As March 2023 comes to a close, a lot has happened with respect to health and welfare employee benefit plans. Below is a quick summary highlighting some of the changes.

Many issues keep employee benefit plan administrators, committees, and sponsors (plan fiduciaries) awake at night, but cybersecurity is especially troubling for many reasons.

This article was originally published in Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, & Energy Law. Any opinions in this article are not those of Winston & Strawn or its clients. The opinions in this article are the authors' opinions only.

On December 3, 2024, Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an order in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland...

On May 20, 2021, Judge Alan Albright issued a written order granting plaintiff Performance Chemical Company's (PCC) Motion for Sanctions...

Less than a month after denying Alfresco Software, Ltd.'s motion for transfer of venue under 28 U.S.C. 1404(a) in Open Text Corp. v. Alfresco Software, Ltd., Judge Albright reversed his own order...

In a joint lawsuit filed on January 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Longview Chamber of Commerce, American Investment Council, and Business Roundtable (collectively, the Plaintiffs)...

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has abruptly revoked General License X, which temporarily permitted transactions involving Iranian petroleum products, replacing it with a narrow 10-day wind-down authorization. Companies and vessel operators must immediately assess their exposure and complete all authorized activities by July 17, 2026, or face potential penalties under multiple OFAC sanctions programs.

Since the Federal Circuit's November 2020 Mandamus decision in In re Apple, Inc., motions to transfer filed in the Waco Division are a hot topic.

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the Chinese health care sector continues to be fertile ground for both inbound and outbound M&A activity.

On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed a comprehensive Executive Order aimed at promoting economic competition across the U.S. economy

On August 7, 2023, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) issued a warning to virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) engaging in "improper practices" under the SFC's new regulatory regime for VATPs.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (the SBA) has announced that the annual fee charged to Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) for debentures (the Annual Fee) will initially be 0.3440% for the fiscal year 2026.

On February 13, 2023, Paxos Trust Company, LLC ("Paxos"), a New York State-chartered trust company regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (the "Department")...

On October 30, 2023, the Securities Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued an exemptive order (available here) that permanently exempts brokers and dealers from the public information...

In a June 2020 Information Letter ("Letter"), the Department of Labor ("DOL") opened the window slightly for defined contribution retirement plans to offer indirect investment in private equity funds.

On December 15, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations that permanently extend by 30 days the deadline for furnishing Form 1095-C and Form 1095-B to individuals.

Earlier this month, a district court in the Northern District of California ended a suit against Apple concerning loot boxes. That suit alleged that Apple facilitated in-app purchases of "gems," a virtual currency...

On October 11, 2022, BNY Mellon, the oldest bank in the United States, launched its digital custody platform, allowing select clients to safeguard their ether and bitcoin holdings.

On June 24, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s Division of Corporation Finance released five new Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations (C&DIs) covering the disclosure...