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On May 6, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) designated crypto mixer Blender.io as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”), marking the first time a virtual currency mixer has been sanctioned. The move is the latest in a series of sanctions designations and enforcement actions in the virtual currency…

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, H.R. 2471. Division Y of this omnibus appropriations legislation—the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022—will create significant new rules requiring US critical infrastructure entities to report cybersecurity incidents and ransom payments to the US government. This legislation marks…

After months of diplomatic engagement, the early morning of February 24, 2022 saw what President Biden called an “unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces” on Ukraine. Numerous news reports also have described significant cyber attacks against Ukrainian systems. According to those reports, these attacks follow multiple waves of cyber attacks in the past…

Our Global Insurance Industry Year in Review is now in its 10th year. In this report, we discuss developments and trends in insurance industry transactions over the past year, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, insurtech, the insurance-linked securities and convergence markets, as well as tax, regulatory and litigation developments.

A…

In the 2022 edition of our long-running annual podcast, partners in Mayer Brown’s Technology Transactions practice will discuss trends that will drive and shape technology transactions. This year’s program will focus on convergence of cloud, AI and data; innovation through new and complex collaborations; continued change in cybersecurity and privacy laws and priorities; increasing focus…

The top legal ethics headlines of 2021 and cybersecurity concerns as we head into 2022. Bloomberg Industry Group legal reporter Melissa Heelan and Veronica Glick, partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office and a member of the firm’s National Security and Cybersecurity & Data Privacy practices, are guests. Hosted by Joe Shortsleeve.

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2020 and 2021 saw sophisticated, coordinated cyber attacks affect some of the largest companies in the world. In the wake of these attacks, the Biden Administration and federal regulators—as well as businesses within the financial sector—are highly focused on cybersecurity. With a rapidly changing landscape, financial services companies are working hard to prepare for cyber…

On September 21, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced several actions intended to “advance the United States government’s broader counter-ransomware strategy,” including an update to OFAC’s October 2020 advisory on ransomware payments and the first Specially Designated National (“SDN”) designation of a virtual currency exchange. OFAC’s action…

On October 1, 2020, the US Treasury Department issued important guidance on what victims of ransomware attacks, as well as financial institutions (particularly money services businesses (“MSBs”) and other companies that facilitate such payments), should consider when confronted with potential ransomware demands. First, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued an advisory that emphasizes…

To cope with the coronavirus crisis, Americans rely more than ever before on information and communications technology to stay connected, do our jobs, see our families and live fulfilling lives. But this shift has come with a significant increase in cybersecurity and data privacy risk.

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