Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, cybersecurity journalist Catherine Stupp drew attention to the massive surge in internet-connected devices expected to be in use by the end of 2020.

The terms “reseller” and “distributor” are often used interchangeably to describe entities that purchase goods or services from a manufacturer and then distribute or resell such goods or services to retailers and consumers. However, there are some key differences between a distributor and a reseller and important issues to consider in agreements with resellers and distributors.

The 2019 ISG Momentum Market Trends & Insights Geography Report was recently released and contains valuable insights on how the outsourcing industry is growing and transforming around the world. The report, which was published on December 27, 2019, is authored by Paul Reynolds, partner and chief research officer at ISG.

On January 13, the US Department of the Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) published the final rules implementing the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA).

The United States and the United Kingdom entered into the world’s first ever Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (CLOUD Act) agreement on October 3, 2019 (the Agreement). The Agreement, which will enter into force later this year after review by lawmakers in both countries, allows each country’s law enforcement agencies to demand, with proper authorization, electronic data regarding serious crime (defined in Article 1 of the Agreement as an offense punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least three years) directly from technology companies based in the other country.

From all of us on the technology, outsourcing, and commercial transactions team at Morgan Lewis, we’d like to wish you and your loved ones happy holidays and a wonderful new year. We will return with new content the week of January 6.

As 2019 comes to a close, we have once again compiled all the links to our Contract Corner blog posts, a regular feature of Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis.

You signed a long-term deal. It would be embarrassing if, in a few years after signing, the pricing is significantly higher or your service levels are significantly lower than market. Benchmarking provisions are intended to provide a mechanism for ensuring that your pricing and/or service levels are within market (taking into consideration the unique factors applicable to your deal). Set out below are some of the key components of a meaningful benchmarking provision.

Open Banking is an initiative mandated by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2017. It is intended to facilitate better competition in the banking sector by mandating protocols that facilitate the secure sharing of customer-related data of the nine largest banks in the United Kingdom (CMA9) with third-party providers (TPPs).

In this contract corner, we consider the concepts of “good faith” in commercial contracts under English law.