Bylined article by Consumer Financial Services partner Costas Avrakotos (Washington DC).

On January 18, 2018, WilmerHale client Flywire, a provider of global payment and receivables solutions for education, healthcare and business, announced the acquisition of OnPlan Holdings LLC, the parent company of OnPlanU and OnPlan Health. 

2018-01-23T00:00:00-05:002018-01-23T19:35:18Z

A blog post by Leila Gaafar, published on the WilmerHale W.I.R.E. UK blog.2018-02-07T00:00:00-05:002018-02-07T20:29:45ZLeila Gaafarhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/leila_gaafar/leila.gaafar@wilmerhale.com

Employment & Benefits partner Liz Stern (Washington DC) was quoted in this article.

Cybersecurity & Data Privacy partner Rajesh De (Washington DC) was featured on MSNBC.

In 2017, under the leadership of new Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) adopted a notable shift in its enforcement priorities and regulatory agenda.

2018-02-06T00:00:00-05:002018-02-06T15:58:46ZPaul M. Architzelhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/Paul_Architzel/paul.architzel@wilmerhale.comAnjan Sahnihttps://www.wilmerhale.com/anjan_sahni/anjan.sahni@wilmerhale.comMatthew Bevillehttps://www.wilmerhale.com/matthew_beville/matthew.beville@wilmerhale.comDaniel J. Martinhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/daniel_martin/daniel.martin@wilmerhale.com

Digital transformation agency HS2 Solutions announced that it has completed the acquisition of LunaMetrics, an award-winning analytics consultancy that specializes in using data to help businesses illuminate the bridge between marketing, user behavior and ROI. 

2018-01-23T00:00:00-05:002018-01-23T19:28:01Z

Skyword, the leading content marketing software and services company, announced that it has raised $25 million in growth equity from Rho Acceleration, a division of Rho Capital Partners. 

2018-01-23T00:00:00-05:002018-01-23T15:54:30Z

Midterm congressional elections are expected to see a historic number of candidates competing.1 The record number of candidates comes as individual races become increasingly expensive2 and trends portend record spending.3 All of these developments pose legal and reputational risk for regulated entities subject to pay-to-play restrictions.

The SEC actively enforces Rule 206(4)-5 under the Investment Advisers Act (the Rule).4 The Rule is designed to deter investment advisers and their key personnel from participating in pay-to-play practices.5The Rule carries heavy penalties. It prohibits investment advisers from receiving any compensation from a government entity for two years after a violative contribution by the adviser or any covered employee to an official or candidate to be an official of a government entity.

A key facet of the Rule that investment advisers and their personnel may overlook is that the Rule not only covers contributions to candidates for state and local offices or incumbents in those offices running for reelection, it also covers contributions made to a candidate's campaign for federal office when that candidate holds a state or local office at the time of the contribution. This aspect of the Rule has often been the basis of SEC action under the Rule. Such a scenario accounts for one recent enforcement action and several of the exemptive applications filed under the Rule, including examples from the latest presidential campaign, where a number of sitting governors made bids for the White House. As noted above, the large number of congressional candidates in this cycle increases the likelihood of current local and state officials running for federal office. Accordingly, pay-to-play policies and procedures need to account for contributions to campaigns for federal office where the candidate is currently a state or local official.

This is a good time for advisers to review their policies and procedures to ensure that contributions to federal campaigns are highlighted as a potential trip wire. Some advisers implement preclearance for all political contributions so that compliance can review and confirm that each planned contribution is acceptable. Additionally, periodic checks of public federal campaign contribution databases for donations in states and localities where the adviser has government-entity clients would be prudent. Finally, it is worth considering supplemental training and/or compliance alerts for personnel in order to highlight this issue. The best policies won't protect a firm if they are not effectively communicated and enforced. 

Our team has experience designing and working with clients to implement effective pay-to-play policies and procedures focused on meeting the expectations of regulators.

1 David Weigel and Michael Scherer, The 2018 midterms are fast approaching. First up: Primary fights for both parties' future, Washington Post, PowerPost (Jan. 6, 2018).

2 Elena Schneider, Georgia special election smashes all-time spending record. It's official: It will be the most expensive House race in U.S. history, Politico (May 6, 2017).

3See generally Lesley Clark, Coming soon to a TV or web site near you: A record-breaking, expensive 2018 election, McClatchyDC (Nov. 6, 2017).

4See Press Release, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 10 Firms Violated Pay-to-Play Rule By Accepting Pension Fund Fees Following Campaign Contributions (Jan. 17, 2017).

5 Political Contributions by Certain Investment Advisers, Advisers Act Release No. 3043 (July 1, 2010).

2018-02-05T00:00:00-05:002018-02-05T21:38:46ZBenjamin Neaderlandhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/benjamin_neaderland/benjamin.neaderland@wilmerhale.comJoseph M. Tonerhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/joseph_toner/joseph.toner@wilmerhale.com

An article written by Partner Louis Tompros, Associate Alexis Pfeiffer, Former Associate Richard Crudo and Former Summer Associate Rahel Boghossian, published by the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Volume 31, Number 1, Fall 2017. 

2018-02-05T00:00:00-05:002018-02-05T20:28:44ZLouis W. Tomproshttps://www.wilmerhale.com/louis_tompros/louis.tompros@wilmerhale.comAlexis Pfeifferhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/alexis_pfeiffer/alexis.pfeiffer@wilmerhale.com

On January 25, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand issued a memorandum to all components of the Department of Justice with civil litigating authority limiting the use of agency guidance documents in affirmative civil enforcement cases.

2018-02-05T00:00:00-05:002018-02-06T15:18:00ZCarl J. Nicholshttps://www.wilmerhale.com/carl_nichols/carl.nichols@wilmerhale.comJonathan G. Cedarbaumhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/Jonathan_Cedarbaum/jonathan.cedarbaum@wilmerhale.comDavid W. Ogdenhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/david_ogden/david.ogden@wilmerhale.comBrian Boyntonhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/brian_boynton/brian.boynton@wilmerhale.comEd Williamshttps://www.wilmerhale.com/ed_williams/ed.williams@wilmerhale.com

On January 18, 2018, Pandion Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing bispecific antibody therapeutics to achieve localized immunomodulation, announced its $58 million Series A financing. 

2018-01-19T00:00:00-05:002018-01-19T16:01:51Z

On January 17, 2018, WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX), a leading provider of corporate payment solutions, announced a successful repricing of its secured term loans under its existing credit facility.

2018-01-18T00:00:00-05:002018-01-18T19:06:23Z

A blog post by Frederick Saugman and Lloyd Firth, published on the WilmerHale W.I.R.E. UK blog.2018-02-02T00:00:00-05:002018-02-02T15:45:46ZFrederick Saugmanhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/frederick_saugman/frederick.saugman@wilmerhale.comLloyd Firthhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/lloyd_firth/lloyd.firth@wilmerhale.com

In an op-ed in the Raleigh News & Observer, Debo Adegbile, in his role as a commissioner of the US Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR), previewed the panel's Friday visit to North Carolina by explaining how the USCCR helps to safeguard voting rights. 

2018-02-02T00:00:00-05:002018-02-02T14:42:19ZDebo P. Adegbilehttps://www.wilmerhale.com/debo_adegbile/debo.adegbile@wilmerhale.com

Summaries of and links to recent precedential and informative opinions.

2018-01-30T00:00:00-05:002018-02-02T20:58:12Z

WilmerHale is very pleased to announce that Andrew E. Shipley, one of the nation's leading government contracts practitioners, has joined the firm.

2018-01-16T00:00:00-05:002018-01-30T15:09:08Z

David Gammell, in this article published by Xconomy, discusses key factors for founders to consider when making decisions regarding how and when to grant stock options to employees.

2018-01-30T00:00:00-05:002018-01-30T21:11:37ZDavid D. Gammellhttps://www.wilmerhale.com/david_gammell/david.gammell@wilmerhale.com

Ocular Therapeutix™, Inc. announced the closing of its underwritten public offering of 7,475,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $5.00 per share. 

2018-01-30T00:00:00-05:002018-01-30T16:03:15Z

Intellectual Property partner John Mancini (New York) is quoted throughout Law360’s profile on Mayer Brown’s Intellectual Property practice, which is recognized among Law360’s "IP Groups of the Year."