Month: July 2026

In an 8-K filed July 1, 2026, The Kroger Co. disclosed an agreement to acquire family-owned regional grocer Giant Eagle, Inc. for approximately $1.65 billion — $1.25 billion in cash plus roughly $400 million in assumed liabilities. Giant Eagle operates stores across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana.

Deal Structure and Regulatory Path

Kroger said it expects the transaction to close in 2027, subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The company anticipates making “limited Giant Eagle store divestitures” to obtain regulatory approval. Kroger’s board approved the transaction unanimously.

Context

The announcement marks Kroger’s return to sizeable dealmaking after its far larger, roughly $24.6 billion merger with Albertsons was blocked by courts and abandoned in late 2024. That deal was the subject of a June 25, 2026 ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery in ongoing litigation between Kroger and Albertsons over the collapsed transaction.

(Source tag: The Kroger Co., Form 8-K, July 1, 2026)

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2026-14 providing guidance to the Chief Executive Officers of any State, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories regarding the procedure for nominating population census tracts to be designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). The nomination period opened on July 1, 2026 and will last 90 days, subject to a single 30-day extension. The first round of QOZ designations under the OBBB will take effect on January 1, 2027, with subsequent designation cycles every 10 years.

New Criteria and Rural Benefits

To be eligible for QOZ designation for 2027, a census tract must qualify as a low-income community (LIC). The OBBB makes the QOZ tax incentive permanent and adds tax benefits specific to investments made into QOZs that are comprised entirely of a rural area. According to Treasury and the IRS, there are 25,332 population census tracts qualifying as LICs eligible for nomination, of which 8,334 tracts are comprised entirely of a rural area.

Nomination Caps

The number of population census tracts in a State that may be designated as QOZs may not exceed 25 percent of the number of LICs in the State. If a State contains 25 to 99 LICs, then 25 eligible population census tracts may be designated. If a State contains fewer than 25 LICs, then all eligible population tracts within the State may be designated. The IRS release is IR-2026-45.

(Source tag: Internal Revenue Service Newsroom / Rev. Proc. 2026-14)

The Federal Trade Commission announced on July 1, 2026 that it is seeking public comment on a proposed policy statement addressing concerns that AI companies may be manipulating the behavior of their AI systems in ways that conflict with reasonable consumer expectations for objectivity and accuracy. The proposed statement describes how AI companies that distort their systems’ outputs to achieve undisclosed ideological objectives could be deceiving consumers in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits businesses from engaging in “unfair or deceptive” conduct. The public will have until July 31, 2026 to submit comments. The Commission vote authorizing the Federal Register notice was 2-0.

Chairman’s Statement

Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said: “The FTC wants to hear from businesses and consumers about their experiences and concerns regarding the subversion of AI systems for ideological ends. This crucial input will help the Commission formulate a final policy that advances President Donald Trump’s goal of expanding America’s global dominance in artificial intelligence.”

State Law Preemption Concerns

The proposed policy statement also addresses the legal implications of state laws that require alteration of the “truthful outputs of AI models.” The statement cites Colorado’s Artificial Intelligence Act as an example of a state law that appears to coerce companies into altering the output of their AI models to comply with and advance the state’s ideological objectives. The Commission stated that such state-law compulsion may itself run counter to consumers’ reasonable expectations about the effectiveness and suitability of AI systems for various tasks.

(Source tag: Federal Trade Commission Press Release)

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced on June 29, 2026 an order filing and settling charges against Netrios LP Ltd. and Red Acre Ltd. for facilitating illegal off-exchange leveraged or margined retail commodity transactions involving U.S. customers who were not eligible contract participants.

According to the Commission, Netrios sold a specialized service that provided essential functions used to offer and sell leveraged or margined retail commodities through offshore, off-exchange branded platforms that solicited U.S. customers without regard to whether those customers met eligible contract participant requirements. Red Acre intentionally helped Netrios by providing customer and other support. Netrios carried out activities that lawfully could only be performed on a CFTC-registered exchange, and Red Acre aided and abetted Netrios’s illegal activities.

Penalties and Relief

The order requires Netrios LP Ltd. to pay a $1.75 million civil monetary penalty and Red Acre Ltd. to pay a $750,000 civil monetary penalty. Both firms are ordered to cease and desist from the unlawful conduct.

(Source tag: CFTC Press Release No. 9263-26)

On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on a network working in coordination with the Rwandan-backed March 23 Movement (M23) to illegally smuggle minerals from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Rwanda. Treasury described the action as supporting the U.S.-brokered Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity, signed on December 4, 2025, and as reinforcing due diligence across critical-minerals supply chains.

Designated Persons and Legal Basis

Gasabo Gold Refinery LTD, a Kigali-based refinery, was designated pursuant to Executive Order 13413, as amended, for materially assisting M23 and for supporting armed groups engaged in activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the DRC through the illicit trade in natural resources. Jean Malic Kalima, Chairman of Gasabo Gold, and Bosco Kayobotsi, General Manager, were designated for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for, Gasabo Gold. Bugambira Mines LTD, Wolfram Mining and Processing LTD, and Rwinkwavu Mining Corporation LTD — all controlled by Kalima — were also designated. All property and interests in property of the designated persons within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked.

Treasury Statement

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said, “The United States will not allow rogue groups to profit from the illicit mineral trade and destabilize the region. The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s mineral wealth rightfully belongs to the Congolese people. Under President Trump’s leadership, we will continue to take decisive action against those who enable violence, exploitation, and attacks against the Congolese people.”

(Source tag: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Press Release SB-0543)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on June 29, 2026 that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a default final judgment on June 16, 2026 against NanoBit Limited, Radiant Horizons, Zhao Deli, Sweet Karma, Liu, and Zhao in SEC v. NanoBit Limited, et al., No. 2:24-cv-06517-SJB-ST.

According to the SEC, from at least September 2023 to at least June 2024, scheme participants posed as financial industry professionals in WhatsApp groups to build investors’ trust, then encouraged them to invest through the supposed NanoBit crypto asset trading platform. NanoBit allegedly falsely claimed that its affiliate, NanobitUS Securities, was a SEC-registered broker. No transactions actually took place on the NanoBit platform. Investors’ funds were diverted to scheme participants, who wired more than $2 million to bank accounts in Hong Kong and misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of investors’ crypto assets.

Monetary Relief and Injunctions

The default final judgment permanently enjoins all defendants from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Monetary relief includes: NanoBit Limited — disgorgement of $532,649, prejudgment interest of $81,957, and a civil penalty of $1,182,251; Radiant Horizons, Zhao Deli, and Sweet Karma — civil penalties of $1,182,251 each; Liu — disgorgement of $60,603, prejudgment interest of $9,485, and a civil penalty of $50,000; and Zhao — disgorgement of $4,500, prejudgment interest of $704, and a civil penalty of $50,000.

(Source tag: SEC Litigation Release No. 26576)