You are reading Bass, Berry & Sims’ enforcement roundup, where we bring notable enforcement actions, policy changes, interesting news articles, and a bit of our insight to your inbox every month.

To stay up to date, subscribe to our GovCon & Trade blog. If you have questions about any of the actions mentioned and how they relate to your business, contact our firm’s international trade team. We welcome your feedback and encourage sharing this newsletter with anyone interested.

January saw a bevy of interesting enforcement actions and regulatory policy changes. A high-level former FBI agent was charged with sanctions violations, for the first time ever a North Korean national was extradited to the U.S. for money laundering to benefit designated persons, and yet another instance of Chinese espionage was thwarted. Let’s jump in!

Continue Reading International Trade Enforcement Roundup – January 2023

Generally, when a business is awarded a multi-year IDIQ contract, it retains its “small” business designation unless a contracting officer (CO) requires the business to recertify its size status, and has since grown larger than the small business threshold. A recent decision from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) throws a wrench into that general understanding when OHA found an implicit recertification requirement absent an express requirement or CO demand.

Continue Reading Task Orders May Carry Implicit Size Recertification Requirements

On January 5, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that would prohibit employers from imposing non-competes on workers, and, if finalized, will have far reaching implications for many businesses operating in the United States. The proposed ban would make it illegal for employers to enter into or attempt to enter into non-compete agreements with workers, continue to maintain such agreements if they already exist, or represent that a worker is subject to a non-compete. It would further require companies with active non-competes to inform workers that they are void. Under the proposed rule, non-competes that bar workers from accepting competing employment or starting a competing business would be prohibited.

Join us for a webinar in which Bass, Berry & Sims labor & employment and antitrust attorneys will address topics and concerns pertaining to the proposed ban, including:

Continue Reading Webinar: The FTC’s Proposed Ban on Non-Competes and What It Could Mean for You

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has an interesting construction. With seemingly no competition to bring size protests and the successful completion of a previous grant before a second grant, the unusual process can make participants forget that normal Small Business Administration (SBA) size regulations still apply. A recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) decision reminds SBIR awardees to comply with all affiliation rules and ownership requirements or risk losing follow-on SBIR awards.

Continue Reading Attention SBIR Applicants…Remember that Affiliation Rules Still Apply

You are reading Bass, Berry & Sims’ new enforcement roundup, where we bring notable enforcement actions, policy changes, interesting news articles and a bit of our insight to your inbox every month.

To stay up to date, subscribe to our GovCon & Trade blog. If you have questions about any of the actions mentioned and how they relate to your business, contact our firm’s international trade team. We welcome your feedback and encourage sharing this newsletter with anyone who may be interested.

December was a busy month! A highly complex Russian procurement network dismembered, a former Marine indicted, a government contractor sentenced to prison for export violations, and temporary denial orders (TDOs) galore! Let’s get into it.

Continue Reading International Trade Enforcement Roundup – December 2022

On January 6, U.S. District Judge John Tuchi in the District of Arizona agreed to dismiss a lawsuit brought by five states challenging the April 2022 Executive Order (EO), increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour. Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska, and South Carolina argued the administration did not have the authority to stipulate an increase in the minimum wage of federal contractors under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (FPASA). Judge Tuchi disagreed.

Continue Reading Arizona Judge Dismisses Challenge to Government Contractor Minimum Wage Executive Order

On November 17, 2022, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published an interim final rule in the Federal Register to make certain inflationary adjustments for the alternative size standards under the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. The interim final rule became effective on December 19, 2022, but the SBA will accept public comments until January 17, 2023.

Continue Reading on BassBerry.com

We look forward to presenting a webinar titled “FCPA Enforcement Update: Lessons Learned for Best Practices” for the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics alongside V. Channing Landreth, AVP Managing Counsel at Labcorp. We will cover:

  1. Overview of FCPA
  2. Key Compliance Challenges
  3. Lessons from Recent Enforcement Actions
  4. Compliance Best Practices

The webinar will be held Wednesday, January 18, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. CT.

I examined how and whether the newly passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will provide inflationary relief for government contractors in a recent article for Reuters. Government contractors who had firm fixed price contracts awarded in the last two years are finding that the work performed now is more expensive due to rising inflation costs.

Continue Reading Inflationary Relief for Government Contractors from National Defense Authorization Act

On December 27, President Biden signed the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act into law. The legislation, ushered through Congress by a bipartisan group of backers, strengthens existing regulations around federal contractor conflict of interest mitigation and provides new requirements for agencies to follow to sniff out potential conflicts of interest. 

Continue Reading New Legislation Strengthens Disclosure Requirements for Potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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