BSEE Takes Steps to Relieve Burdensome Requirements for Offshore Operators

Posted on: January 4, 2018 By: Kevin Voelkel
On December 29, 2017, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register, stating its intent to significantly revise provisions of the Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems regulations (30 CFR part 250, subpart H) to reduce “unnecessary regulatory burdens” on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas operators while maintaining or advancing the level of safety and environmental protection. The Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems regulations address safety and pollution prevention equipment (SPPE), subsea safety devices and safety...
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Energy
Environmental
National Energy Law
Offshore
Oil & Gas
Upstream Energy

DOJ’s False Claims Act FY 2017 Statistics Show Focus on Energy

Posted on: January 4, 2018 By: Robert Wagman
On December 21, 2017, the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual statistics on False Claims Act recoveries, announcing that it had obtained more than $3.7 billion in settlements and judgments in Fiscal Year 2017. (A copy of DOJ’s press release is available here .) While False Claims Act recoveries in the past year are not record setting ($6.1 billion in FY 2014 still holds the record) and are less than the previous year ($4.7 billion), what was notable about FY 2017 was that DOJ pursued a number of actions resulting in recoveries against energy firms. The...
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White Collar Defense
DOE
Enforcement
FERC

U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report - November 2017

Posted on: January 3, 2018 By: David Perlman, Michael Brooks, Bob Pease, Ryan Eletto
The Bracewell U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report is a monthly report that provides summaries of certain disciplinary notices by U.S. exchanges during the prior month. The report has a particular focus on notices potentially relevant to energy commodities and is not intended to be a comprehensive review of each and every notice issued. Instead, the report is intended to provide market participants, and compliance personnel in particular, with illustrative examples of rule violations and to bring to light enforcement trends across the exchanges. The disciplinary notices cited in...

U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report - October 2017

Posted on: November 28, 2017 By: David Perlman, Michael Brooks, Bob Pease, Ryan Eletto
The Bracewell U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report is a monthly report that provides summaries of certain disciplinary notices by U.S. exchanges during the prior month. The report has a particular focus on notices potentially relevant to energy commodities and is not intended to be a comprehensive review of each and every notice issued. Instead, the report is intended to provide market participants, and compliance personnel in particular, with illustrative examples of rule violations and to bring to light enforcement trends across the exchanges. The disciplinary notices cited in...
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Commodities
Organized Markets

CFTC Annual Enforcement Update

Posted on: November 27, 2017 By: Michael Brooks, David Perlman, George Fatula, Bob Pease, Stephen Hug, Ryan Eletto
On November 22, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) released its annual enforcement report for fiscal year 2017. As in previous years, this year’s report highlights the agency’s continued commitment to enforcement and aggressive pursuit of those viewed as engaging in conduct that undermines the integrity of CFTC-jurisdictional markets. In fiscal year 2017, the CFTC brought 49 enforcement actions, with matters involving market manipulation, prohibited trading practices, or retail fraud ( e.g ., Ponzi schemes) accounting for the vast majority of these actions (35 out of 49...
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CFTC
Enforcement

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