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Fintech
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September 20, 2024
NFT Buyers Bring Securities Suit Against Crypto Co. OpenSea
Two Florida users of OpenSea hit the nonfungible token marketplace with a proposed securities class action claiming the assets the users bought on the platform are unregistered investment contracts in light of recent court decisions and regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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September 20, 2024
2 SEC Commissioners Object To Whistleblower Award Secrecy
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioners Mark Uyeda and Hester Peirce have objected to the agency's recent decision to hand out a total of $122 million in two awards to four whistleblowers and issued a statement taking issue with the regulator's policy of saying little to nothing about why the rewards are issued.
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September 20, 2024
Silvergate Wants Activist Investor's Board Seat Play Blocked
The parent company of Silvergate Bank, a defunct bank that catered to the cryptocurrency industry, has asked the judge in its Delaware bankruptcy case to help head off what it described as an activist investor's effort to score a seat on the debtor's board so he can try to secure a payout for shareholders who are set to receive nothing under a Chapter 11 plan.
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September 20, 2024
Chevron's Demise May Not Bring Deluge Courts Had Feared
Though the death of Chevron deference has opened a door to attacking administrative decisions, the expected uptick in litigation probably won't threaten to clog federal courts, numerous administrative law experts told Law360.
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September 19, 2024
Dems Seek School Lunch 'Junk Fee' Ban After CFPB Report
A group of Democratic senators has called on the Biden administration to crack down on payment processing fees in school lunch programs, citing a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report that raised concerns about the charges parents pay to fund their kids' online lunch money accounts.
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September 19, 2024
CFTC Warns Of 'Profound' Harm In Election Betting Appeal
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission fought Thursday to prevent an online trading platform from offering betting on election outcomes while the agency appeals a trial court ruling that allowed the futures contracts to go live, warning the D.C. Circuit that the "high-stakes" event contracts threaten serious harm to election integrity.
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September 19, 2024
Texas Judge Tosses Crypto Co.'s SEC Challenge As 'Unripe'
A Texas federal judge found Thursday that blockchain firm Consensys can't sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a determination that its MetaMask software doesn't offend securities laws because the agency's threat of enforcement and subsequent suit aren't final actions the court can review.
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September 19, 2024
Bank Raises Contract Shield In E-Merchants' $12M Suit
Bank Pathward Financial Inc. asked a federal judge Thursday to nix claims against it in a lawsuit brought by two online merchants who alleged that the bank and its partner payment company misrepresented fees and their compliance with card network rules, saying the merchants' claims stem from a contract that clears Pathward of liability.
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September 19, 2024
Scammers Bilked At Least $230M In Bitcoin, Feds Say
Two people were arrested and charged with conspiring to steal and launder at least $230 million in bitcoin, allegedly using online monikers like "Anne Hathaway" and "VersaceGod," federal prosecutors said Thursday.
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September 19, 2024
Crypto Exchange Must Refund Bitcoins, But In 2013 Dollars
A New York judge held Thursday that bygone cryptocurrency exchange Bitfloor improperly failed to return more than 200 of its customers' bitcoins upon shutting down in 2013, but said damages will be limited to the dollar value of the digital assets over a decade ago.
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September 19, 2024
Terraform Gets OK For Ch. 11 Liquidation Plan
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday confirmed the Chapter 11 liquidation plan from cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs after overruling objections from several individual cryptocurrency investors.
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September 19, 2024
Feds Oppose Overturning Guilty Verdict For Crypto Trader
Federal prosecutors told a New York federal judge that the crypto trader convicted of fraudulently draining more than $100 million from platform Mango Markets is wrongly attempting to recast factual issues as legal questions in his bid for acquittal.
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September 18, 2024
CFPB Says Fintech's Funding Challenge 'Misconstrues' Law
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a California federal judge that its lawsuit accusing fintech lender SoLo Funds Inc. of falsely touting interest-free loans on its platforms should proceed despite SoLo's claims that the agency is operating with an illegal funding scheme, among other things.
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September 18, 2024
SEC Says Unregistered DeFi Project Pooled $1B In Crypto
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced settlements with the business and co-founders behind decentralized finance, or DeFi, project Rari Capital Inc. on Wednesday after the regulator accused the project of misleading investors and acting as an unregistered broker.
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September 18, 2024
Colo. Urges 10th Circ. To Restore Interest Rate Opt-Out Law
Colorado has urged the Tenth Circuit to accept its "straightforward interpretation" of an interest rate opt-out law, arguing federal lawmakers would have used other language if they didn't want the state to place more restrictive caps on loans made by banks located outside the state.
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September 18, 2024
SEC Must Clarify Murky Crypto Rules, Ex-Officials Tell House
Two former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials who now represent crypto businesses told House lawmakers Wednesday that the agency's insistence on analyzing the economic realities of every crypto transaction in lieu of clear rulemaking has put the sector and its attorneys in unworkable situations.
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September 18, 2024
FTX Auditor Prager Metis Settles SEC Charges For Negligence
The former auditor of Sam Bankman-Fried's defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX agreed Tuesday to pay $1.95 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of misconduct in FTX audits and, in a separate case, violations of auditor independence rules.
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September 18, 2024
SEC Files Its 1st Suits Over 'Pig Butchering' Crypto Scams
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed two first-of-their-kind suits against a series of entities and individuals behind a pair of so-called pig butchering schemes that allegedly solicited investments in fake crypto platforms by gaining people's trust over social media only to scam them out of nearly $3 million.
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September 18, 2024
Fed's Powell Sees Final Basel Rule Less Than 1 Year Away
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that a revamped version of the Basel III endgame capital rules for big banks could be finalized before next summer, adding that the federal banking agencies will be "moving together" as the controversial rulemaking project enters its next phase.
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September 18, 2024
Tax Chiefs Eye Crypto Payment Cos., OTC Traders, IRS Says
Tax investigators in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and the Netherlands are preparing guidance on red flags for cryptocurrency payment providers and over-the-counter trading desks following a joint operation this week, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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September 18, 2024
SEC's Equity Trading Reforms Allow Half-Penny Stock Pricing
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to allow exchanges to quote stock prices in half-penny increments, part of a wider overhaul purportedly aimed at improving transparency and lowering trading costs.
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September 18, 2024
Federal Judge Won't Abstain From Pot Payment Co. Dispute
A Nevada federal judge has declined to abstain from a dispute between a pair of investment firms over the collapse of their joint venture, saying while one company is a subsidiary of a cannabis payment processing company, the dispute can be resolved without dipping into the murky waters of cannabis's federal illegality.
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September 18, 2024
Silvergate Bank Parent Co. Files Ch. 11, Plans Liquidation
The parent company of shuttered cryptocurrency-focused bank Silvergate filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on Tuesday with plans to wind down and liquidate its remaining assets.
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September 17, 2024
CFPB Warns Banks On ATM Overdraft Fees Without Consent
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday warned banks that charging customers debit card overdraft fees without their consent violates the law, the latest escalation in the regulator's crackdown on so-called junk fees.
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September 17, 2024
FDIC Proposes Rule On Bank-Fintech Partnership Risks
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s rulemaking board on Tuesday proposed new recordkeeping rules aimed at both shoring up consumer protections as more fintech firms enter the banking space, and preventing a repeat of account freezes that have occurred after fintech service provider Synapse entered into bankruptcy earlier this year.
Expert Analysis
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RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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CrowdStrike Incident Highlights Third-Party Risk For Banks
The global business disruptions caused by CrowdStrike's faulty software update last month serves as a reminder that banks should assess operational and compliance risks associated with third-party service providers and create resiliency plans extending down to fourth- and fifth-level providers, says Craig Landrum at Jones Walker.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Crypto Regs Could See A Reset Under The Next President
Donald Trump has taken a permissive policy stance favoring crypto, while Kamala Harris has been silent on the issue, but no matter who wins the presidential election, we may see a more lenient regulatory climate toward the digital currency than from the Biden administration, says Liam Murphy at McKool Smith.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Key Concerns To Confront In FDIC Brokered Deposit Proposal
Banks and fintech companies should note several fundamental issues with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to widen how it classifies brokered deposits, an attempt to limit prudential risk that could expose the industry and underbanked consumers who rely on bank-fintech apps to widespread unintended consequences, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Crypto Gatekeepers May Be The Next Front Of Enforcement
Lawyers and other professionals who advise cryptocurrency companies should beware regulators' increasing focus on gatekeeper accountability, and should take several measures to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations, including implementing a robust vetting mechanism when representing crypto clients, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Xinchen Li at Selendy Gay.
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Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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What To Expect From CFPB And DOT Card Rewards Inquiry
Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement of joint efforts with the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate credit card rewards points, credit card issuers and airlines should keep a close eye on potential regulatory and class action litigation risks stemming from the inquiry, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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3 Ways To Limit Risks Of Black-Box AI In Financial Services
As regulators increasingly highlight the potential for artificial intelligence to make unfair consumer credit decisions, and require financial institutions to explain how these so-called black-box algorithms arrive at conclusions, companies should consider three key questions to reduce their regulatory risks from these tools, say Jeffrey Naimon and Caroline Stapleton at Orrick.
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Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Opinion
It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Takeaways From Virginia's $2B Trade Secrets Verdict Reversal
The Virginia Court of Appeals' recent reversal of the $2 billion damages award in Pegasystems v. Appian underscores the claimant's burden to show damages causation and highlights how an evidentiary ruling could lead to reversible error, say John Lanham and Kamran Jamil at Morrison Foerster.