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Compliance
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October 10, 2024
Oregon Gas Customers Sue Over 'Greenwashing' Program
Northwest Natural Gas Co. has been accused by customers of engaging in "greenwashing" by advertising its Smart Energy program as a way for them to offset their natural gas emissions, while directing the program's funds to methane-generating industrial dairy farms.
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October 10, 2024
Homebuyers Tell 8th Circ. Broker Deal Gives Them Nothing
Homebuyers are urging the Eighth Circuit to undo the approval of $208.5 million in settlements struck by real estate brokerages in the sprawling litigation over industry rules covering broker fees, saying the deals only provide money for sellers.
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October 10, 2024
Ga. Legislators Urge EPA To Better Regulate BioLab Chems
Six high-ranking Georgia legislators called on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan to enhance federal oversight of facilities like the BioLab Inc. factory that caught fire and spewed chemical fumes across the metro Atlanta area in late September.
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October 10, 2024
Hurricane Delays Key Deadlines In NASCAR Antitrust Suit
A North Carolina federal judge is delaying a key hearing in the ongoing monopoly suit between Michael Jordan's racing team and NASCAR, granting the motorsports league's request for more time as its employees deal with the impact of Hurricane Milton.
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October 10, 2024
SEC Urges 1st Circ. To Uphold $93M Win Over Financial Firm
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urged the First Circuit on Thursday to affirm its $93 million win against Commonwealth Financial Network for allegedly failing to disclose that it profited from clients using higher-fee funds when similar, lower-cost versions were available.
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October 10, 2024
Ill. Judge Sends SEC's Cherry-Picking Trading Claims To Trial
An Illinois federal judge has refused to hand an investment adviser and his employer a pretrial win over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's accusations of illegal cherry-picking, saying a jury must determine whether he engaged in the unlawful trading strategy.
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October 10, 2024
8th Circ. Won't Block EPA Power Plant Effluent Rule
The Eighth Circuit rejected on Thursday efforts by nearly two dozen states, utility companies and trade groups to block the implementation of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule setting new wastewater limitations for coal-fired power plants.
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October 10, 2024
Shield Satellite Radio From Interference, FCC Told
Sirius XM told the Federal Communications Commission that continued attempts to open the 6 gigahertz band for low-power wireless devices could pose a threat to the satellite radio service's signals if strong protections are not put in place.
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October 10, 2024
SEC Says Adviser's $4M Scheme Included 'AI-Washing'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday fined a California-based investment adviser that it said raised nearly $4 million through a series of false promises, including deceptive statements about artificial intelligence capabilities.
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October 10, 2024
Georgia Judge Rejects Extension Of Voter Registration Again
A Georgia federal judge has shut the door on a last-ditch bid to extend Georgia's voter registration deadline thanks to disruptions from Hurricane Helene, saying Thursday that the civil rights groups pushing for the change couldn't show their members or voters had faced significant disenfranchisement.
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October 10, 2024
Housing Nonprofit Hits NY Town With Disability Bias Suit
A housing nonprofit has claimed in New York federal court that local officials stopped the construction of an affordable housing project in the Hamptons because a lot of the units would go to people with mental health disabilities and military veterans, who would receive supportive services.
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October 10, 2024
Suits Over JPMorgan Cash Sweeps Program Merged In NY
A New York federal judge has combined two proposed class actions accusing JPMorgan Chase of underpaying interest on customers' cash sweep accounts, a claim multiple banking giants are currently facing in consumer and regulatory actions.
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October 10, 2024
Teva To Pay $450M To Settle Kickback Cases
Pharmaceutical giant Teva will pay $450 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by fixing the prices of several generic drugs and by raising the price of a multiple sclerosis treatment while covering Medicare recipients' copays, civil prosecutors said Thursday.
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October 10, 2024
Ripple Labs Files Cross-Appeal Of Judgment In SEC Suit
Blockchain firm Ripple Labs on Thursday notified a New York federal judge of its intention to cross-appeal the judgment in its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement case after the regulator kicked the decision to the Second Circuit last week.
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October 10, 2024
Sen. Warren, Novo At Odds On Merits Of $16.5B Deal
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday raised the alarm on Novo Holdings' planned $16.5 billion purchase of Catalent, arguing the transaction could give Novo "unprecedented" control over the production of certain obesity drugs by Eli Lilly and other top competitors, but Novo insists the deal would give it no such edge.
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October 10, 2024
Calif. Says FDIC Must Wait For $21M Tax Refund
A California tax agency urged a New York federal court to toss a lawsuit by the FDIC seeking a $20.7 million tax refund on behalf of the shuttered Signature Bank, saying it's entitled to wait for a possible IRS audit before delivering the payment.
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October 10, 2024
TD Bank To Pay $3.1B, Face Asset Cap Over AML Failures
TD Bank will pay about $3.1 billion to U.S. authorities and face growth restrictions on its U.S. operations as part of criminal and civil settlements announced Thursday over serious alleged anti-money laundering violations at the Canadian bank.
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October 09, 2024
Top Bank Lobbyist Touts Basel Endgame, CFPB Court Wins
The head of the nation's largest banking industry trade group took a victory lap on Wednesday for beating back steep proposed bank capital hikes and halting other recent Biden administration banking regulations in court, pledging to continue its muscular advocacy for banks as the election nears.
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October 09, 2024
Co-Ops Say FCC Should Use Meter Data For Broadband Maps
The Federal Communications Commission ought to take advantage of the power meter data that electric cooperatives have access to when trying to find wrinkles or gaps in the agency's broadband maps, a group representing rural electric co-ops says.
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October 09, 2024
Team Of 3 Firms Seeks To Lead UBS Cash Sweep Case
Two UBS customers suing the investment bank on allegations of shortchanging them with low-yielding cash sweep accounts moved Tuesday to consolidate their proposed class actions in New York federal court and install three firms at the helm.
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October 09, 2024
5th Circ. Denies Extension For CFPB In Exam Policy Case
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday denied the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unopposed request for a short deadline extension in its appeal over an examination policy that industry groups successfully sued to block last year, prompting the agency to ask for more time again.
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October 09, 2024
Repeat Whistleblowing Led To Firing, Ex-Sikorsky Worker Alleges
A Connecticut man who describes himself as a "well-known" whistleblower at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. says he was illegally terminated for reporting alleged wage and hour and environmental violations to government authorities, claiming the helicopter manufacturer fired him using bogus allegations he broke into an office he was given clearance to access.
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October 09, 2024
Feds Target Crypto Manipulation, Wash Trades In Novel Action
Massachusetts federal prosecutors announced charges against 18 individuals and cryptocurrency firms on Wednesday in a first-of-its-kind set of actions targeting alleged manipulation of digital asset markets through wash trading and other tactics.
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October 09, 2024
Google, Microsoft Want Docs Kept From Apple In DOJ Case
Google and Microsoft were among a group of major corporations jumping in Tuesday to push for greater New York federal court safeguards of their sensitive business information as it's used in the Justice Department case accusing Apple of anticompetitively restricting app access to lock users into the iPhone.
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October 09, 2024
Lamps Plus Pays $4M To Settle Calif. DAs' False Pricing Suit
Home goods chain Lamps Plus Inc. will pay a group of Southern California district attorney's offices $4.1 million to settle civil allegations that the retailer misled consumers with false pricing information, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.
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Illinois May Be Gearing Up To Ban E-Verify
Recently passed amendments to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act appear to effectively ban the use of E-Verify in the state, but ambiguity means employers will have to weigh the risks of continued use while also taking note of other work authorization requirements imposed by the updates, say Julie Ratliff and Elizabeth Wellhausen at Taft.
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Breaking Down CFTC's Novel Theory Driving Uniswap Action
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement action against Uniswap concerning digital asset liquidity appears to be a unilateral attempt to expand its regulatory authority in the absence of official congressional approval, putting forth a novel theory of liability that will likely be tested through litigation, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Mental Health Parity Rules: Tips For Plans And Issuers
Following federal agencies' release of final mental health parity rules, plan sponsors and health insurance issuers should develop protocols for preparing compliant nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.
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A Look At 5 States' New Data Privacy Laws
With new data privacy laws in Utah, Florida, Texas, Oregon and Montana recently in effect or coming into force this year, state-level enforcement of data privacy creates significant challenges and risks for how businesses interact with employees and consumers, and for companies that provide and use technologies in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Politics In California Workplaces: What Employers Must Know
As the election looms, it is critical that California employers ensure their compliance with state laws providing robust protections for employees' political activity — including antidiscrimination laws, off-duty conduct laws, employee voting leave laws and more, say Bradford Kelley and Britney Torres at Littler.
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Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'
The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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Series
Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In the third quarter of the year, California continued to be at the forefront of banking regulation as it enacted legislation on unfair banking practices and junk fees, and the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation notably initiated enforcement actions focused on crypto-assets and student loan debt relief, say Stuart Richter and Eric Hail at Katten.
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John Deere Penalty Shows Importance Of M&A Due Diligence
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $10 million penalty against John Deere underscores the risks of not conducting robust preacquisition due diligence and not effectively integrating a new subsidiary into the existing compliance framework, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Opinion
FTC's Report Criticizing Drug Middlemen Is Flawed
The Federal Trade Commission's July report, which claims that pharmacy benefit managers are inflating drug costs, does not offer a credible analysis of PBMs, and its methodology lacks rigor, says Jay Ezrielev at Elevecon.