Category Archives: Congress

Scrutiny for the Private Sector Will Come from Both Sides of the Aisle in the 118th Congress

This is the fourth part in our 2023 series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations. Up next: SEC.

Key Takeaways

  • With Republicans gaining control of the House, the party has plans to investigate both areas of focus from past Congresses, such as federal support for clean energy companies, and new areas, such as ESG practices.
  • Certain areas of interest—especially China,…
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Looking at the Landscape of Congressional Investigations in 2022

This is the tenth and final post in this year’s series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations. Be on the lookout for a roundup of our 2022 White Collar Year in Preview Series shortly.

Last March, we anticipated that the 117th Congress would use the powerful investigative tools at its disposal to drive its legislative agendas. Since then, we have seen congressional inquiries focusing especially intensely on climate change and prescription drug costs.… More

Ransomware Payments – OFAC Updates its Advisory and Congress Gets Involved

Ransomware payments continue to be a focus of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). As previously reported by Foley Hoag, on October 1, 2020, OFAC released an advisory regarding potential sanctions risks related to facilitating ransomware payments. Almost a year later, on September 21, 2021, OFAC updated its advisory to provide additional guidance regarding what OFAC considers to be mitigating factors if facilitating a ransomware payment results in an apparent violation of U.S.… More

117th Congress to Target Private Entities with Increased Congressional Investigations

This is the fourth in our First 100 Days series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the early days of the Biden administration. Our previous entry discussed anti-corruption enforcement. Up next, SEC on ESG Risk Disclosure – Moving From “If” to “How”. 

With President Biden in the White House and Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, the private sector should expect increased scrutiny through congressional investigations used to probe perceived wrongdoing and support an ambitious legislative agenda.… More