Deal Diary

We have released our 2023 ESG Survey which includes a collection of reports reflecting on significant ESG themes and trends from 2022, as well as what we believe to be key developments for 2023.

The world has changed a lot since our 2020 report. A global pandemic; a reckoning on race, inequality and social justice; a climate crisis; an economic shock; and increased political polarization have created challenging dynamics for companies and boards globally. The role of the board in managing risk and charting the course ahead is more critical today than ever before. This report delves into these wide-ranging and interlocking issues and offers insight on how directors and management must proactively embrace their stewardship roles in this brave new world.

Election and Impeachment

The presidential race will garner much of the attention during the 2020 election cycle, but there is fierce competition elsewhere, too. Republicans and Democrats are fighting for both U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate seats in the 116th U.S. Congress, with the Republican Party trying to regain House majority. Meanwhile, impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump are shaping up to be a potential game changer for certain members of the Senate who are running for president. They’ll lose valuable time on the campaign trail while serving as jurors for the duration of the impeachment trial.

On December 17 and 19, respectively, the House and Senate passed the Secure Act as part of a budget bill known as the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 1865). President Trump signed the bill into law on December 20. The Secure Act is the most significant retirement legislation in more than a decade.

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Akin Gump energy partner Rob Shearer and counsel Jon Boben wrote an article, “M&A 101: Back To Basics,” published by Texas Lawyer on some of the top legal issues confronting both sellers and buyers in M&A transactions where the two sides “have conflicting interests and a natural desire to minimize their risks.”

To read the entire article, please click here.

Akin Gump has issued an alert summarizing pending amendments before the California State Legislature to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Please click here to read the full alert.

The focus on tax challenges surrounding the digital economy began at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2013, when the OECD and G20 governments launched the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. The BEPS project identified fifteen different “action” areas where tax rules could be strengthened to prevent BEPS, and “Action 1” focused on the tax challenges of the digital economy. On Tuesday, March 12 the OECD launched a public discussion on its recent review of the tax challenges associated with the digitalization of the economy. This follows the release of a discussion draft in February 2019, which highlighted five policy options under two separate “pillars” for dealing with potential difficulties in taxation caused by the digital economy. 

A year after President Trump signed the TCJA into law, there will be plenty of potential actions and new faces in the tax landscape in 2019. Both the Senate Finance Committee and the Ways and Means Committee will have new chairs, Treasury regulations implementing the TCJA will be finalized, and President Trump has continued to make middle-class tax cuts a priority heading into next year.