Trump Administration Developments

The Treasury Department intensifies economic pressure on Iran through Operation Economic Outcast, suspending aviation licenses and sanctioning dozens of entities while implementing a presumption of denial for Iran-related transactions. Meanwhile, new enforcement actions target Chinese cybercrime platforms, Ecuadorian terrorist organizations, and Israeli settlers, as Congress considers comprehensive Russia-Iran sanctions legislation.

Global sanctions enforcement intensifies as the US expands its economic pressure campaigns against Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela while the UK and EU strengthen their Russia sanctions frameworks. Meanwhile, China pushes back against US sanctions targeting its companies over alleged Iran ties, and a Dutch chipmaker faces asset freezes amid a complex ownership dispute involving Chinese courts.

The Department of Justice secured a $2 million settlement with Honeywell Aerospace for allegedly failing to comply with NIST SP 800-171 cybersecurity requirements under a Department of War contract. This case demonstrates how cybersecurity compliance failures can trigger False Claims Act liability even without an actual data breach or cyberattack, and highlights the growing role of whistleblowers in exposing contractors' gaps between contractual obligations and actual security practices.

The Department of Justice announced a $25 million settlement with Accenture Federal Services over allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying compliance with anti-discrimination requirements while allegedly using race or sex in hiring, promotion, and access to professional development programs. This marks the third major DEI-related FCA enforcement action in 2026, following similar settlements with IBM and Deloitte.

Directs the Secretary of State to designate a foreign country as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention for wrongfully detaining American citizens in foreign countries...

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has preliminarily enjoined the Department of War from enforcing WuXi AppTec's Section 1260H designation, finding the agency misread its evidence on state and military affiliation. However, this ruling does not close alternative pathways to biotechnology company of concern (BCC) designation under the BIOSECURE Act, and earlier supply-chain restrictions continue to drive near-term compliance decisions with a critical June 30, 2027 deadline for sub-tier supp

The SEC published new instructions for the submission of draft registration statements by emerging growth companies (as permitted under the JOBS Act).

The Lobby Shop team discusses Kamala Harris choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. Liam takes a (humble) victory lap for being one of the first to flag Walz as a possible pick...

A federal court in Illinois recently dismissed a False Claims Act cybersecurity case against Archer Daniels Midland, ruling that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate that alleged cybersecurity deficiencies were material to the government's payment decisions. The decision provides critical guidance on what plaintiffs must prove to successfully bring FCA claims based on cybersecurity noncompliance, particularly regarding materiality requirements that go beyond mere contractual conditions of payment.

President Trump has nominated Dr. Heidi Overton to lead the FDA, bringing a policy expert with experience in medical marijuana reform, vaccine policy, and drug access initiatives. Her prior positions on mifepristone regulation, childhood vaccination schedules, and pharmaceutical innovation offer insight into potential agency priorities. The nomination faces a contested Senate confirmation process as stakeholders assess how her health policy background may shape FDA's regulatory approach.

On December 10, OFAC designated three officials of the DPRK for their alleged involvement in perpetrating serious human rights abuses against North Korean citizens.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the dismissal of a securities fraud class action against a biopharmaceutical company, ruling that literally true statements about clinical trial results were not actionable half-truths under securities law. The decision centered on whether the company's statements about the absence of retinal vasculitis cases in drug trials were misleading, despite following FDA-approved protocols that plaintiffs argued were insufficient to detect the condition.

The U.S. Department of Justice recently closed its investigation into a merger between two leading sales enablement software providers, citing AI competition as a key protective factor against potential competitive harm. This decision offers important insights into how antitrust agencies are evaluating AI-native companies as competitive constraints and implementing more efficient, targeted merger review processes in technology sector transactions.

Spain's draft Royal Decree introduces stringent energy sustainability, environmental, resilience and digital sovereignty requirements for data centers, including renewable additionality, hourly correlation, and efficiency standards. The regulation applies to all access and connection permits obtained after entry into force, with specific compliance deadlines for projects in progress and those with granted permits not yet connected to the grid.

The SEC charged Ernst & Young LLP with violations of auditor independence rules that require firms to maintain their objectivity and impartiality with clients.

The 2026 Italian Budget Law was published in the Italian Official Gazette on December 31, 2025. It introduces significant changes to Italy's tax framework with material implications for investors, financial intermediaries, and multinational groups.

The European Union's new Regulation on packaging and packaging waste has fundamentally transformed compliance requirements for companies placing packaged goods on the EU market, replacing decades-old directive-based frameworks with directly applicable product-law rules. While promising regulatory harmonization across member states, the reality presents a complex dual-compliance landscape where businesses must navigate both EU-wide packaging standards and diverging national implementation approaches.

On March 18, 2026, the European Commission (EC) published its Proposal for a Regulation establishing a new corporate legal framework - "EU Inc.", which introduces a harmonized...

California has enacted a comprehensive package of four bills that fundamentally reshape online safety protections for minors, targeting addictive design features, data privacy practices, age verification systems, and platform liability. These new laws establish strict requirements for social media companies, including mandatory stripped-down interfaces for users under 16, enhanced privacy defaults, and potential damages up to $1 million for negligent harm to children. The legislation represents one of the m

The SEC's Division of Investment Management has issued groundbreaking no-action relief allowing Franklin Templeton registered funds to custody tokenized shares of a blockchain-integrated government money market fund with an affiliated transfer agent. This marks the first time SEC staff has applied the Investment Company Act's self-custody framework to digital assets, establishing a precedent for how registered funds may hold tokenized securities using blockchain technology and multi-party computation protoc