On February 10, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14209, titled “Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security.” That order marked a major shift in the federal government’s approach to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement, pausing most new FCPA actions for 180 days and directing the
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving government contractors present unique challenges and considerations that require meticulous due diligence. Unlike purely commercial deals, government contracts introduce layers of regulatory compliance, security requirements, and approval processes that can significantly affect deal structure, valuation, and risk. This blog post outlines some of the basic best practices for due diligence
On May 8, the Second Circuit held that the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards trumps a Louisiana state law barring arbitration of insurance disputes in a pair of cases, Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London et al. v. 3131 Veterans Blvd. LLC and Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London et
As the second Trump administration begins next week, developers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers are evaluating the extent of the construction industry’s international ties – and contractual exposure to potential tariff increases. While President-elect Trump has been forthright about his intent to impose and increase tariffs, he has not provided details about which products, goods, and
On November 22, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List to add 29 companies based out of the Peoples Republic of China bringing the total number of listed companies to 107. As we previously posted here and here, companies included on the UFLPA Entity
A U.S. federal district court refused to compel arbitration in a contractual dispute concerning the supply of materials, products, and services for an oil and gas project being performed by defendants in Saudi Arabia. The parties’ agreement provided for arbitration under the now-defunct Dubai International Financial Center London Court of International Arbitration Rules (DIFC- LCIA).
In December 2021, President Biden signed the UFLPA into law to restrict the import of goods mined, produced, or manufactured, in whole or in part, using forced labor from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which we discussed here. A key feature of the law was its focus on polysilicon imports as a high-priority
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision last week upholding an arbitral award, despite the failure of the arbitrators to make certain pertinent disclosures. The case involves an international arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) stemming from the design and construction of the Panama Canal expansion, which was “severely delayed and
The United States Supreme Court resolved a split among the federal appeals courts on the question of whether private international arbitration tribunals can be considered to be either “foreign” or “international” tribunals for purposes of a federal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1782, which permits discovery from persons located in the
On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed into law H.R. 6256, known as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The act is intended to stem the importation of goods made with forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China (the “Xinjiang Region”) into the United States. The act