Natural disasters are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more destructive.  No part of the United States is entirely immune from some combination of tornadoes, fires, droughts, earthquakes, freeze events, and hurricanes.  Indeed, 2024’s “extraordinary” hurricane season saw Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastate swaths of the Southeastern United States from Florida to North Carolina.[1]  This trend has continued in the early days of 2025 with wildfires in California and winter storms in the South and along the East Coast causing devastation, supply chain disruptions, and, reportedly, tens of billions of dollars in insured losses.

Last night, in a move with wide-ranging implications for American companies doing business abroad, President Trump issued an executive order (Order) temporarily halting enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  The Order directs Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi to review guidelines and policies governing FCPA investigations and enforcement actions in the next 180 days, with an option to extend the review another 180 days if appropriate.  During that time, no new FCPA investigations or enforcement actions will be opened, unless AG Bondi determines an exemption is appropriate, and all currently pending FCPA investigations and enforcement actions will be reviewed to “restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives.”  After new guidance is issued, new FCPA investigations initiated or current actions that are continued must follow the new guidelines, with new matters requiring the approval of AG Bondi.  At the end of the review period, AG Bondi will also consider if additional action is appropriate, including possible remedial measures with respect to past FCPA investigations and enforcement actions.

This past Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a warning to businesses against price gouging for eggs and poultry. The current bird flu outbreak began in March 2024 but has become a topic of increasing concern for consumers and businesses in the new year after more than 13 million hens—necessary to the success of the egg and poultry industry—died or were slaughtered within the last two months.

The days when healthcare investors could financially engineer their way to an outcome are gone. In today’s economy, they must focus on improving valuation and performance. In this podcast, McGuireWoods partner and host Geoff Cockrell and Mike Murphy, founder and managing partner of Sunstone Management Advisors, discuss how to succeed in this harsh reality.

At…

Accel-KKR has acquired ResiDex Software, according to a news release.

ResiDex, founded in 2000 and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is an electronic health record software platform for assisted living and senior care providers.

Accel-KKR, based in Menlo Park, California, is a technology-focused investment firm. The firm pursues middle-market companies and provides a…

On February 1, 2025, the Trump Administration imposed long-expected tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China through the issuance of three executive orders (“EOs”).  While some recent reporting suggested that implementation of these tariffs may be delayed to March 1, 2025, the White House confirmed on January 31, 2025 that these tariffs would be implemented according to a previously-set deadline. However, following a flurry of threats of counter-tariffs and phone calls between President Trump and his counterparts in Canada and Mexico, on February 3, 2025, the leaders of Canada and Mexico confirmed that the United States will delay tariffs for a month while both countries work towards more long-term agreements.  The tariff imposed on China went into effect on February 4.

On January 10, 2025, in the waning days of the Biden Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a Request for Information Regarding the Collection, Use, and Monetization of Consumer Payment and Other Personal Financial Data. The Request signals the Bureau’s strong concern with the ways financial institutions, and particularly new financial tools like widespread use of mobile banking, collect and use sensitive consumer-financial data. The Request was motivated by the results from the data that the Bureau collected in developing its Personal Financial Data Rights Rule, finding that “actual business practices show significant deviation from longstanding consumer expectations when it comes to the collection, use, and monetization of data harvested from payment transactions.” Among the Bureau’s chief concerns was consumers’ general ignorance about financial data that Americans believe “is kept private just because it is sensitive.” On the contrary, the Bureau found that not only is consumers’ sensitive financial information monetized, but also that it is commingled with consumer attributes like geographic location, social-media habits, and even individual voices. Such advancements, the Bureau worries, could lead to “dynamic pricing algorithms” that show different pricing for different users, based on their harvested personal data.  

By Kevin Madagan

Latticework Capital Management (LCM) and Edgehill Management have completed a strategic investment in Life Science Connect (LSC), according to a news release.

LSC, founded in 2014 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a life science digital media company.

LCM, founded in 2015 and based in Dallas, makes control equity investments…