Expert Analysis

• New Calif. Law Ties Finance Contracts To State Licensing

  

  Under a California law taking effect in 2028, commercial financing licensing requirements have been substantially expanded — meaning that fintechs relying on limited regulatory enforcement will face risk from their own borrowers, who could use licensing failures to resist repayment, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

• How Viral Accusations Can Test Employers' Discipline Policies

  

  The employment fallout that appears to have followed a former Cornell University student's sexual assault lawsuit against seven fraternity members underscores that although employers often have freedom to fire employees over accusations, they must still make a defensible decision, says Michael Elkins at MLE Law.

• How FCC Robocall Rules Reshape TCPA Opt-Out Compliance

  

  The Federal Communications Commission's recent changes to its Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules may simplify how businesses process consumer opt outs for robocalls and robotexts, but they also introduce nuances to the opt-out process that may be challenging to operationalize, say attorneys at Hunton.

• How NRC's New Rules Alter Foreign-Financed Reactor Deals

  

  New Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules for reactor licensing open U.S. nuclear projects to foreign capital, presenting new considerations for structuring governance, diligence and approvals to secure and maintain eligibility, says J. Brin Gibson at Spencer Fane.

• Managing Employer Risk Under Calif.'s No Robo Bosses Law

  

  California's No Robo Bosses Act marks the state's first statutory limit on using artificial intelligence in employee discipline and termination decisions, creating exposure for employers through its corroboration and notice requirements, burden-shifting framework, and potential reach under the Private Attorneys General Act, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• IRS Rule May Put Private Schools' Exempt Status At Risk

  

  In light of recently proposed Treasury regulations that would narrow the options for diversifying student communities, private schools should reexamine how race enters their admissions, financial aid and student programs or risk losing tax-exempt status, say attorneys at Atkinson Andelson.

• AG Watch: Minnesota Takes Action To Secure Child Safety

  

  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has built one of the most aggressive and structurally coherent child protection enforcement programs in the country, targeting consumer-facing sectors that his office has concluded prey on minors, such as tobacco and nicotine, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Southern Glazer's Deal Tests FTC's Robinson-Patman Push

  

  A California federal court's recent decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer's secures a rare Robinson-Patman Act pricing limitations agreement, but conditions attached to the decision indicate that practitioners may only see a handful of new private RPA cases a year, says Steven Cernak at Bona Law.

• Opinion

  The SEC Crypto Proposal Rests On A Term No One Can Define

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently proposed Regulation Crypto Assets is its most ambitious attempt to set rules for the crypto industry, but its repeated use of the phrase "essential managerial efforts" means it perpetuates the uncertainty the regime is meant to cure, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

• Navigating Dueling Regulations For Bank Investment Advisers

  

  Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission examination findings show that investment advisory activities remain an active area of regulatory focus, and reinforce the need for banks to assess intersecting compliance obligations, say attorneys at Fredrikson.

• Series

  Being In The Peace Corps Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  When I served in the Peace Corps, the people of the West African village where I was stationed helped me acclimate to my new surroundings and enabled me to develop problem-solving, teamwork and empathy skills that have bolstered my legal practice far beyond the ability to offer technical advice, says Brian Bewley at McGuireWoods.

• Opening Up Fraud Talks With Customers After SAR Guidance

  

  Federal financial regulators’ recent statement that the Bank Secrecy Act permits financial institutions to discuss potential fraud with customers, provided they don’t reveal the existence of any suspicious activity reports, means banks that have been tighter-lipped than regulations require can consider passing additional useful information on to customers, say attorneys at MoFo.

• Measuring Shareholder Harm In Death Spiral Convertibles

  

  As convertible structures have recently regained prominence, it's important to revisit the so-called floating-price death spiral convertible and how to quantify the losses for shareholders when disputes arise, says Pavithra Kumar at Conexig.

• EPA Rollback Puts Power Plant GHG Rules In Flux

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent actions on power plant greenhouse gas emissions create immediate implications for power plant operators and long-term regulatory uncertainty, while raising questions about the relationship between federal and state approaches to climate-related litigation, say attorneys at Van Ness Feldman.

• Unpacking FDIC's Modernized Bank Merger Review Rules

  

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s proposed revisions to its Bank Merger Act review process are a shift from its more skeptical prior posture toward a more structured and transaction-facilitative approach, though some broader uncertainty remains concerning antitrust alignment with the U.S. Department of Justice, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.