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The Gift that Keeps on Giving: FAR Council Attempts to Reduce Burden of Representation Requirement for Covered Telecommunication Offerings

Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.16.19

Following an August 2019 interim rule that implemented a ban on government procurement of any equipment, system, or service that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services (CTES) from certain Chinese companies including Huawei and ZTE, effective December 13, 2019, the FAR Council issued a second interim rule authorizing companies to annually represent whether they provide CTES to the Government in the System for Award Management (SAM) registration. This new provision at FAR 52.204-26 would allow offerors to avoid the offer-by-offer representation requirement in FAR 52.204-24 (currently required under the first interim rule).

FAR 52.204-26 applies to all acquisitions, including simplified and commercial item acquisitions, and requires companies to review SAM and validate whether any products or services originate from CTES prior to completing their required representations. To facilitate compliance, the Government will update SAM to list the Chinese companies that provide CTES and annotate where prohibitions are limited to select products and services instead of the entire company.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 09.13.24

SEC Disbands its Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly recently dissolved its Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force (the Task Force). The Task Force was part of SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s broader push to increase investors’ access to environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) information about public companies and registered investment companies. The dissolution of the Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force comes after three years marked by industry resistance and a mixed record in the courts. Prior to the Task Force’s dissolution, the agency removed ESG from its annual Examination Priorities Report, which provides areas of particular focus during SEC examinations. While the Task Force has been dissolved, the SEC is still pursuing a number of its proposed ESG and climate-related rules....