On November 18, 2016, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a final rule revising the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (“Standards”)  applicable to the solicitation and acceptance of gifts from outside sources. See 5 CFR § 2635. The final rule imposes a duty to decline otherwise permissible gifts when the appearance of impropriety is present, adds new examples of how to apply the rules, codifies previous interpretations of the gift rule, and retains the $20 de minimis exception (despite pushback in comments to the proposed rule to raise the standard commensurate with inflation. ) Although Government employees are the primary subject of the final rule, the changes will have a direct impact on how contractors, referred to as “prohibited sources” can interact with Government officials.   It is important for government contractors to understand that being implicated by a Government official’s violation of these Standards can lead to various consequences, such as facing public embarrassment, a tarnished reputation in the marketplace, suspension and debarment, or penalties for violating the bribery or illegal gratuities statutes.

The rule becomes effective on January 1, 2017.
Continue Reading OGE Finalizes Rule Regarding Solicitation and Acceptance of Gifts for Executive Branch Employees

In this part of our ongoing series (see Part I, Part II and Part III) on the Small Business Government Contracting and National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 Amendments implementing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (FY2013 NDAA) Amendments, we address the new recertification requirement that is triggered following the merger, sale, or acquisition of a firm that has submitted an offer as a small business concern (SBC).

A concern that represents itself as a small business and qualifies as small at the time of proposal submission is considered to be a small business throughout the life of that contract.  This even applies for Multiple Award Contracts—the SBC is considered small for each order issued against the contract with the same NAICS code and size standard (unless a contracting officer chooses to request a new size certification in connection with a particular order).  In other words, even where a concern grows to be other than small, the procuring agency may exercise options and still count the award as an award to a SBC, unless a recertification requirement has been triggered.

Given the great boon that comes to a firm upon award of a contract where it has qualified as a SBC, the SBA has long sought to set the right balance for what should happen when a small business is involved in a merger, sale, or acquisition. The concern is that if a SBC could submit a proposal with pricing, certify that it is small, and actually qualify on that date of proposal submission as small, should that small business be able to sell itself following proposal submission or contract award to a large business and allow the large business to benefit for up to five years of contract performance as a “small business”?  The SBA’s answer to that is no.  The SBA’s regulations as currently drafted require recertification in certain circumstances following a merger, sale, or acquisition but only once award has already been made.  In the final rule, SBA imposes new recertification requirements aimed at changes that occur within the window between proposal submission and contract award.Continue Reading The SBA Final Rule Implementing the FY2013 NDAA Part IV: New Recertification Requirement Following Mergers & Acquisitions

On Thursday, December 11 at 1 PM Eastern, join our Crowell & Moring attorneys for a webinar entitled: “Intellectual Property Rules in Government Contracts Legal Update: Know Your Technical Data and Patent Rights.” During this 90-minute webinar, we will provide an overview of the key principles governing the rules and regulations relating to rights in