On August 12, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $60,764 settlement with Rice Lake Weighing Systems (Rice Lake), a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of scales and other weight measuring equipment, to address apparent violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The violations were committed by Dini Argeo S.r.l. (Dini), Rice Lake’s Italian subsidiary.
Continue Reading OFAC Settlement Highlights Iran Sanctions Risks for Non-U.S. Subsidiaries of U.S. Companies
SBA Finalizes New Social Disadvantage Standard for 8(a) Program
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has finalized a significant change to how small businesses establish social disadvantage for purposes of the 8(a) Business Development Program. Effective September 10, 2026, SBA will eliminate the longstanding regulatory presumption that members of certain racial and ethnic groups are socially disadvantaged and replace it with a single standard available to applicants regardless of race. The rule also eliminates the existing narrative-based test for establishing individual social disadvantage, which SBA has applied to all individually owned applicants since the Ultima decision.
Continue Reading SBA Finalizes New Social Disadvantage Standard for 8(a) Program
DOJ’s First FCPA Deferred Prosecution Agreement of 2026 Highlights Cartel-Linked Corruption Risks
On July 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that The Scoular Company (Scoular), a Nebraska-based agricultural supply chain company, agreed to pay more than $10 million to resolve allegations that it used third-party customs brokers to bribe Mexican officials facilitating shipments across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Continue Reading DOJ’s First FCPA Deferred Prosecution Agreement of 2026 Highlights Cartel-Linked Corruption Risks
OFAC Launches Reconsideration Portal to Streamline Delisting Petitions
On June 29, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) launched an online Reconsideration Portal for requests to remove persons or property from OFAC sanctions lists, including the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. OFAC states that the portal streamlines delisting petitions by collecting key information upfront rather than through repeated questionnaires.
Continue Reading OFAC Launches Reconsideration Portal to Streamline Delisting Petitions
DOJ Issues First Corporate Enforcement Policy Declination: Lessons from Bosch’s FDPR Export Control Resolution
On June 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) National Security Division (NSD) announced its first declination under the Department-wide Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP), declining to prosecute Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) for potential criminal violations of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA).
Procurement Fraud Enforcement Trends Continue Into 2026
As procurement fraud enforcement continues to be a priority for the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, we take a look back at significant 2025 enforcement developments affecting government contractors, grant recipients and participants in federal programs in our 2025 Procurement Fraud Review.
Continue Reading Procurement Fraud Enforcement Trends Continue Into 2026FinCEN Proposed Rulemaking: Significant Revisions Centered on Risk, Effectiveness, and Supervisory Consistency
On April 7, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Press Release describing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would significantly reshape anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) program requirements across a wide range of financial institutions. Comments are due by June 9, 2026.
Continue Reading FinCEN Proposed Rulemaking: Significant Revisions Centered on Risk, Effectiveness, and Supervisory ConsistencyClarified Standard for Challenging CICA Stay Overrides
On April 15, the Federal Circuit issued a decision clarifying the burden a protestor must meet when challenging an agency’s override of the Competition in Contracting Act’s (CICA) automatic stay of performance. In Life Science Logistics, LLC v. United States, the court held that when challenging an override of CICA’s automatic stay of performance after a protest is filed at the GAO, a protestor need not demonstrate entitlement to an injunction under the standard four-factor equitable relief test. Instead, the protestor only needs to show that the agency’s override decision was arbitrary and capricious.
Continue Reading Clarified Standard for Challenging CICA Stay OverridesSBIR/STTR Reauthorization Brings New Opportunities and New Diligence Expectations
After a brief lapse, Congress has reauthorized the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs through Fiscal Year 2031. President Trump signed the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act, S. 3971, into law on April 13, 2026. The legislation restores certainty to two of the federal government’s most important funding programs for small business research and development, but it is not a clean extension. The reauthorization makes several meaningful changes to the way agencies will evaluate applicants, manage Phase II and Phase III awards, and screen foreign investment risk.
Continue Reading SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Brings New Opportunities and New Diligence ExpectationsPresident Trump Issues Executive Order Directing Agencies to Default to Fixed-Price Contracting
On April 30, President Trump issued an Executive Order (Order) directing federal agencies to make fixed-price contracting the default and preferred procurement method across the federal government. The Order reflects the administration’s view that fixed-price contracts better promote cost predictability, contractor accountability, and performance-based outcomes than cost-reimbursement and other non-fixed-price contract types.
Continue Reading President Trump Issues Executive Order Directing Agencies to Default to Fixed-Price Contracting