The Mexican government announced, on July 19, 2017, the fourth bid of Round Two. This will be the 14th upstream bid round in Mexico since passage of the energy reform in mid-2014. The new bid round (named Round 2.4) comprises 30 offshore blocks for exploration in the Perdido Belt, the Salina Basin, the Mexican Ranges (Cordilleras Mexicanas), and the Yucatán Platform in the Gulf of Mexico, covering collectively 70,844 km2, with prospective resources of approximately 4 ...
We previously reported on recent efforts to rescind the Obama Administration’s rule amending the Clean Water Act’s “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) definition. This followed, as we also reported, the Sixth Circuit’s nationwide stay of the Obama Administration’s WOTUS rule ...
A recent Tenth Circuit decision shines light on a new avenue to challenge cannabis businesses, even in states where medical and recreational marijuana is legal. Although the potential federal criminal threat to cannabis businesses in states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis has been relatively well-discussed, the potential civil threat has received little attention. In Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865 (10th Cir ...
Medical Cannabis approvals in the City have been the subject of intense negotiations, hearings, and appeals in the last two months. First, our law firm assisted the Apothecarium - Sunset (an additional location in the Sunset District for the medical cannabis dispensary called The Apothecarium currently near the Castro), in obtaining an approval at the Planning Commission ...
Focal Point of the Infrastructure Program In line with the trend of green traffic and the increasing need for rail transportation in Taiwan, the Infrastructure Program features a focus on the establishment of the national railway network including the full-scale planning of the railway structure, city lines and metropolitan railway establishment ...
Design of the Models Taiwan law provides for two models for private parties to participate in governmental infrastructure projects. One is the model under the Government Procurement Act (“GPA Model”) and the other is the Public-Private Partnerships Law (“PPP Model”). The most significant difference between the two models lies in the funding entity ...
New Way of Claiming Damages for Competition Law Infringements in Croatia News Karanović & Nikolić On the 22nd of July, 2017, the Law on Actions for Damages for Competition Law Infringements came into force in Croatia (the "Law"), implementing the EU Damages Directive ...
It is rare that FCA defendants have their legal defenses paid for, and rarer still that DOJ must bear the expense. In United States ex rel. Wall v. Circle C Construction, the Sixth Circuit held that the government must pay roughly $500,000 in legal fees and expenses the defendant incurred as a result of the government’s unreasonable litigating position ...
The Ministry of Energy has announced that before the end of the Peña Nieto Administration on December, 2018, the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) will call the fifth bid of Round 2 (commonly known as Bid 2.5) for the award of exploration and production contracts for onshore blocks, which will include unconventional or shale blocks ...
In its flagship report entitled Global Economic Prospects released in January, the World Bank observed: “The Philippines is particularly weak with regard to transport and trade-related infrastructure … with particularly low rankings for the quality of its seaports and airports. About one-quarter of the population remains without electricity.” Yet growth in the Philippines is projected to accelerate to 6 ...
After getting the knowledge of GPA Model and PPP Model, the bidders need to know how to make preparation during the pre-bid stage. Following are the responses to some most frequently asked questions regarding bidding qualifications, based on which the foreign bidders can make its preparation plan ...
Yesterday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos addressed the public regarding a controversial and difficult issue – Title IX. In her statements, she announced the new administration will change the way colleges and universities handle incidents of sexual assault on campus ...
Earlier this year the Borgarting Court of Appeal rendered its judgment in Gassled, a case of major importance for the upstream Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) industry, natural gas buyers in Europe; and the Norwegian government, as resource owner and NCS regulator. If the judgment becomes final and binding, it will benefit the European gas supply. However, it may be a rude awakening for institutional investors in NCS infrastructure ...
On August 29, 2017, the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público) grantedCentral de Corretajes(“CENCOR”) a new concession to operate a new stock exchange in Mexico. This new stock exchange will be calledBolsa Institucional de Valores(“BIVA”). It is anticipated that BIVA will initiate operations in early 2018 ...
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently granted a petition for interlocutory review to decide whether a violation of the FCA’s first-to-file rule can be cured by filing an amended pleading. Both the D.C. Circuit and Fourth Circuit1 recently addressed this issue, concluding that the plain language of the first-to-file rule precludes amending around the rule ...
In line with the state policy set out in the Philippines Constitution to recognise the indispensable role of the private sector in national growth, encourage private enterprise and provide incentives to attract needed investment, the Philippine government has long resorted to public-private partnerships (PPPs) to address problems of national interest ...
On Friday, September 22, 2017, the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) officially withdrew two guidance documents issued under the Obama administration regarding implementation of Title IX on school campuses. In place of these guidance documents, the OCR issued new interim guidance documents regarding how schools should handle sexual assaults. The OCR indicated official guidance and directives will be issued after a formal notice and comment period ...
The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently rejected the notion of a “holistic” approach to materiality, instead zeroing in on the government’s continued payment of claims despite knowledge of non-compliances as proof positive those non-compliances were not material. In United States ex rel. Kolchinsky v. Moody’s Corp ...
As part of the implementation of the Mexican energy reform of 2013, several new regulations and administrative guidelines affecting the hydrocarbons and power industries were issued during July-August 2017. These are of particular importance to oil and gas producers, midstream companies and power generators, traders and others looking to invest or expand operations in Mexico’s dynamic energy sector ...
On June 30, 2017, Governor Kasich signed the workers’ compensation budget bill. House Bill 27, which funds the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, also made several important changes significant to Ohio employers. The changes are effective September 29, 2017. The most impactful portions of House Bill 27 involve a modification in the injury statute of limitations for filing a claim, reducing the filing from two years of the date of injury to one year ...
Earlier this year, the Tenth Circuit dismissed two appeals in connection with the Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM”) Final Rule implementing its regulations imposing new standards and obligations on hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands (“Fracking Rule”). The appeals had been filed challenging the district court’s prior ruling that struck down the rule in the face of industry, state, and tribal challenges ...
After weeks of headlines dominated by Equifax’s cyber breach affecting 143 million consumers and the breach of the SEC’s own EDGAR system, the SEC recently announced the creation of (i) a Cyber Unit to target cyber-related misconduct and (ii) a Retail Strategy Task Force to strengthen its protection of retail investors ...
Noble Group continues to draw fire from Iceberg Research more than two years after the short-selling firm first accused the listed commodities trader of questionable accounting practices. In August this year, Iceberg renewed its criticism of the group, but expanded its crosshairs to include Singapore's regulators ...
Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Sessions issued new guidance reversing the federal government’s former position that gender identity is protected under Title VII. In a memo sent to the heads of all federal agencies and the U.S. attorneys, the attorney general stated that as a matter of law, “Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based on gender identity per se ...
