China’s amended Law on Guarding State Secrets (“SSL”) took effect on May 1, 2024. This amendment is part of a broader legislative push to enhance national security and data protection, aligning with other recent laws such as...more
On January 30, 2024, Transparency International (TI) published its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2023. The 2023 CPI suggests there has been limited progress in the global fight against corruption, with TI...more
2/8/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Indonesia ,
Malaysia ,
Money Laundering ,
Supply Chain ,
Transparency International ,
White Collar Crimes
On January 31, 2023, Transparency International (TI) published its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2022. As in recent years, the 2022 CPI demonstrates that more must be done to combat corruption globally – with...more
On January 25, 2022, Transparency International (TI) published its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021.[1] Similar to previous years’ indices, the CPI 2021 demonstrates that corruption levels, including in the...more
2021 was a year of transition in the United States and for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). OFAC’s year, while busy, was far different from 2020, as the Biden Administration’s...more
2/8/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Burma ,
China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Forced Labor ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) ,
Iran ,
NDAA ,
NGOs ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
In a closely followed and much anticipated action, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (NDAA) on December 27, 2021 – following its approval by the U.S. Senate and House of...more
As we approach year’s end, and the pace of legislative activity ramps up, it remains critical to keep a close eye on the sanctions-related bills currently making their way, at varying speeds, through the U.S. legislative...more
11/9/2021
/ China ,
Corruption ,
Forced Labor ,
Foreign Policy ,
Iran ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
U.S. Treasury
In the latest turn of events in the seemingly never-ending political saga of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the U.S. House of Representatives (the “House”), via an amendment to the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act...more
10/7/2021
/ CAATSA ,
Foreign Entities ,
Germany ,
Joe Biden ,
National Interest Waiver ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments
As peak summer holiday season approaches, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) continues to remind the private sector of the importance of strict economic sanctions compliance. OFAC...more
7/15/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
ITSR ,
Moneygram ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
U.S. Treasury
China’s new Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (AFSL) (中华人民共和国反外国制裁法) achieves two goals. First, it creates a menu of countersanctions available to Chinese authorities—visa restrictions, asset and transaction blocks within...more
On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued a new executive order (E.O.), “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments that Finance Certain Companies of the People’s Republic of China” (E.O. 14032). The E.O. prohibits U.S....more
On March 24, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued rule amendments to implement submission and disclosure requirements mandated by the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA” or “Act”)....more
3/31/2021
/ Audit Reports ,
Corporate Issuers ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Governments ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Foreign-Owned Corporations ,
Inspections ,
PCAOB ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On March 12, 2021, a U.S. district court granted a temporary injunction requested by the Hong Kong-listed, Chinese electronics giant, Xiaomi Corporation (“Xiaomi”). The injunction blocks the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”)...more
3/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Executive Orders ,
Hong Kong ,
Injunctions ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury
Welcome to Morrison & Foerster’s quarterly newsletter on dispute resolution. In this newsletter, we address recent developments in arbitrations, investigations, and commercial and intellectual property litigation that may...more
3/2/2021
/ Affirmative Action ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Awards ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Demand Letter ,
Discovery ,
Electronic Filing ,
Expedited Actions Process ,
Exports ,
Foreign Corporations ,
FRCP 30(b)(6) ,
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ,
LCIA ,
Limitation of Liability Clause ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Markman Hearing ,
Mediation ,
MOFCOM ,
New York Convention ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Remote Hearings ,
Sanctions ,
Settlement ,
Subsidiaries ,
Transparency ,
Videoconference ,
Virtual Meetings ,
Witnesses
As we previously wrote in our OFAC 2020 Year in Review, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) saw a drop in enforcement activity in 2020, likely due to the massive year it had in 2019 and...more
2/18/2021
/ Audits ,
Citizenship ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Information Technology ,
Licenses ,
Nexus ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Remediation ,
Sanctions
In too many ways to count, 2020 was an extraordinary year. As we move into 2021 with optimism for an end to the pandemic and better days ahead, we understand that the activity last year of the U.S. Department of the...more
2/16/2021
/ China ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Customs and Border Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Exports ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Maritime Transport ,
NDAA ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Penalties ,
Pentagon ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Trump Administration
On January 28, 2021, Transparency International (TI) published its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2020. As with previous years’ indexes, the CPI 2020 demonstrates that many regions, including the Asia-Pacific...more
Over the past year, we have seen waves of actions by the Trump Administration targeting parties in China and Hong Kong. These actions ranged from economic sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials and organizations,...more
Former US President Trump during his term of office only a week, before the release of its 13959 No. Executive Order ( "Executive Order") has been modified . The previous executive order prohibits Americans from investing in...more
China’s recently promulgated Measures to Block the Improper Extraterritorial Application of Foreign Laws and Measures (the “Measures”) has established a new framework for mitigating the impact of foreign legal measures,...more
China’s new Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extraterritorial Application of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures (《阻断外国法律与措施不当域外适用办法》) (the “Rules”) create a new framework to mitigate the impact of foreign legal...more
With just one week remaining in his term, President Trump amended Executive Order (“EO”) 13959, which prohibits U.S. persons from investing in the securities of Chinese Military Companies (“CMCs”), to continue his aggressive...more
On December 28, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued five new frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) that clarify the scope of Executive Order (“E.O.”) 13959, the basis for OFAC’s...more
One of the widest-ranging bills of the U.S. Congress’s legislative year, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), is nearing the finish line as both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the...more
12/15/2020
/ CAATSA ,
China ,
Export Controls ,
Hong Kong ,
NATO ,
NDAA ,
Pentagon ,
Pipelines ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Turkey ,
US Department of State
On December 2, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, by unanimous vote, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (“HFCAA” or “Act”). Following enactment, foreign issuers, especially Chinese issuers, and their...more