On September 1, the Veterans Administration announced that it “proposes to reorganize and rewrite in plain language its regulations concerning service-connected and other disability compensation.” The VA proposed the revisions as part of its “reorganization of all of its compensation and pension regulations in a logical, claimant-focused, and user-friendly format.” The VA stated thet “[t]he […]

On September 2, the Securities and Exchange Cmomission announced that it “has adopted a temporary rule requiring municipal advisors to register with the SEC by October 1.” The SEC stated that this deadline “was established by the newly-enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.” Subject to certain exemptions, Dodd-Frank defines “municipal advisors” — […]

On September 1, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published in the Federal Register an update to its examination guidelines “concerning the law of obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 in light of recent precedential decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued since the 2007 decision by the United […]

On Septemebr 1, the World Trade Organization issued a release reporting that the value of world merchandise trade rose around 25 percent in the first six months of 2010, “up strongly from the same period of 2009.” The release also stated that “[t]his surge in trade growth marks a continuation of the trend begun in […]

On August 30, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the publication in the Federal Register of final regulations concerning off-exchange retail foreign currency transactions. According to the announcement, the rules “implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.” In brief, “[t]he […]

On August 30, the White House issued a statement reporting that on August 31, President Obama would announce “a major step forward in the Administration’s efforts to fundamentally reform the export control system and will outline the foundation of our new export control system.” According to the statement, the Administration’s planned changes would address four […]

On August 20, the American Bar Association filed its brief in the D.C. Court of Appeals in ABA v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 10-5057. The ABA, as appellee in the case, successfully challenged at the district court level the application of the FTC’s so-called “red flags rule,” which the brief states “imposes substantial obligations [on […]

On August 30, Veterans Administration (VA) Eric Shinseki announced on the White House Blog that the VA is issuing a new regulation creating presumptions that there is a service connection between exposure to Agent Orange and three diseases: Parkinson’s disease, hairy cell and other chronic B-cell leukemia, and ischemic heart disease. In the announcement, Secretary […]

On August 26, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced 14 proposed measures – especially focused on illegal import practices from non-market economies – that, according to the Secretary, “will strengthen trade enforcement and help keep U.S companies competitive.” The 14 measures, summarized in the release, are intended to help strengthen the administration of U.S. […]

On August 23, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), the independent fund administered by Kenneth Feinberg to handle the $20 billion being placed in escrow by BP PLC to address claims arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, began to receive claims applications at its 35 facilities across the Gulf Coast. The GCCF website contains […]

On August 20, the United Kingdom Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued a proposed guide to its antitrust investigation procedures under the Competition Act 1988 as a consultation paper. The OFT webpage on the paper states that the guide “is intended to give interested parties the opportunity to provide views and comments on the proposed […]

On August 16, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations (IFSR) to implement subsections 104(c) and 104(d) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA). According to Treasury, “CISADA requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations that prohibit, or impose strict conditions on, the […]

Two sets of recent actions by the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) may be of interest to insurance and financial services practitioners. First, on August 17, the FSA banned five individuals for failings related to insurance fraud. The FSA also imposed one of its largest fines of £150,000 for insurance fraud on one of […]

An August 22 article in Federal Times reported on a pilot project that the Department of Transportation is running, in collaboration with the Cornell e-Rulemaking Institute, to increase public participation in the rulemaking process through electronic media. The project reportedly includes the creation of a website with the URL www.regulationroom.org, an online moderator to field […]

On August 19, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly announced their issuance of revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines that outline the principal analytical techniques, practices, and the enforcement policy of the DOJ and the FTC Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (the “Agencies”) with respect to mergers […]