First Token Offering Qualified by the SEC Under Regulation A
- On July 10, 2019, Blockstack Token LLC (“Blockstack”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blockstack PBC, a Delaware public benefit corporation, became the first company to have an offering of digital assets qualified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under Regulation A. Blockstack is... ›
Commerce Issues Narrow License for Certain Transactions with Huawei
By: John E. Smith, Joseph A. Benkert and Charles L. Capito
The Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a 90-day temporary general license exempting a set of transactions from the Entity List designation of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (“Huawei”) and its affiliates worldwide, which was effective May 16, 2019. The... ›FCA Guidance on UK Crypto-Assets Regulation
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority published draft guidance on the circumstances in which crypto-assets will fall within its regulatory perimeter and has invited comments and feedback on the draft guidance by 5 April 2019. In particular, it explains how it divides crypto-tokens into... ›CFIUS’s Axe to Grind: China’s Kunlun Reportedly Forced to Divest Grindr Amid Concerns Over Sensitive Personal Data
By: Charles L. Capito
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is reportedly forcing Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. Ltd. (“Kunlun”) to divest Grindr LLC (“Grindr”), the dating app Kunlun acquired in 2016. Much of the popular press is focusing on the seemingly remote connection between... ›Opportunity to Comment on Emerging Technologies Subject to Future Export and Investment Restrictions
By: Joseph A. Benkert, Robert S. Litt and Charles L. Capito
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM or the “Notice”) on November 19, 2018, concerning the list of “emerging and foundational technologies” that BIS was tasked to identify under the Export Control Reform... ›New CFIUS Pilot Program Expands U.S. Government Review of Tech Transactions
By: Robert S. Litt and Charles L. Capito
The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), which became law on August 13, 2018, effected sweeping change to the authority and processes of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). Many of FIRRMA’s most significant changes were not... ›Privacy Across the Atlantic: Comparing the EU GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 - A Morrison & Foerster Data Protection Webinar
By: Julie O'Neill
Just over a month after the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect, California passed its own sweeping privacy legislation, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. The Act stands to affect countless global companies doing business in California, many of which recently... ›If Your Company Offers Streaming Services, You Should Be Aware that States and Localities Are Taking Different Approaches to Taxing Such Services
By: Rebecca M. Balinskas
Many states and localities are concerned that the proliferation of streaming services is shrinking tax revenues previously received from sales of traditional forms of entertainment. Those concerns are not unfounded. The rapid development of streaming services has drastically changed how people watch “television.” It... ›Revised CFIUS Bill Receives Unanimous Approval in House and Senate Committees; Increases Export Controls for “Critical Technologies”
Legislation that would substantially overhaul the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) received unanimous committee approvals in the House and Senate today. The proposed legislation (known as “FIRRMA,” for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018)... ›EU Digital Market VAT Reform
By: Mercedes Samavi and Trevor L James
Since 2015, the European Union has been gradually implementing a series of reforms designed to create a Digital Single Market across the EU. In setting its reform agenda, the European Commission looked beyond areas traditionally associated with the regulation of technology and digital services,... ›