United States: Government, Public Sector

The U.S. Treasury Department has issued its first civil penalty under the Outbound Investment Security Program, fining a company $200,000 for failing to notify authorities about an investment in a Chinese AI firm. This enforcement action reveals Treasury's proactive monitoring capabilities and signals the serious consequences investors face for non-compliance with notification requirements, even for relatively small transactions.

The United States and Colombia have signed two bilateral agreements establishing frameworks for cooperation in critical minerals development and civil nuclear energy. These arrangements create potential opportunities for investment and collaboration in mining, energy infrastructure, and advanced technologies across the region.

On October 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) announced that it had, in July 2026, issued its first civil enforcement penalty under the Outbound Investment Security Program, often referred to as the Outbound Investment Rule (the “OIR”). Treasury levied a $200,000 penalty against Amidi, LLC (“Amidi”) for failing to submit a required notification of an investment by its controlled foreign entity into a “Chinese embodied artificial intelligence company.”

In November 2022, Arizona voters resoundingly approved Proposition 211, known as the Voters’ Right to Know Act (“Proposition 211” or the “Act”).1 Proposition 211 was designed to require additional public disclosures for individuals and groups behind campaign communications in the state. The proposition continued a growing trend of jurisdictions targeting “dark money” in elections.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has moved its final rule implementing the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 to the Office of Management and Budget for review, marking the last major regulatory step before publication. With approximately 316,000 entities across 16 critical infrastructure sectors potentially subject to mandatory cyber incident reporting requirements, organizations need to understand the compliance obligations and prepare their incident respo

The DEA has opened new registration portals for medical marijuana manufacturers, distributors, and analytical labs, expanding beyond the dispensary registration that became available earlier this year. These applications require extensive business information and background disclosures, with fees ranging from $296 to $3,699, and may provide significant compliance and commercial benefits for cannabis businesses operating under state medical marijuana programs.

With the ever-growing barrage of rhetoric over just how, when, and if, AI will kill us all, the conversation also lends itself to, do we believe it will be AI that kills us, or a bad actor using AI? If I showed you a picture of East Asia at night from space and pointed out that you can’t see North Korea for the lack of available electricity, (It’s 99% blacked out, and only Pyongyang shows a small cluster of light) would you think for a minute that they would have the tech savvy, and high end software, or even hardware, necessary to steal $6.7 billion in crypto since 2017?

The U.S. Department of State has proposed significant revisions to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and U.S. Munitions List (USML), aiming to focus controls on defense articles providing critical military advantages while reducing regulatory burdens on less sensitive items. The proposed changes include targeted decontrols, new exclusions, modifications to the "specially designed" analysis...

The aerospace and defense sector faces unprecedented transformation driven by military conflicts, geopolitical competition, and government intervention reshaping program funding and structure across the United States and Europe. Companies are now expected to function as strategic partners in national security and technological leadership, operating within increasingly complex compliance environments while navigating expanded defense budgets, supply chain security requirements, and evolving procurement frame

Congress faces a December 11 funding deadline with unfinished FY27 appropriations bills, and the path forward depends on more than just election results. Will lawmakers complete the bills in a lame duck session, extend funding into 2027, or pursue a hybrid approach? The answer hinges on whether negotiators can reach a funding agreement quickly enough and whether congressional leaders and the White House will support the necessary compromises.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized a mandatory drug pricing model that ties Medicare Part B rebates to international pricing benchmarks across 19 reference countries. Beginning January 2027, manufacturers of eligible high-cost drugs will owe incremental rebates when international benchmark-based calculations exceed standard inflation rebates, with participation exemptions only for those in the voluntary GENEROUS Model.

On October 14, HHS delegated permissive exclusion authority under Section 1128(b) of the Social Security Act to CMS, effective immediately, giving CMS independent power to bar individuals and entities from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs.