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In United States v. Payward Ventures, Inc., the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sought enforcement of a John Doe summons served upon Payward Ventures and its subsidiaries (referred to collectively as “Kraken”), which the court had previously preliminarily approved. Following Kraken’s refusal to comply with the summons, the IRS sought to enforce the summons. The dispute between Kraken and the IRS focused on whether the information sought by the IRS was relevant and imposed an undue burden of compliance upon Kraken.

If you are a data broker or a business that relies on data brokers for targeted advertising, you should be aware that the California Data Broker Law will be significantly changed under the California Delete Act, which was signed into law by California Governor Newsom on 10 October 2023. Under the act, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) is required to set up, by 1 January 2026, an accessible deletion mechanism where consumers can request deletion via the CPPA that all data brokers then have to honor.

On 4 October 2023, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco of the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new DOJ-wide policy that seeks to provide greater certainty as to the potential benefits to acquirers that uncover criminal conduct at a target company. The DOJ’s Mergers & Acquisitions Safe Harbor Policy for voluntary self-disclosures provides greater certainty to acquirers who self-report within the safe harbor period, fully cooperate with the DOJ in its investigation, and engage in requisite, timely, and appropriate remediation, pay restitution, and disgorge any ill-gotten gains.

On 21 September 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it was suing US Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (USAP) and its private equity owner Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The lawsuit targets a common private equity strategy known as a “roll-up.” A roll-up merger typically occurs when a private equity company acquires several small companies in the same market and subsequently merges those companies.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) (together “Agencies”) each have recently taken enforcement actions that demonstrate renewed attention on interlocking directorates (in which individuals simultaneously serve as directors on the boards of competing companies). Interlocking directorates are prohibited under Section 8 of the Clayton Act unless one of its de minimis exceptions applies. Those exceptions are dependent upon the volume of revenues derived from products sold by the operative companies in competition with one another.

On September 8, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a press release that starting in October 2023, the agency will begin mailing compliance letters to partnerships as part of its increasing focus on large partnerships and complex partnership returns. These compliance letters will likely impact partnerships with over $10 million in assets; however, the IRS maintains a broader goal of increasing audit activity and examinations of large partnerships and high-income taxpayers.

On August 14, 2023, the US State Department, the Labor Department, and the Commerce Department issued a business advisory (“Business Advisory”) highlighting key risks for companies operating in South Sudan.
While it does not impose new legal obligations on companies, the Business Advisory highlights the fact that list-based sanctions remain in force targeting certain South Sudanese persons including designations under the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, and the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List.

On 25 August 2023, the United States Treasury Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding tax reporting by brokers of transactions involving the sale or exchange of digital assets (“Proposed Regulations”). These long-awaited Proposed Regulations are in response to section 80603 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which expanded the scope of information reporting obligations for brokers under Code section 6045 to cover transfers of digital assets.