The US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021: What You Need to Know

The William (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (“NDAA," the "Act"), which was enacted into law on New Year’s Day when the US Congress overrode President Trump’s veto of the legislation, contains a broad range of policy reforms.

In a set of Legal Updates, we discuss how the NDAA:

• Impacts the financial services industry, including new beneficial ownership reporting rules long sought by the industry. The Act also substantially strengthens the federal government’s anti-money laundering capabilities (including new authority over crypto-assets) and contains measures to address anti-competitive behavior by China. In addition, the Act establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to seek disgorgement for violations of US securities laws. (Continue reading.)
• Introduces a significant number of new measures that will have an enduring effect on government contracting and contractors. Many of these measures will be further refined through the rulemaking process. (Continue reading.)
• Contains important cybersecurity enhancement provisions, including a Government Accountability Office study on expanding cybersecurity insurance. (Continue reading.)

For more information on:

• The anti-money laundering aspects, please contact Andrew Olmem.
• The sanctions provisions, please contact Tamer A. Soliman or Andrew Olmem.
• The SEC aspects, please contact Christina M. Thomas.
• The procurement implications, please contact Marcia G. Madsen or Luke Levasseur.
• The cybersecurity provisions, please contact Rajesh De, David A. Simon, Marcus A. Christian, Stephen Lilley or Marcia G. Madsen.