Expert Analysis

• Agentic AI And Securities Law: The Machine As A Manipulator

  

  The market manipulation doctrine that emerges following the rise of agentic artificial intelligence may be more focused on market effects than on individual states of mind, and more attentive to system design than to discrete acts of deception, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

• Trump AI Order: Voluntary Framework, Mandatory Implications

  

  President Donald Trump's recent executive order promoting the advancement of artificial intelligence innovation and security establishes a new framework for government collaboration with the AI industry, but its classified benchmarking criteria, prerelease framework terms and operational rules will determine whether it establishes de facto compliance expectations, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• A Midyear Look At Antiterrorism Act Jurisprudence And Policy

  

  Plaintiffs have filed comparably fewer new actions under the Antiterrorism Act this year, though a handful of key decisions further defined the statute’s aiding-and-abetting standard and highlighted continuing risks for financial services companies, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Justices' ICA Ruling Provides Certainty For Regulated Funds

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in FS Credit v. Saba that a contract-rescission provision of the Investment Company Act does not provide investors with a private right of action is a victory for the regulated fund industry, emphasizing that where Congress intended to create private remedies, it did so expressly, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

• AI Heightens Old Compliance Risks For Investment Advisers

  

  Though artificial intelligence offers genuine promise for investment advisers, it also magnifies long-standing risks — including those involving fiduciary duties, books and records, client confidentiality, and marketing — with most foundational compliance requirements likely to remain, says Theodore Edwards at Troutman.

• Drawing A Line Between Settlement Pressure And Extortion

  

  U.S. v. Luo, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, may force courts to address anew when settlement negotiations become criminal extortion, particularly in the age of easily fabricated digital evidence, says attorney Denis Kiely.

• Responding To US Labeling Brazilian Gangs As Terrorist Orgs

  

  The Trump administration's recent designation of two Brazilian criminal organizations as foreign terrorists affects companies in multiple sectors that must now assess their exposure and enhance their sanctions, know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering screening programs, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• Recent Cases Clarify When Risk Disclosures Trigger Liability

  

  Several recent decisions highlight circumstances where risk disclosures can constitute actionable misrepresentations, providing clarity on how the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's safe harbor and the common-law bespeaks caution doctrine apply to risk disclosures, and how publicly traded companies can guard against such claims, say attorneys at Katten.

• California Antitrust Bill Raises New Risks For Dealmakers

  

  A pending California bill would turn the state attorney general's office into a more powerful antitrust enforcer, introducing a host of implications for dealmakers beyond whether deals close, such as deal certainty and risk allocation, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

• Securities Class Cert., 5 Years After Goldman Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Goldman Sachs Group v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System has not only armed defendants in securities cases with more arguments in individual class certification fights, but may also be providing greater certainty and finality in class certification battles, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Risk Reduction Lessons For PE Firms From PowerSchool Suit

  

  A California federal court's recent orders allowing claims against Bain Capital to proceed based on a data breach at its subsidiary PowerSchool indicate that private equity firms need to strategically approach acquisition activities to avoid cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

• Class Actions Have Entered The Fight Over Prediction Markets

  

  While disputes brought by states over the regulation of prediction markets have claimed most of the headlines, class actions brought by ordinary citizens, particularly in Kentucky and Massachusetts, represent another avenue to challenge the legality of the prediction markets themselves, says Laura Chiu at DarrowEverett.

• Series

  Founding An Autism Academy Made Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Starting a nonprofit autism school with no building, no funding model and no guarantee that families would trust us taught me the importance of mission, patience and purpose — lessons that sharpened my practice and showed how meaningful work outside the office can make lawyers better, says Phillip Russell at Ogletree Deakins.

• Trump's AI Order Is Strategic, Not Merely Deregulatory

  

  Although the framework presented in President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on artificial intelligence is styled as voluntary and innovation-friendly, it creates a new soft-power mechanism for bringing the most capable AI systems into closer alignment with federal security priorities, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

• Agentic AI And Securities Law: The Vanishing Defendant

  

  The entire framework of traditional securities regulation rests on the ability to attribute conduct to human actors and assess their intent and control, but agentic artificial intelligence systems threaten to upend that basic first-step analysis, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.