Insights | Meridian Research Group | Page 17

Tech / Media / Telecom

Tech Workforce/H-1B Visas

Late last week, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) imposing a new, incremental $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions. Two days later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – as directed by the EO – issued a proposed rulemaking to implement a weighted selection process that would generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher...

Healthcare, Macro

Fiscal Year 2026 Funding/Government Shutdown, ACA

At the urging of Republican leaders, President Trump cancelled a meeting this week with Democratic leaders to address the need to pass appropriations legislation to fund government operations past the 10/1 beginning of FY26. If appropriations legislation is not passed by 9/30, government operations (e.g., discretionary programs such as...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Baker Hughes/Chart Industries

The transaction’s initial 30-day HSR waiting period is scheduled to expire on October 3. The DOJ historically has had jurisdiction over energy products and services mergers and will likely review this deal as well.

Mergers & Acquisitions

MasterBrand/American Woodmark

The transaction’s initial 30-day HSR waiting period is scheduled to expire on October 6. We continue to expect MasterBrand/American Woodmark will receive a second request from the DOJ. New feedback from industry participants (who are not involved in the deal) suggests the deal eliminates one of two commodity-grade or “stock” cabinet manufacturers...

Open Banking/Dodd-Frank Sec. 1033

The CFPB has started a new process for issuing a rule that dictates how banks are required to share customer data with fintechs (open banking), which is required under Sec. 1033 of Dodd-Frank. The Biden CFPB issued an open banking rule last October and was sued by banking industry stakeholders. In May, the Trump CFPB indicated that it intended...

Deposit Insurance, Reciprocal/Custodial Deposits

Bipartisan consideration of raising the current $250k FDIC deposit insurance limit has intensified, as has policy surrounding reciprocal/custodial deposits. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) held a hearing on deposit insurance, while Sens. Hagerty (R-TN) and Alsobrooks (D-MD) introduced legislation that would increase the limit to $20m for...