As the first year of the Biden Administration comes to a close, the US government has continued to use sanctions and other trade tools to target Chinese companies, citing national security, alleged human rights violations, and a range of other policy reasons for its actions. Dozens of Chinese companies have been added to various US trade blacklists, with negative and often far-reaching impacts.
Welcome to The Employer Rapport, Baker McKenzie’s Labor and Employment video chat series for US multinational employers. In each on-demand episode, our lawyers provide insights and quick, practical tips on today’s most pressing issues and legal developments impacting employers both at the domestic and global levels. This week we discuss What’s the Fate of the Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate After SCOTUS’s Stay of the OSHA ETS?
On January 25, 2022, two senior Biden Administration officials held a background press call on potential economic deterrence measures to be imposed in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. The senior officials stated that, if that happens, the US Government is prepared to impose sanctions with “massive consequences” for Russia that were not previously considered following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
This week’s discussion will cover the following:
• Indictment of Belarus government officials for air piracy in connection with forced landing of Ryanair jet
• First DOJ indictment over threatening of election officials
• SEC v. David P. Forte, et al. – SEC and DOJ Continue to Pursue Insider Trading Based on Circumstantial Evidence
• Discussion of most recent tipper-tippee insider trading case
On January 24, 2022, the US Department of Commerce issued a request for information (“RFI”) to gather input on incentivizing domestic semiconductor investments and accelerate chip research to “ensure a robust domestic semiconductor industry.” Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on March 25, 2022.
The New York State Senate this month unveiled the “Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act”. The Act, if enacted, will require every fashion retail seller and manufacturer that does business in New York and has over USD 100 million in annual worldwide gross receipts to make a number of sustainability and social disclosures.
US partners and former US Department of Justice prosecutors William Devaney and Tom Firestone discuss with UK senior associate Andrew Matheson the ins and outs of the US approach to prosecuting companies and, perhaps more importantly, how that approach could be improved upon.
On 10 December 2021, at the Summit for Democracy, the US, Australia, Denmark, and Norway, released a Joint Statement announcing an Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative to curb the misuse of technologies by certain governments. The initiative aims to combat digital authoritarianism in countries where software and advanced surveillance technologies have been used to hack the communications of political opponents and journalists, shape public opinion, and censor information the government deems threatening.
Please join us for a weekly series, hosted by Baker McKenzie’s North America Government Enforcement partners Tom Firestone and Jerome Tomas. This week’s discussion will cover the following: Sentencing in Elizabeth Holmes case; SEC Pays Out Whistleblower Bounty for Overseas Tip; A Discussion of the Geographic Sources of Whistleblower Tips
On December 16, 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated eight Chinese tech companies to the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (“NS-CMIC”) list pursuant to Executive Order 13959, as amended by Executive Order 14032, for their alleged involvement in supporting surveillance of ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, China. On the next day, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) also added 37 new parties to the BIS Entity List, including 25 Chinese companies for their alleged involvement in efforts to develop and use biotechnology and other technologies for military application and human rights abuses. These sanctions are part of an increase in US Government efforts to prevent alleged human rights abuses.