings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that would create a federally defined best execution standard for broker-dealers and overhaul the US equities market structure. If adopted in their current form, these proposals would meaningfully impact market participants and practices. Given the nearly 1,700 pages of combined rules proposals, firms may need to devote significant resources just to digest their potential impact on particular business models.
On 5 January 2023, the US and Turkish governments imposed sanctions targeting four individuals and two entities determined to be associated with the financial facilitation network of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Having to click through a gauntlet of screens to cancel recurring subscriptions. Being told you are foolish if you decline a service. Discovering you were charged extra fees that were not clearly brought to your attention earlier. Finding it hard or confusing to configure your privacy settings to high. These and similar experiences arise when you encounter “dark patterns”, a term that US authorities are increasingly using to refer to interface design strategies that manipulate users into making choices they likely wouldn’t have otherwise made and that may cause harm.
On 9 January 2023, Canada announced further amendments to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations in response to those who “systematically violate human rights and spread the Iranian regime’s propaganda and misinformation.” These amendments list an additional two individuals and three entities under Schedule 1 of the Regulations and entered into force on 6 January 2023. Unlike past announcements, the government’s News Release provides particulars describing each newly designated individual and entity.
On 10 January 2023, Canada enacted the Special Economic Measures (Sri Lanka) Regulations in response to former state officials responsible for committing “gross and systemic violations of human rights.” The Regulations entered into force on 6 January 2023 and list four individuals on Schedule 1, including former Presidents Gotabaya Pajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa.
On 5 January 2023, the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-1 to propose a new rule that would significantly restrict the use of non-compete clauses between employers and employees. The FTC’s proposed rule represents the FTC’s first foray into Section 5 competition rulemaking under Chair Lina Khan. The proposed rule follows a set of enforcement actions taken by the FTC against non-compete covenants in certain employer contracts.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Publishes Preliminary Guidance on Implementing the Price Cap Policy for Petroleum Products of Russian Origin on 6 January 2023. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
President Joe Biden’s omnibus spending package included three pieces of new antitrust legislation: (1) the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act; (2) the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act; and (3) the Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act. The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act will alter filing fees for transactions requiring antitrust review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The new fee structure will reduce filing fees for smaller transactions, while significantly increasing fees for the largest ones.