Expert Analysis

• SEC's Shareholder Activism Role After The '26 Proxy Season

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently proposed eliminating its shareholder proposal rule, but this proxy season's combination of elevated campaign activity, limited formal escalation and measured voting outcomes illustrates why a targeted SEC role remains important, say attorneys at Sidley.

• Series

  NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

  

  Several developments from New York financial services regulators in the third quarter reflect a common theme — regulators are increasingly seeking to apply established supervisory expectations to newer market participants and emerging financial products, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

• FinCEN Exemption Raises Statutory, Administrative Questions

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently rolled-out broad exemption for U.S. companies from Corporate Transparency Act reporting may face administrative law and statutory challenges, so businesses should still preserve ownership records and monitor litigation and congressional action, says David McCarville at Fennemore.

• Opinion

  CFTC's New Award Policy Punishes Whistleblower Success

  

  The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently capped four whistleblower awards because it considered them too large, arguing that it could lead to frivolous reporting, but the move instead penalizes the program for its own success and flies in the face of the framework enacted by Congress, say attorneys at Whistleblower Partners.

• Testing AI's Promise For Large-Scale Document Review

  

  Our document-review comparison of attorneys' responsiveness and issue coding decisions versus predictions generated by artificial intelligence across 1,600 documents suggests that these tools can offer a reasonable and reliable basis for improved discovery workflows, provided lawyers understand where guardrails are needed, say attorneys at Redgrave.

• FDIC Standards Body Could Ease Bank Vendor Due Diligence

  

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recently proposed standards body for bank vendors could streamline due diligence and onboarding, but banks and their third-party service providers alike should still monitor open questions around oversight, certification costs and governance, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

• AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

  

  The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

• What Comes Next For Digital Asset Regs After Clarity Act Flop

  

  After the U.S. Senate recently blocked the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, agency rulemaking could still offer a near-term remedy, and companies meanwhile should monitor the existing framework assembled from enforcement precedent and case law in the absence of a purpose-built statute, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• How Restitution Became Del. Chancery Court's Middle Ground

  

  Though monetary relief is the Delaware Court of Chancery's favored form of compensating shareholders injured by a breached transaction, Ramadurgam v. Destiny XYZ illustrates how restitution, rather than rescission, can also be a viable option for squeezed-out shareholders to present to the court, says Ashwini Jayaratnam at DarrowEverett.

• Negotiating The Scope Of The Stablecoin Customer ID Rule

  

  Though comments on bank regulators’ proposed rule for stablecoin issuers under the Genius Act generally agree that oversight would help prevent illicit activity, agencies must reconcile disagreement over whether to extend customer identification requirements from issuers' primary-market relationships to secondary-markets activity, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

• Series

  Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

• AML Takes Center Stage In Financial Crime Enforcement

  

  Financial Crimes Enforcement Network actions, including its recent anti-money-laundering penalty against UBS, signal that companies should align sanctions and anti-corruption controls with documented risk assessments, quickly escalate and investigate red flags, and test remediation as enforcement intensifies, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

• Opinion

  The Time Is Right To Simplify Overlapping Broker-Dealer Regs

  

  While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has made an important start to simplifying its rules, legislators should follow and expand on the commission's example by reexamining and removing the unnecessary overlap between SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and state broker-dealer regulations, says Howard Spindel at Integrated Solutions.

• Opinion

  Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

  

  California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

• Series

  Fintech Regulator Outlook: 5 Lessons From Minnesota

  

  Minnesota's recent cryptocurrency kiosk ban and virtual currency custody rules hold several broad compliance lessons: Digital asset companies must map regulated activities, strengthen third-party oversight and engage regulators early to innovate responsibly, says Deputy Commissioner of Financial Institutions Mike Crow at the Minnesota Department of Commerce.