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Compliance
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May 21, 2025
FCC's Carr Clashes With Dems Over Verizon DEI Deal
Congressional Democrats grilled the Federal Communications Commission's chief Wednesday about the legal basis for targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Verizon, days after the wireless giant agreed to drop DEI initiatives amid its takeover of Frontier Communications.
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May 21, 2025
NY Firm To Repay $1M, Avoids Fine Over Illiquid Investments
New York-based broker-dealer David Lerner Associates Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1 million in restitution to end the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's allegations that the firm's inadequate supervisory system failed to flag representatives' recommendation of illiquid limited partnerships to thousands of customers, in a settlement that includes no fine against the firm.
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May 21, 2025
Montana Reduces Taxes On Residential, Commercial Property
Montana will lower taxes on residential and commercial property, provide property tax rebates to homeowners and implement other changes to the state's property tax regime under legislation signed by the governor.
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May 21, 2025
Payday Lender's Ex-CEO Pleads Guilty In $66M Ponzi Scheme
The former CEO of a Miami payday loan company pled guilty Wednesday to operating a Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say fraudulently raised $66 million from more than 500 investors.
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May 21, 2025
'Rip And Replace' Likely Done In 1 Year, FCC Says
Telecom carriers will likely be finished with work across the country to remove risky foreign-made equipment from their networks in about a year, the head of the Federal Communications Commission told lawmakers Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Shell JV Escapes $58M Nigeria Oil Contract Payment Suit
A New York federal judge has said he lacks jurisdiction to hear a Nigerian contracting company's lawsuit seeking $58 million in fees from a Royal Dutch Shell joint venture over the construction of an oil and gas facility in the African nation.
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May 21, 2025
DOGE Seeks High Court's Help In Ducking FOIA Discovery
The Department of Government Efficiency asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to halt discovery into whether it's an agency subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, arguing a Washington, D.C., federal judge has improperly authorized a "fishing expedition" into the internal workings of a presidential advisory entity.
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May 21, 2025
Apple Lets Fortnite Back In App Store As Appeal Pends
Apple has allowed Epic Games to put its popular Fortnite video game back in the App Store, while the sides await a ruling on Apple's bid to pause an injunction mandating additional changes to its policies issued after the court found it had violated a previous order.
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May 21, 2025
SafeMoon CEO Convicted Of Looting Crypto Company
A Brooklyn federal jury on Wednesday quickly found the former CEO of SafeMoon guilty of conspiring to loot over $40 million from the cryptocurrency firm, making him the second former top leader of the once-hot company to be convicted while its founder remains a fugitive.
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May 21, 2025
Trump Can't Fire Privacy Board Democrats, DC Court Says
The Trump administration is not allowed to remove two Democrats from the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Congress' privacy watchdog over the executive branch's counterterrorism policies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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May 21, 2025
Device Maker Who Evaded Tax Gets 2 Years In Prison
A Florida man who sold millions of dollars worth of medical devices that federal prosecutors said were unproven to work was sentenced to two years in prison for evading taxes and ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
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May 21, 2025
Ex-Alvarez & Marsal CPA Sentenced To 20 Months In Tax Case
A former accountant at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal has been sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay the Internal Revenue Service over $2 million for willfully not reporting his income and falsifying the returns in his mortgage application, according to a D.C. federal court.
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May 21, 2025
CFTC Faces Leadership Void As 3rd Commissioner Plans Exit
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Kristin Johnson has become the third agency member to announce her upcoming departure within the space of a week, potentially leaving the market regulator with a single voting member as it awaits the appointment of a new chair.
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May 21, 2025
Texas Lawmakers OK More Time To Pay Property Tax Bills
Texas would give some property owners more time to pay their tax bills under legislation approved by state lawmakers and headed to Gov. Greg Abbott.
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May 21, 2025
Lighting Biz Will Pay $300K For Providing Chinese Goods
A Connecticut lighting company and its owner have reached a $300,000 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations it sold Chinese-made products to several government agencies in violation of the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act.
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May 21, 2025
LA Chargers Latest NFL Team To Add PE Minority Ownership
The Los Angeles Chargers have become the third NFL team to sell a minority ownership stake to a private equity firm since the league approved such investments in August, with NFL owners OK'ing the purchase of a Chargers stake by Arctos Partners LP.
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May 20, 2025
SEC Says Unicoin Made $100M Via 'Massive' Offering Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused Unicoin of promoting a "massive securities offering fraud" through which the cryptocurrency company raised more than $100 million from unknowing investors, according to a complaint filed in New York federal court.
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May 20, 2025
Ex-Emory Prof Says Palestine Support Led To 'Brazen' Ouster
A former professor at Emory University's medical school has sued the university, alleging that she was ousted in 2023 for her social media posts in support of Palestinians, claiming she was the victim of a smear campaign coordinated between the university and outside groups akin to "modern-day McCarthyism."
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May 20, 2025
Trump Admin Rationale For HHS Firings Challenged By Judge
A Rhode Island federal judge expressed skepticism Tuesday about the Trump administration's assertion that mass firings at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were lawful and intended to improve national health, saying during a preliminary injunction hearing that nothing in the record demonstrates "thoughtful work" behind these decisions.
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May 20, 2025
FWS' New 'Harm' Proposal Draws Praise, Concern For Species
Fossil fuel, construction and other industry groups say they support the Trump administration's plan to weaken regulatory protections under the Endangered Species Act, while blue state attorneys general and environmental groups urged the government to back off its proposal.
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May 20, 2025
Barclays Officials Beat Shareholder's Suit At NY High Court
New York's highest court on Tuesday rejected arguments that current and former officials of London-based Barclays PLC can be sued under New York law over a series of scandals that have rocked the bank, a decision that sparked rebuke from the court's chief judge.
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May 20, 2025
Judge Questions Bank's Role In Jail Debit Card Fee Dispute
A federal magistrate judge in Washington state signaled Tuesday she might advance a debit card fee class action against a Missouri bank to trial, suggesting there's still a factual dispute as to whether the prepaid cards were forced on people trying to regain access to their money after being released from correctional facilities.Â
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May 20, 2025
FDIC Nixes Biden-Era Merger Rules As House Passes OCC Bill
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday finalized the repeal of stricter bank merger guidelines adopted last year, pulling them back the same day as the U.S. House moved to nullify the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Biden-era merger policy rewrite.
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May 20, 2025
Split 5th Circ. Clears Ex-Texas Tech Dean In Free Speech Suit
A split Fifth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that the qualified immunity doctrine shields a former Texas Tech University business school dean from First Amendment claims brought by a professor who alleged he was retaliated against for his anti-tenure views, while a dissenting judge criticized the majority for their truncated qualified-immunity analysis.
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May 20, 2025
Mass. Atty Admits Stealing From Relatives With Special Needs
A Massachusetts attorney Monday pled guilty to embezzling more than $3 million from several companies for which he was working as a bookkeeper as well as from two family members with special needs and dementia, according to a plea agreement filed in Bay State federal court.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
SEC Shouldn't Complicate Broker-Dealers' AML Compliance
Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission anti-money laundering enforcement actions show that regulators should not second-guess broker-dealers' reasonable judgment, or stretch the law or their jurisdiction to regulate through enforcement, lest they expect broker-dealers to vigorously defend their AML programs, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Executive Orders Paving Way For New Era Of Crypto Banking
Recent executive orders have already significantly affected the day-to-day operations of financial institutions that have an interest in engaging with digital assets, and creating informed strategies now can support institutions as the crypto gates continue to open to the banking industry, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.
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PG&E Win Boosts Employers' Defamation Defense
A California appeals court's recent Hearn v. PG&E ruling, reversing a $2 million verdict against PG&E related to an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, provides employers with a stronger defense against defamation claims tied to termination, but also highlights the need for fairness and diligence in internal investigations and communications, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.
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How Calif. Algorithmic Pricing Bills Could Affect Consumers
California's legislative efforts to regulate algorithmic pricing may address antitrust and fairness concerns, but could stop retailers from providing consumer discounts, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.
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Justices' False Statement Ruling Curbs Half-Truth Liability
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Thompson v. U.S. decision clarified that a federal statute used to prosecute false statements made to bank regulators only criminalizes outright falsehoods, narrowing prosecutors’ reach and providing defense counsel a stronger basis to challenge indictments of merely misleading statements, says Tamara de Silva at De Silva Law Offices.
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Jurisdiction Argument In USAID Dissent Is Up For Debate
A dissent refuting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order directing the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid argued that claims relating to already-completed government contract work belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – answering an important question, but with a debatable conclusion, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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How Importers Can Minimize FCA Risks Of Tariff Mitigation
False Claims Act risks are inherent in many tariff mitigation strategies, making it important for importers to implement best practices to identify and report potential violations of import regulations before they escalate, says Samuel Finkelstein at LMD Trade Law.
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Explaining ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ's Legal Duties Under The Dodd-Frank Act
While only Congress can actually eradicate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Trump administration has sought to significantly alter the agency's operations, so it's an apt time to review the minimum baseline of activities that Congress requires of the ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ in Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
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State Securities Enforcers May Fill A Federal Enforcement Gap
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears poised to take a lighter touch under the new administration, but state enforcement efforts are likely to continue unabated, and potentially even increase, particularly with regard to digital assets and ESG disclosures, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist
Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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10 Practical Takeaways From FDA's Biopharma AI Guidance
Recent guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides much-needed insight on the usage of artificial intelligence in producing information to support regulatory decision-making regarding drug safety, with implications ranging from life cycle maintenance to AI tool acquisition, say attorneys at Covington.
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Making The Opportunity Zones Program Great At Last
As the opportunity zone program approaches its expiration, the Republican-led government could take specific steps to extend and improve the program, address its structural flaws, encourage broader participation and enable it to live up to its promised outcomes, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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What Rodney Hood's OCC Stint Could Mean For Banking
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood's time at the helm of the OCC, while temporary, is likely to feature clarity for financial institutions navigating regulations, the development of fintech innovation, and clearer expectations for counsel advising on related matters, say attorneys at Vedder Price.
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Opinion
We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment
As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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4 Actions For Cos. As SEC Rebrands Cyber Enforcement Units
As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signals its changing enforcement priorities by retooling a Biden-era crypto-asset and cybersecurity enforcement unit into a task force against artificial-intelligence-powered hacks and online investing fraud, financial institutions and technology companies should adapt by considering four key points, say attorneys at Troutman.