Governance/Regulation & Compliance

The SEC will more aggressively pursue clawbacks of CEO and CFO bonuses or stock-sale profits when their firms engage in misconduct.

In general, a compliance culture will help you avoid costly pitfalls like having to rebuild a product or service offering due to legal issues or negative publicity; it will also lower the risk of lost trust and lawsuits, which can be game-ending.

The fight against corruption, and the implementation of compliance programs to prevent bad practices in public and private companies, is more accessible than ever before, thanks to blockchain technology.

Lawyers warn that companies need to police themselves now, to ensure their ESG disclosures are "able to withstand public and regulatory scrutiny."

New legislation from Senator Elizabeth Warren would make price gouging anywhere in the supply chain illegal, and would give the FTC and state attorneys general leeway to investigate companies for charging excessive prices.

Musk says he wants Twitter to foster a "public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive." In other words, the trust and safety program shouldn't be used to censor speech.

Even before the invasion of Ukraine focused attention on Europe's dependence on fossil fuels from Russia, regulatory changes and climate litigation were converging to make 2022 a pivotal year for climate change law in Europe.

"We're trying to read the tea leaves of what the Russian government is most concerned about when they have threatened foreign companies that have halted operations or pulled out of Russia," said Thad McBride, a partner with Bass, Berry & Sims.