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On November 26, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls issued General License 41 authorizing Chevron Corporation to resume limited oil extraction operations in Venezuela and accompanying FAQs. According to the accompanying press release, OFAC issued GL 41 after Unitary Platform and President Maduro’s regime announced the resumption of negotiations; a humanitarian agreement focused on education, health, food security, flood response, and electricity programs that will benefit the Venezuelan people; and agreement on the continuation of talks focused on the 2024 elections. OFAC also issued an updated General License 8K extending certain limited wind-down activities with Petróleos de Venezuela SA until 25 May 2023.

Where does the responsibility lie for an acquiring company to understand and evaluate cyber risks in an acquisition? How can these risks be identified and mitigated in the middle of a fast-paced deal? A data breach can have serious financial consequences to both the buyer and the seller. A significant security breach can lead to a nearly instantaneous devaluation of assets and can severely damage the acquiring company’s business viability, raising serious questions as to purchase price and follow-on integration issues.

Companies around the world have to comply with the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) with respect to personal data of consumers in Virginia. With the VCDPA, Virginia follows the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Consumer Rights Act of 2020, but excludes employee and business representative data from its scope.

In the wake of US Supreme Court precedent in the 2021 AMG Capital Management LLC v. Federal Trade Commission decision, the FTC is doubling down and expanding its enforcement efforts to target executives, directors and owners, including private equity, in an effort to hold accountable anyone profiting from anti-competitive conduct or conduct harmful to consumers. William Roppolo, Ashley Eickhof and Annasofia Roig explores this issue in an article published in Law360.

Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC extends and reissues General License authorizing certain transactions involving the Central Bank of Russia, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation  on 22 November 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.

On November 18, 2022, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) published a notice of a proposed change to its particular market situation (PMS) methodology.
Since the 2015 expansion of the DOC’s PMS authority, the DOC has been using the PMS methodology in the calculation of antidumping duty rates when it considers that there is a market distortion in the exporting country under investigation, such as the availability of low-priced energy, which reduces exporters’ costs of production.

At COP 27 in November 2022, South Africa launched its new Just Energy Transition Investment Plan and announced a five-year investment plan for the USD 8.5 billion financing package, which was announced as part of the country’s Just Energy Transition Partnership with France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union at COP 26. The JET IP is aligned with the Cabinet-approved National Just Transition Framework and outlines the investments required to achieve the country’s decarbonization commitments, while promoting sustainable development, and ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities.

On 10 November 2022, following a 3-1 vote, the Federal Trade Commission issued a policy statement expanding its interpretation of the scope of unfair methods of competition under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibits “unfair methods of competition,” which covers conduct that violates antitrust laws or section 5 itself.

On 28 October 2022, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security issued a first round of FAQs regarding the advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing Interim Final Rule, published on 13 October 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 62,186) and amending the Export Administration Regulations. The FAQs clarify that that the new restrictions on exports and reexports to China also apply to Hong Kong.

On 1 January 2023, the California Consumer Privacy Act as revised by the California Privacy Rights Act will take effect fully in the job applicant and employment context.
And with respect to job applicants and personnel, businesses subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act will be required to (i) issue further revised privacy notices, (ii) be ready to respond to data subject requests, (iii) have determined if they sell or share for cross context behavioral advertising personal information about them, and (iv) have determined if they use or disclose sensitive personal information about them outside of specific purposes. If employers sell, share for cross-context behavioral advertising, or use or disclose sensitive personal information outside of limited purposes, numerous additional compliance obligations apply.