Banking

  • September 19, 2024

    Wells Fargo Judge Says NDA Isn't A 'Gag' In Loan Bias Case

    A California federal judge on Thursday challenged Wells Fargo's arguments seeking to prevent a former underwriter from testifying as an expert in a proposed class action claiming the bank discriminated against non-white borrowers, saying a confidentiality agreement the ex-employee purportedly signed couldn't be used as a "gag" to silence him.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • September 19, 2024

    CFPB's Chopra Sounds Alarm On Home Insurance 'Crisis'

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra called Thursday for concerted policy action to tame spiking homeowners insurance costs and said he's looking into streamlining rules on mortgage refinancing to help consumers take advantage of the Federal Reserve's shift into rate-cutting mode.

  • September 19, 2024

    Mich. Atty Gets 1 Year For Inflating Apartment Values

    A Michigan attorney and real estate executive was sentenced Thursday to one year and a day in prison for inflating how profitable his company's apartments were, allowing him to sell them for more than $500 million. 

  • September 19, 2024

    Potomac Law Group Adds Morgan Lewis Partner

    A former Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP real estate attorney has joined Potomac Law Group, framing the move as a strategic shift out of BigLaw amid a "sluggish" transactional environment.

  • September 19, 2024

    Convicted Drexel Professor Won't Get New Tax Evasion Trial

    A Drexel University accounting professor was denied a new trial after being convicted on tax evasion charges for failing to report $3.3 million in income from a Trenton pharmacy, a New Jersey federal judge has ruled, reasoning that the professor's case was not prejudiced by keeping accounting records related to his tax returns from the jury.

  • September 19, 2024

    'Biblical Values' Firm To Pay $300K For Misleading Investors

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday order Idaho-based investment adviser Inspire Investing LLC to pay a $300,000 fine on allegations it made misleading statements and failed to institute compliance measures related to the firm's execution of its "biblically responsible investing" strategy.

  • September 19, 2024

    Calif. Says FDIC's $20M Tax Refund Bid Must Wait

    A California tax collection agency asked a New York federal court to throw out Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. claims seeking a more than $20 million tax refund on behalf of the shuttered Signature Bank, saying the agency is entitled to wait for a potential IRS audit to end. 

  • September 19, 2024

    Puerto Rico, Navient Ink $7.7M Student Loan Forgiveness Deal

    Navient Corp. has reached an agreement with Puerto Rico's attorney general to forgive at least $7.7 million in private student loans after being accused of past predatory lending to student borrowers and pervasive loan servicing failures.

  • September 19, 2024

    Macquarie Unit To Pay $80M To End SEC's Overvaluation Claims

    A subsidiary of Australian financial services company Macquarie Group Ltd. agreed Thursday to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $80 million to settle charges it overvalued largely illiquid mortgage-backed securities and carried out cross-trades that favored certain clients over others.

  • September 19, 2024

    Halted DOL Fiduciary Regs Could Open Lane For SEC Action

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission might need to help clear up confusion about fiduciary investment advice standards in the wake of two Texas judges halting new retirement security regulations from the Labor Department, members of an SEC investor advisory committee said Thursday.

  • September 19, 2024

    No Coverage For Santander Shareholder Suit, Allianz Says

    Allianz told a Massachusetts federal court that it doesn't owe coverage to Santander Holdings for an underlying class action brought by shareholders over the company's $2.5 billion deal to take its consumer finance entity private, arguing that multiple exclusions bar coverage for claims arising from the transaction.

  • September 19, 2024

    11th Circ. Asked To Revisit Coverage Ruling Over Comma

    Food company owner ECB USA Inc. is asking the Eleventh Circuit to reconsider a decision clearing a Chubb insurance unit from covering a $4.2 million settlement agreement over the lack of a comma in a professional services policy, arguing the ruling misapplied New Jersey law.

  • 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.

  • September 18, 2024

    DuPont Heirs Beat ERISA Suit Over 1947 Trust At 3rd Circ.

    The Third Circuit reversed a decision Wednesday and found DuPont heirs aren't liable for Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations in a dispute over who's to blame for underfunding a now-insolvent trust that was created by their grandmother in 1947 and paid the heirs and their workers retirement benefits.

  • September 18, 2024

    PureCycle Investors Seek Final OK Of $12M Settlement

    Investors in plastic recycling company PureCycle have asked a Florida federal judge to grant final approval to a $12 million deal to end a proposed class action alleging the company misled shareholders about its technology, financial projections and access to raw materials, roughly two years after the court temporarily tossed it for being imprecise.

  • September 18, 2024

    Split 5th Circ. Upholds Oxy's $38M Win Over Wells Fargo Bank

    A split Fifth Circuit panel upheld a $38 million judgment against Wells Fargo in a published opinion Wednesday, affirming that the bank breached its trustee duties by failing to timely sell Occidental Petroleum Corp. stock and is judicially estopped from arguing that the trust agreement was not a contract.

  • September 18, 2024

    Judge Wary Of 'Political Quagmire' In $1.1B Ukraine Bank Suit

    A Ukrainian bank and Russia agreed Wednesday to pause litigation that seeks to enforce a $1.1 billion arbitral award against the Russian government amid efforts to annul the award in France, reaching the deal after a federal judge in Washington expressed concerns about the "thorny political issues" inherent in the case.

  • September 18, 2024

    First Horizon To Pay SEC $325K Over Reg BI Violations

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that First Horizon Advisors Inc. will pay a $325,000 penalty to settle claims the broker-dealer violated Regulation Best Interest in the wake of its parent company's 2020 merger with IberiaBank Corp.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • September 18, 2024

    Loper Bright Undercuts SEC Climate Rule, Fracking Cos. Say

    Two fracking companies suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its climate disclosure rules have again urged the Eighth Circuit to vacate the measures, offering a diverging interpretation of how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision axing Chevron deference should apply.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Bill, NTIA Report Illustrate Open-Model AI Safety Debate

    Author Photo

    The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s balanced recommendations for preventing misuse of open artificial intelligence models, contrasted with a more aggressive California bill, demonstrate an evolving regulatory debate about balancing democratic access to this powerful new technology against potential risks to the public, say Stuart Meyer and Fredrick Tsang at Fenwick.

  • 7 Takeaways For Investment Advisers From FinCEN AML Rule

    Author Photo

    With a new FinCEN rule that will require covered investment advisers to implement anti-money laundering programs and comply with extra recordkeeping requirements by 2026, companies should begin planning necessary updates to their policies and procedures by focusing on seven of the rule’s key requirements, identified by attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Mitigating Risk In Net Asset Value Facility Bankruptcies

    Author Photo

    In times of economic turbulence, parties to bankruptcy proceedings that involve net asset value facilities can mitigate risk by understanding the purpose of the automatic stay, complications it can create for NAV facility lenders and options for relief, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Opinion

    A Fuzzy Label With Bite: FTC Must Define Surveillance Pricing

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission recently issued orders to eight companies — including Mastercard, McKinsey and Chase — seeking information on "surveillance pricing," but the order doesn't explain the term or make the distinction between legal and illegal practices, leaving any company that uses personalized pricing in the dark, says Chris Wlach at Huge.

  • Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules

    Author Photo

    A Missouri federal court’s recent order enjoining the state’s anti-ESG rules comes amid actions by state legislatures to revise or invalidate similar legislation imposing disclosure and consent requirements around environmental, social and governance investing, and could be a blueprint for future challenges, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

    Author Photo

    Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

    Author Photo

    Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

    Author Photo

    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

    Author Photo

    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • What To Know About CFPB Stance On Confidentiality Terms

    Author Photo

    A recent circular from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represents a growing effort across government agencies to address overbroad confidentiality agreements, and gives employers insight into the bureau's perspective on the issue as it relates to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, say Holly Williamson and Elizabeth King at Hunton.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

    Author Photo

    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

    Author Photo

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Unpacking Jurisdiction Issues In 3rd Circ. Arbitration Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit's recent ruling in George v. Rushmore Service Center could be interpreted to establish three principles regarding district courts' jurisdiction to enter arbitration-related orders under the Federal Arbitration Act, two of which may lead to confusion, says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

    Author Photo

    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • 'Pig Butchering': The Scam That Exploits Crypto Confusion

    Author Photo

    Certain red flags can tip off banks to possible "pig-butchering," and with the scam's increasing popularity, financial institutions need to take action to monitor entry points into the crypto space, detect suspicious activity and provide a necessary backstop to protect customers, say Brandon Essig and Mary Parrish McCracken at Lightfoot Franklin.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!