Insights

On 8 October 2026, Crowell & Moring, King's College London, and the Competition Law Center at George Washington University co-hosted the 7th EU Competition Law Conference at De Warande in Brussels. Mark Meador, Commissioner at the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), delivered the opening keynote address, followed by four panels bringing together practitioners, regulators, academics, and in-house counsel to discuss the latest developments in EU, UK, and US competition law enforcement. Among other things, the panels examined algorithmic pricing; the European Commission's (Commission) new guidelines on exclusionary abuses under Article 102 TFEU (Article 102 Guidelines); the impact of dominant positions in merger reviews; and lessons from the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. 

A recent GAO decision,  Encon Desbuild JV4, LLC, highlights a critical pitfall for contractors: GAO dismissed as untimely a protest filed within 10 days of a “debriefing” because the debriefing was not “required” under GAO’s precedent and the applicable regulations.  This was true even though the contracting officer incorrectly told the contractor that the debriefing was required and provided under FAR part 15. 

On October 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Fraud Enforcement Division announced a new whistleblower rewards initiative, the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP). Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued a directive earlier this month directing Division leadership to design and implement policies and programs that incentivize whistleblowers to bring forward credible information pertaining to fraud. The new WHIP incentive pays awards of $10,000 to $30,000 for qualifying tips at or around the time criminal charges are filed or unsealed, rather than years later at case resolution.

On 27 October 2026, the UK Ministry of Defence (“MOD”) published UK Defence Footprint 2026 (the “Footprint”), bringing together defence spending and industrial initiatives, including previously announced investments, and setting out planned defence spending of £298 billion over the next four years. On the same day it published the Footprint, the UK government published an announcement outlining the Warsaw Defence Plan, the first phase of cooperation under the UK-Poland Security and Defence Partnership Treaty, including on drones, cyber security and defence procurement. Together, they highlight two complementary priorities: strengthening the UK’s defence industrial base and deepening cooperation with its allies. 

On October 19, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) titled “Advancing Women’s Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life,” establishing new federal infrastructure dedicated to improving women’s health research, clinical translation, and coordinated policy leadership. The EO creates a White House Women’s Health Task Force and directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a new Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  

One of the two landmark climate-disclosure laws California enacted in 2023 has its first reporting deadline in just over two weeks, amid continued uncertainty regarding its constitutionality.  

The LCIA's 2025 Annual Casework Report contains a finding that should command the attention of any business with commercial exposure to Africa or the Middle East. Participation from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) rose to almost 15% of the LCIA's caseload in 2025, and the UAE alone is now the third most represented jurisdiction globally, overtaking every non-Anglophone jurisdiction in the world.[1] That shift did not happen in isolation. It coincided with the entry into force of the Arbitration Act 2025 (the 2025 Act) — the most significant reform of English arbitration law in a generation — and a dramatic surge in parties deploying the LCIA's procedural toolkit more aggressively than ever before.[2]

A proposed rule published October 20, 2026, outlines a framework that would require Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to verify and update their provider directories at least once every 90 days, report an accuracy score to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servies (CMS), and publicly post it on their directories. CMS says the proposed changes will improve data connectivity and accuracy in provider directories across the health care system. 

On October 16, 2026, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule implementing key sections of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2026, Section 6224 (“Modernizing and Ensuring Pharmacy Benefit Manager Accountability”). The agency also proposes a conforming change mandated by section 6219 of the CAA (“Adjustments to Medicare Part D Cost-Sharing Reductions for Low-Income Individuals”) that would reduce the generic-drug copayment from $1 to $0 for full-benefit dual eligible individuals. Comments to the proposed rule are due December 15, 2026.   

On October 16, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire denied Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, Inc.’s motion to dismiss the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) Title VII sex discrimination lawsuit arising from a women-only company-sponsored event. The Court held that the EEOC had “plausibly met” the applicable legal standard “by pointing to missed networking opportunities, the potential deprivation of paid time off, and the denial of perks including a company-paid hotel stay, food, and beverages.” This ruling is a clear sign that employer-sponsored events limited to employees of one sex carry legal risk, even when the employer’s intent is to address workforce imbalances or attendance at the event does not lead to measurable advantages. 

Crocs, Inc. recently filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court (No. 26-421), asking the Court to review and resolve the question: “Whether an agency disposition is final as to some issues, thus triggering deadlines for judicial review, while other issues decided in the same disposition remain subject to further executive or administrative review.”

The life sciences sector is uniquely vulnerable to the inherent risks of AI-generated evidence in drug development and discovery. This client alert focuses on five core challenges: hallucinations, skewed predictions from unrepresentative training data, the opacity of AI reasoning, input sensitivity that undermines reproducibility, and adversarial manipulation of training data. To address these risks, companies should use experimental validation and human oversight as the common legal and regulatory safety net. This entails among other measures auditing AI outputs, characterizing training data, and structural oversight. Companies also should prepare for evolving frameworks and guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union (EU) that address use of AI in drug discovery and development .  

New Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) orders from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of War (DoW), and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) require the exclusion and removal of products and services by DeepSeek and its affiliated entities (collectively, DeepSeek).1 The DoW and DNI orders are laid out in their entirety within the SAM.gov downloadable spreadsheet of FASCSA orders, and neither provides details about the reasons for excluding or removing DeepSeek. By contrast, the civilian order, published on October 20, 2026, identifies DeepSeek’s free open-source artificial intelligence (AI) models as “present[ing] multiple threat vectors.” These include threat vectors associated with the company’s known technical vulnerabilities, obligation to provide the government of the People’s Republic of China certain access, and the fact that information collected by the company’s apps and AI models could be used to create “actionable intelligence” about the U.S. government.   

The Private Investigations Act (PIA), which entered into force on December 16, 2024, fundamentally modernized the framework for private investigation activities in Belgium. Its implications for businesses conducting internal investigations are far-reaching.  

Do you want your startup to expand and become a major player in your industry? If so, you will most likely need to seek capital from outside investors to help you build infrastructure and fulfill orders.

On September 16, 2026, California became the second state in the country to require disclosures of AI-generated synthetic performers in advertising. Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 1050 — a measure that prohibits advertisers from publishing advertisements prominently featuring AI-generated synthetic performers without a clear and conspicuous disclosure — effective January 1, 2027.

There were two significant developments recently at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), a statute that broadly prohibits sellers from engaging in price discrimination that harms competition. First, the Commission settled a litigation against Southern Glazer’s that was initially brought during the Biden administration, and second, the Commission also announced the resolution of an investigation into price discrimination by Gildan Activewear and S&S holdings in the wholesale T-shirt distribution industry. These developments signal a more measured approach to the RPA than in the prior administration but are nonetheless a reminder to companies that the RPA is alive and well and remains an important tool for enforcers and plaintiffs to address price discrimination. Companies that sell to retailers or operate in distribution channels should consider periodic reviews of their pricing structures and compliance programs to ensure compliance with the RPA. 

On 17 September 2026, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published its draft Guidelines 04/2026 on the imposition of administrative fines (the "Guidelines"), currently out for public consultation until 13 November 2026. In 2022, the EDPB had adopted guidelines on calculating the amount of an administrative fine (the “Calculation Guidelines”). The present Guidelines fill a gap the Calculation Guidelines left open: they provide a structured, five-step methodology for deciding when to impose a fine and explain how fines interact with the full range of corrective powers. By issuing both sets of guidelines, the EDPB aims to increase harmonization in fining posture. 

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, recently outlined a comprehensive artificial intelligence (AI) governance framework designed to drive legislative and executive actions. The framework is built on six principles and is being introduced at a time when federal AI legislation is actively being debated. While the framework is a proposal, it reflects priorities that have bipartisan resonance and signals where lawmakers are likely to focus. For health insurance payors, several elements of the framework are directly relevant to existing and planned AI deployments, particularly in utilization management, claims processing, and member-facing services.

The Sedona Conference has published its Defend Trade Secrets Act Model Jury Instructions: DTSA 10th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, the product of Working Group 12’s consensus process. Earlier this year, we alerted clients to the draft instructions. The final publication cautions that the instructions are a starting point only, not binding law, and must be tailored to the facts, claims, and governing law of each case.