Banking

TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2024

TOP NEWS

FDIC's Gruenberg To Resign In Workplace Report Aftermath

By Jon Hill

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg committed Monday to resigning from his post amid continuing fallout from his agency's toxic workplace scandal, bending to mounting pressure for his exit.

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Davis Polk, Wachtell Guide $2B SouthState Banking Deal

By Al Barbarino

Florida-based SouthState Corp. said Monday it has agreed to purchase Texas-based Independent Bank Group Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $2 billion, with Davis Polk and Wachtell steering the regional lenders on the deal.

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Archegos Lied To Banks To Obtain Credit Lines, Jury Told

By Elliot Weld

The former director of risk management at the fallen private capital fund Archegos told a Manhattan federal jury Monday that he lied to banks about the fund's portfolio to induce them to extend lines of credit at the direction of his former boss, Archegos Chief Financial Officer Patrick Halligan.

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6th Circ. Won't Revive Challenge To $39B Student Debt Relief

By Lauren Berg

A pair of libertarian think tanks cannot revive their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's plan to wipe out $39 billion in student loan debt, the Sixth Circuit ruled Friday, saying the groups haven't shown the government's plan puts them at a disadvantage to recruit indebted lawyers and other employees.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Colo. Gov. Voices 'Reservations' In Signing AI Bias Bill

By Allison Grande

Colorado's governor has approved the nation's first framework to clamp down on algorithmic discrimination in certain artificial intelligence technologies, although he expressed several "reservations" about the measure that he urged the Legislature to address before the law takes effect in 2026.

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Transparency Act Violates Constitution, Groups Tell 11th Circ.

By Natalie Olivo

The Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements violate the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination and other constitutional provisions, libertarian think tank Cato Institute and others said Monday in urging the Eleventh Circuit to uphold an Alabama district court's ruling against the law.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

CFPB Fines Debt Relief Co. $400K For Charging Illegal Fees

By Katryna Perera

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday ordered Western Benefits Group to pay a $400,000 civil money penalty and permanently cease operations after finding that the company charged illegal advanced fees for student loan debt relief services and falsely told consumers the advanced fees would be applied toward paying down their debt.

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Venezuelan Facing 2 Years In Prison For Laundering Scheme

By David Minsky

An ex-Venezuelan National Guard major is facing up to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a count of money laundering conspiracy involving the bribing of foreign officials to help cover up a $1.7 million fake import scheme and then moving the fraud proceeds through U.S. banks.

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LITIGATION

TD Ameritrade Must Face Most Claims In Fraud Abetting Suit

By Sydney Price

A Florida federal judge has sustained most of a receiver's lawsuit against TD Ameritrade alleging the broker-dealer was responsible for furthering an alleged $9.8 million commodity pool fraud scheme.

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TD Bank Ex-Employees Ordered To Back Off Client Contacts

By Sydney Price

TD Bank NA and its subsidiary TD Private Client Wealth LLC scored a temporary restraining order in Connecticut federal court in a suit accusing two former employees of breaking nonsolicitation agreements and enticing $25 million in client assets to move with them to Raymond James Financial Services Inc.

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Ex-BlackRock VP Says He Was Fired After Whistleblowing

By Sarah Jarvis

BlackRock Inc. has been sued in New York state court by a former vice president and purported whistleblower who alleged he faced retaliation and wrongful termination after raising concerns about self-dealing, corruption and conflicts of interest at the asset management firm.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Leslie A. Pappas

Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

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Brief

TD Bank Customers' $32.2M Overdraft Fee Deal Gets Initial OK

By Katryna Perera

A New Jersey federal judge has given the first green light to a nearly $22 million settlement, plus more than $10 million in overdraft forgiveness, in a suit alleging TD Bank charged improper overdraft fees in debit card transactions.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Tiny Tweaks To Bank Merger Forms May Have Big Impact

The impact of proposed changes to the Federal Reserve Board's and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s bank merger review forms would be significant, resulting in hundreds of additional burden hours for bank merger applicants and signaling a further shift by the prudential bank regulators toward more rigorous scrutiny of mergers, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

By Sam Bell and Pamela Wilkinson

The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the latter half of the coming year.

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Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

By Emma Cueto

The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

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Senate Backs Federal Prosecutor For Ariz. District Judgeship

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 66-26 on Tuesday to confirm Assistant U.S. Attorney Krissa M. Lanham to the District of Arizona.

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$93M Lipitor Antitrust Deal Sparks Dispute Over Fee Division

By Carla Baranauckas

Attorneys representing a class of buyers in antitrust litigation against Pfizer over the cholesterol medication Lipitor are squabbling over how to divide up to $31 million in attorney fees before a New Jersey federal judge even approves the total, according to court documents.

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Barrier-Breaking Conn. Chief Justice To Retire In September

By Aaron Keller

Saying it's "time for a change" after a career in government service, Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson, the first Black chief justice in state history, announced he will retire from the bench effective Sept. 6, according to statements from the Connecticut Judicial Branch and Gov. Ned Lamont.