Mon.Nov 13, 2023

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Examining the 3M Sanctions Settlement

GovCon & Trade

In an article for Law360, I examined the recent settlement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the 3M Company for nearly $10 million to resolve apparent violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. While not the largest settlement this year, I pointed out that the 3M settlement is important for several reasons, including: “as to the complexity of U.S. sanctions; as to the duration of OFAC enforcement actions; and as to the benefits and potential drawbacks

Import 147
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HPE and Department of Energy Prepare for the Second Phase of Newest Supercomputer

FedTech Magazine

Kestrel, the Department of Energy’s newest supercomputer, has taken flight. The impressive machine would have never left the nest without Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the prime contractor responsible for bringing it to life. DOE tapped HPE in late 2021 to build the new platform to tackle ongoing renewable energy and energy-efficiency research. Kestrel will deliver more than five times faster performance, with 44 petaflops of computing power.

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The misguided attacks on the 8(a) program must end

Federal News Network

For most aspiring entrepreneurs, the challenges of starting and growing a business are immense. From accessing affordable capital to finding training and mentorship opportunities, navigating the landscape requires persistence, determination and flexibility. This is especially true for minority business owners and individuals who continue to face discrimination that limits their potential and opportunities.

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DCAA Finally Takes a Step in the Right Direction with Cost Impact Guidance

Redstone Government Consulting

The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) issued a memorandum to its leadership – and ultimately its auditors in the field – addressing a revision to its audit guidance related to the audit of contractor cost impact calculations for unilateral cost accounting practice changes (23-PAC-009(R) Revised Audit Guidance on the Cost Impact Calculation for a Unilateral Cost Accounting Practice Change – dated October 3, 2023).

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How to Create a Blueprint for Fleet Resilience

Speaker: Jeff Dickinson - President and CEO of Railgistixs Transport, Supply Chain and Logistics Thought Leader

Despite the ongoing transformation of the supply chain and logistics landscape, the steadfast importance of carrier safety remains a core principle. From prioritizing preventative maintenance to optimizing fleet utilization, the fundamentals persist. If you’re overlooking and neglecting essential safety precautions today, this could result in expensive repairs and potential safety hazards in the future. 🚧 Join Jeff Dickinson for a conversation on how to mitigate risk, enforce compliance,

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Labor Department receives $3.5M TMF award to establish online missing benefits registry

FedScoop

The Department of Labor is set to receive nearly $3.5 million from the Technology Modernization Fund for an Employee Benefits Security Administration project to support the agency’s upcoming “lost and found registry,” according to a Monday release from the General Services Administration. The digital service program will enable the over 153 million workers, retirees and families covered by “private employment retirement plans, group health plans and other welfare benefit plans” to search for sav

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30 Federal IT Influencers Worth a Follow in 2023

FedTech Magazine

With a zero-trust deadline looming for civilian agencies, the increasing use of artificial intelligence and continuing threats from both nation-state and independent rogue actors, today’s federal IT influencers have a lot on their plates. 2024 adds another level of complexity as the presidential primary season nears. Facts often became victims of misinformation in 2020, and with four years of practice under their belts (and a changing social media landscape), those who want to use cyberspace as

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Instytucje po?yczkowe pod nadzorem KNF

Traple Konarski Podrecki & Partners

Wraz z nadejściem nowego roku kalendarzowego instytucje pożyczkowe zostaną objęte instytucjonalnym nadzorem Komisji Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF). Zmiany prawne w tym obszarze mają swoje źródło w tzw. ustawie antylichwiarskiej [1]. Z jednej strony wprowadza ona szereg nowych obowiązków względem instytucji pożyczkowych, z drugiej natomiast przyznaje KNF „twarde” uprawnienia nadzorcze, które znacznie wykraczają poza dotychczasową legitymację do prowadzenia rejestru instytucji pożyczkowych oraz formaln

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Making Automation Work for Your Agency

GovLoop

Under pressure to deliver services more quickly and securely, many agencies are struggling to grow their IT team and keep up with their constituents’ needs. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to find enough experts to do the work, and hiring those experts isn’t cheap. The only way to keep up is through network automation. How your agency automates is key, however.

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Using the WTO Trade Remedies Committees as a Forum to Resolve Trade Frictions

Import and Trade Remedies

Few companies know all the opportunities the World Trade Organization (“ WTO “) offers to resolve trade-related problems or frictions. The WTO’s functioning does not depend only on its Dispute Settlement Body (“ DSB “). It has several committees that can be even more powerful than the DSB. Examples are the Committee on Anti-Dumping Practices (“ AD Committee “) and the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (“ SCM Committee “).

Import 45
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Creating Accountability Around Cloud Spend

GovLoop

As more agencies than ever begin to embrace the benefits a multi-cloud environment can bring, they are also grappling with a few accompanying obstacles, including a lack of visibility on who is using it (and for what purpose) as well as the cost of its upkeep. Cloud FinOps is a financial management discipline that creates accountability around cloud usage to help your agency successfully budget for this tech.

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European Union: Deforestation Regulation – New due diligence requirements to tackle deforestation and forest degradation

Import and Trade Remedies

In brief The new EU Deforestation Regulation (2023/1115/EU) will impose due diligence obligations from 30 December 2024 aimed at tackling deforestation and forest degradation. The Regulation will require companies dealing in in-scope products to undertake due diligence into the source of a wide range of commodities, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm-oil, rubber, soya and wood, to ensure that they have not been obtained as a result of deforestation.

Export 45
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Ex-BCLP Litigator Joins Holland & Knight In California

Government Contracts

Holland & Knight LLP announced Monday that a longtime Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP attorney has joined the firm's office in Newport Beach, California, as a litigation partner.

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(Unintended) origin fraud and duty evasion: Beware of anti-circumvention investigations

Import and Trade Remedies

Companies importing goods into the EU should be aware of a recent uptick in investigations into alleged circumvention of EU anti-dumping and/or anti-subsidy duties, and, in particular, the implications of such investigations under customs law. For context, in August 2023, the European Commission initiated three circumvention investigations, covering imports of biodiesel consigned from China, plywood consigned from Kazakhstan and Türkiye, and stainless steel consigned from Taiwan, Türkiye and Vie

Export 45
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Prison Food Co.'s Suit Is In Wrong Court, Competitor Says

Government Contracts

An Elior Inc. prison food service unit's suit claiming its former commissary sales director violated his noncompete and poached a client while working for a Kentucky-based competitor does not belong in North Carolina Business Court and should be dismissed, the rival company has argued in a dismissal bid.

Bidding 40
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Examining the Jurisprudence of Extension of Time to Challenge Arbitral Awards under the 1996 English Arbitration Act

Kluwer Arbitration

The English Commercial Court’s September 4, 2020 decision in P&ID v. Nigeria (P&ID) agreed to halt enforcement due to a prima facie case of fraud. This decision introduced a novel perspective to the legal discourse of extension of time to challenge an arbitral award. In particular, the court determined to extend the time to challenge an arbitral award beyond the 28-day statutory limit set by Section 70 of the 1996 English Arbitration Act (“1996 AA”) to three years and one m

Finance 98
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Corps' Fish Farm Permit Dead In Water, Groups Tell Judge

Government Contracts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a nationwide permit opening federal ocean waters up to industrial finfish aquaculture operations without congressional authorization or adequate environmental reviews, a coalition of nonprofits and the Quinault Indian Nation said in a bid to have the permit struck down.

Bidding 40
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Creditors Say Puerto Rico Gov't Stopped Paying Utility Debt

Government Contracts

A pair of Puerto Rican electric utility bondholders have filed a suit against the island's government, claiming it has cost them millions of dollars by improperly interfering with the bankrupt utility's ability to pay back its bonds.

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Feds Aim To Sink Irrigation District's High Court Water Suit

Government Contracts

The Bureau of Land Management urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject an Oregon irrigation district's effort to move its lawsuit challenging a BLM water use plan from federal court to state court.

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Nigeria, Engineering Firm Settle $2.9M Award Fight

Government Contracts

Nigeria and an engineering firm have settled D.C. Circuit litigation over the enforcement of an arbitration award arising from the West African country's alleged delayed payments for public infrastructure work.

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Feds Ease North Macedonia's Access To US Gov't Contracts

Government Contracts

North Macedonian businesses contracting with the U.S. government will be treated as providing domestic goods and services after the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council waived certain domestic preference sourcing requirements, according to a Monday notice in the Federal Register.

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Gov't Arguing 'Nonsense' Over FCA Settlement, 5th Circ. Told

Government Contracts

A whistleblower awarded a share of a $13.7 million False Claims Act settlement pushed back Monday against the government's allegation that he shouldn't get any money from the agreement, telling the Fifth Circuit the government's arguments were "flagrant nonsense.