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Compliance
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August 14, 2024
FTC Finalizes Rule To Crack Down On Fake Online Reviews
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced it has finalized a rule to thwart marketers from using false reviews and testimonials, cementing the agency's authority to seek civil penalties from knowing violators for a host of misconduct including the use of AI-generated fake reviews.
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August 14, 2024
Philly Art School Hit With Students' Suit Over Abrupt Closure
Two former students at the University of the Arts claimed the school's sudden shutdown in June was without proper heads-up or guidance, according to a potential class action in Pennsylvania federal court.
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August 14, 2024
CFTC Hits Vitol With First-Of-Its-Kind Position Limits Fine
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued its first-ever fine Wednesday against a trader exceeding position limits by holding the same contract across multiple exchanges, penalizing Swiss energy and commodities company Vitol SA for its positions on cattle and crude oil futures.
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August 14, 2024
Nursing Co. Exec Can't Split Up Fraud, Wage-Fixing Charges
A Nevada federal magistrate judge has struck two blows against a home healthcare staffing executive facing criminal charges of fixing nurses' wages and hiding that probe when selling the business for $12.5 million, as the judge refused to break up the allegations and recommended against dismissing the fraud counts.
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August 14, 2024
Michigan's Airport PFAS Pollution Suit Escapes Foam MDL
A Michigan federal judge has agreed to disentangle state regulators' PFAS pollution claims against an airport from claims against manufacturers of the chemicals, a move that prevents the state's case from being absorbed into multidistrict litigation over firefighting foam.
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August 14, 2024
10th Circ. Wipes Out Fight Over Obama-Era Methane Rule
The Tenth Circuit has thrown out a lower court ruling partially invalidating an Obama-era rule limiting venting and flaring from oil and gas wells on federal land, saying a new rule crafted by the Biden administration moots the entire case.
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August 14, 2024
Mobile Carriers Worry Anti-Robotext Rules Could Go Too Far
Content-neutral text-blocking standards are not the way to go, a key wireless trade group has told the Federal Communications Commission, saying that stripping away the current industry standards in favor of nondiscriminatory ones would "open the floodgates to messages that consumers do not want."
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August 14, 2024
EU OKs Siemens' $3.8B Sale Of Innomotics To PE Firm KPS
European Union antitrust enforcers signed off Wednesday on German tech conglomerate Siemens AG's plan to sell its Innomotics large motors and drives unit to New York City-based private equity firm KPS Capital Partners, finding that the deal, with an enterprise value of €3.5 billion ($3.9 billion), poses "limited" overlap concerns.
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August 14, 2024
Army Analyst Cops To Selling Military Secrets To China
A U.S. Army soldier and intelligence analyst has pled guilty to charges that he sold classified American military secrets to China for $42,000.
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August 14, 2024
Judge Blocks Missouri's Anti-ESG Rules, Handing SIFMA Win
A Missouri federal judge found Wednesday that the state's anti-ESG rules for brokers and advisers violate the First Amendment and are preempted by federal laws, handing the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association an early win in its suit against state officials.
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August 14, 2024
Ex-Binance GC Joins Crypto Co. Bitget As Legal Chief
Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget on Wednesday announced it has hired a new chief legal officer who, among other roles, served as general counsel at Binance prior to its high-profile settlement with U.S. authorities last year.
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August 14, 2024
M&A Surge May Bring Opportunities For Cybercriminals
An increase in mergers and acquisitions is creating more openings for cybercriminals to exploit companies and their customers, highlighted by February's Change Healthcare breach and other major hacks, according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Resilience.
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August 14, 2024
The Biggest Enviro Decisions Of 2024: Midyear Report
2024 has already been one of the most consequential years for environmental law, and it's only half over. The U.S. Supreme Court issued groundbreaking administrative law decisions, while lower appeals courts resolved questions about California's right to promulgate its own vehicle emissions standards, among other rulings.
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August 14, 2024
Feds Nab US-Iran Citizen On Aircraft Parts Charges
A dual U.S.-Iranian citizen was charged in D.C. federal court with procuring American aircraft parts and attempting to send them to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.
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August 14, 2024
Rising Star: Latham's Joe Bargnesi
Joe Bargnesi of Latham & Watkins LLP advises dozens of private equity firms and represented Honeywell as it fought back on a bribery probe the U.S. Department of Justice launched against it, earning him a spot among the compliance law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 14, 2024
NY Judge Rejects Trump's 'Stale' Recusal Bid A 3rd Time
The New York judge who presided over Donald Trump's hush money trial denied the former president's third attempt to remove him from the case ahead of sentencing, ruling that the motion was "nothing more than an attempt to air grievances."
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August 13, 2024
Anesthesia Co. Says FTC Lacks Authority To Bring 'Rollup' Suit
U.S. Anesthesia Partners has told the Fifth Circuit the Federal Trade Commission lacks authority to bring its case directly in federal court without also filing an administrative case accusing the group of monopolizing the Texas anesthesiology market.
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August 13, 2024
Musk Can't Ax Fraud Suit Over Twitter Buy, Investors Say
A pension fund has fired back at Elon Musk's bid to dismiss the rest of its amended proposed securities fraud class action in New York federal court that alleges the X Corp. CEO covertly bought more than 5% of Twitter's stocks to save more than $143 million before announcing his intent to buy the social media platform.
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August 13, 2024
Judge Urged To Toss Novel Insider Trading Conviction
Former Ontrak CEO Terren Peizer has moved to rid himself of a first-of-its-kind insider trading conviction, arguing that the government's case "watered down" the standard it had to prove by failing to demonstrate that he believed Ontrak was about to lose its biggest customer at the time he shed $20 million in stock.
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August 13, 2024
TMX Affiliate Sues Pa. Regulator To Block Potential $52M Fine
A Texas and Georgia-based affiliate of consumer lending company TMX Finance has sued the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, challenging an order from the department that the company says seeks over $52 million in civil penalties over claims tied to loan agreements that allegedly carry interest rates as high as 720%.
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August 13, 2024
Chamber Defends Texas Home For CFPB Late-Fee Rule Suit
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade associations battling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late-fee rule told a Texas federal judge on Monday that the agency's latest bid to send the case to Washington, D.C., risks creating new rule challenge obstacles for local-level business groups and should be rejected.
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August 13, 2024
CFPB Says Predatory Lenders Targeting Muslim Homebuyers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday it found that an often predatory form of home financing, known as contracts for deed, has become increasingly prevalent in Muslim communities.
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August 13, 2024
Tesla Stock Buy Fraud Nets 33-Mo. Sentence For Calif. Man
A California man accused of bilking investors out of $4.7 million by falsely representing he'd use the money to buy Tesla stock before diverting it to his wholesale food distribution business was sentenced to 33 months in prison in California federal court Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
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August 13, 2024
Coinbase Says Scope Of Discovery Was Set By SEC Suit
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase told a New York federal judge that if its discovery requests for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are onerous for the regulator, the agency's own claims in the registration suit are to blame.
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August 13, 2024
Texas AG Targets General Motors Over Unlawful Data Sales
Texas' attorney general has escalated his probe into data privacy practices at connected car manufacturers, hitting General Motors with a lawsuit in state court Tuesday accusing the automaker of unlawfully gathering and selling drivers' private data — which would then be resold to insurance companies — without permission.
Expert Analysis
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What 4 Cyber Protection Actions Mean For Marine Transport
Several recent steps by the Biden administration are necessary to address the cyber threats that increasingly disrupt the maritime sector, but also impose new legal risks, liabilities and operating costs on the owners and operators of U.S.-flagged vessels and facilities, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules
The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Cyber Takeaways For Cos. From Verizon Data Breach Report
Camilo Artiga-Purcell at Kiteworks analyzes the key findings of the 2024 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report from a legal perspective, examining the implications for organizations' cybersecurity strategies and compliance efforts.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Expected Developments From Upcoming Basel Capital Rules
With U.S. federal banking regulators preparing to finalize the Basel IV regulatory framework as early as this fall, banks and private investment funds are expected to look to uncommitted facilities as one method to address key changes, including tighter capital requirements, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Lessons From Epic's Dutch Fine For Unfair Marketing To Kids
Dutch regulators' imposition of a €1.1 million fine on Epic Games for unfair commercial practices targeting children marks a significant moment in the ongoing scrutiny of digital market practices, and follows an increased focus on children's online safety in the U.S. and European Union, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.
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Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.
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Risks And Promises Of AI In The Financial Services Industry
Generative artificial intelligence has immense potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, but firms considering its use should first prepare to show their customers and the increasingly divided international regulatory community that they can manage the risks inherent to the new technology, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges
With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.