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Fintech
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May 23, 2024
CFPB's 1st Try At BNPL Regulation Could Set Stage For More
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new guidance that treats buy-now, pay-later firms more like credit card companies is drawing industry grumbles about "apples to oranges" comparisons, but consumer advocates say that applying additional credit card-esque rules would be the cherry on top.
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May 23, 2024
Ex-Bank CEO Cops To Embezzling $47M To Pay Crypto Scam
Heartland Tri-State Bank's former chief executive pled guilty Thursday in Kansas federal court to embezzling $47 million that he wired to cryptocurrency accounts controlled by fraudsters after falling victim to a "pig butchering" scam, which led to the bank's collapse and subsequent shutdown last summer.
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May 23, 2024
SEC Opens Gate To Ether ETFs, But Firms Await Green Light
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission started the process of bringing exchange-traded funds holding the cryptocurrency ether to market on Thursday when it approved a series of filings permitting national securities exchanges to list the products, leaving firms to wait for the next step before trading can begin.
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May 23, 2024
Influencer Can't Duck SEC Suit Over Crypto Sale, Promotion
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission scored a partial win in a Texas federal court case in which the agency accused an influencer of unlawfully reselling and promoting cryptocurrencies to followers on social media, with a judge finding the tokens were unregistered securities and the promoter could not escape liability in the lawsuit.
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May 23, 2024
'Not Us At Our Best:' SEC's Top Cop Talks Debt Box Error
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement director Gurbir Grewal took responsibility Thursday for his agency's sanctioned actions in a lawsuit against crypto project Debt Box, saying that the case did not represent the agency "at our best" but was not a sign that there were any widespread problems with the way it conducts its enforcement proceedings.
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May 23, 2024
FTX Judge Declines To Undo Ch. 11 Digital Claim Estimation
The judge overseeing the Chapter 11 case of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. on Thursday denied a request to vacate an earlier ruling allowing the debtor to estimate the claims of creditors holding digital assets based on their petition date value, saying the party seeking to undo the order had not provided any new evidence to justify the action.
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May 23, 2024
7th Circ. Unsure VIX-Fix Claims Were Wrongly Tossed
The Seventh Circuit seemed unsure Thursday that two investment companies should be allowed to pursue volatility index manipulation claims against Barclays, Morgan & Stanley Co. and other financial institutions after a lower court found that one lacked standing and the other missed a statutory deadline.
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May 23, 2024
Feds Score Discovery Pause In SEC Suit Against CoinDeal
A Michigan federal judge on Thursday granted the federal government's motion to intervene and stay discovery in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit alleging a group of individuals and businesses duped investors out of more than $45 million through a CoinDeal investment fraud scheme.
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May 23, 2024
NC Fintech Atty Sues Paymentus For Gender, Age Bias
A former senior corporate counsel for cloud-based billing company Paymentus Corp. has slapped her former employer with a $100,000 age and gender discrimination suit in North Carolina federal court, saying she was paid less than her male colleagues and eventually fired for complaining, only to be replaced by a much younger male attorney.
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May 23, 2024
House Passes Bill To Block Fed-Issued Digital Dollar
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar in a vote that fell starkly along party lines, with Democrats decrying the bill as fearmongering over privacy concerns and a departure from the previous day's bipartisan passage of a regulatory framework for digital assets.
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May 23, 2024
Wow Such Basic: Justices Back Crypto Fans In Dogecoin Duel
It's up to judges, not arbitrators, to figure out whether contracts between businesses and consumers have subtly superseded earlier agreements to hash out disputes in arbitration rather than litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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May 22, 2024
EasyPay Agrees To Exit Mass. In 'Rent-A-Bank' Settlement
EasyPay, an alternative finance company, has settled with Massachusetts officials over claims that it gouged Bay State borrowers with predatory loans issued through an out-of-state bank, agreeing to pay $625,000 to consumers and stop doing business in the state as part of a deal unveiled Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
Investors Say FIS Must Investigate Derivative Suit's Claims
An investor of fintech corporation Fidelity National Information Services has pushed back on the company and its executives' bid to escape a derivative lawsuit over a $46 billion market cap drop resulting from a business spinoff, saying the company must investigate the suit's allegations.
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May 22, 2024
US House Passes Crypto Bill Over SEC, White House Dissent
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a Republican-led framework to regulate digital assets despite pushback from many Democrats, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the White House, which questioned whether the bill will actually provide the clarity it promises.
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May 22, 2024
Ex-FTX Exec Deserves Up To 7 Years For Fraud, Feds Say
Federal prosecutors have told a New York federal judge they are seeking a five- to seven-year prison sentence for former FTX executive Ryan Salame, arguing that his campaign finance offense "is one of the largest-ever in American history."
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May 22, 2024
ATM Plaintiffs Must Share New Data In Visa, Mastercard Suit
A D.C. federal judge ordered ATM operator plaintiffs on Wednesday to turn over updated data showing average interchange fees and transaction surcharges at the center of a discovery dispute in their long-running class action against Visa and Mastercard, telling the plaintiffs that she wanted to err on the side of "liberal discovery."
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May 22, 2024
Binance.US Beats Fla. Regulator's Suspension Order
A Florida state appeals court agreed with Binance.US on Wednesday that the state's financial regulator shouldn't have denied the cryptocurrency exchange the ability to do business in the state after its affiliate and founder pled guilty last year, and that the agency didn't follow proper procedure in blocking Binance's operations.
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May 22, 2024
Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron
A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.
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May 22, 2024
Del. Justices Reverse BitGo-Galaxy Merger Suit Dismissal
Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit that cryptocurrency wallet provider BitGo Holding Inc. filed against digital assets firm Galaxy Digital Holdings Inc., remanding the dispute over their broken $1.2 billion merger back to Chancery Court to resolve multiple "ambiguities."
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May 22, 2024
Daughter Sues Over Oil Co. Family's 'Looting Campaign'
Two relatives of Westmore Fuel Co. Inc.'s late co-founder are plundering the company to edge out his successors, the daughter of a co-founder claims in a Connecticut state court complaint aiming to dissolve the firm.
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May 22, 2024
SC Gov. Signs Earned Wage Access Bill Into Law
South Carolina has become the fifth state to approve a new law governing so-called earned wage access products, which provide workers with cash advances, as the Palmetto State joins Nevada, Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas in regulating the products.
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May 22, 2024
Rakoff Punts Terraform Args Amid Big-Dollar Settlement Talk
A hearing on whether Terraform Labs and its creator Do Kwon must pay billions of dollars in penalties after being found liable for fraud by a Manhattan jury was delayed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who said the sides are actively pursuing a settlement.
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May 22, 2024
Data Research Firm Dynata Hits Ch. 11 With Over $1B Debt
Global data provider and market research company Dynata LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Wednesday with $1.4 billion in total debt, blaming a business slowdown on a steep drop in M&A deals, post-pandemic struggles to rebuild its base of survey-takers and a failure to keep up with rivals.
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May 22, 2024
NYSE Parent Agrees To $10M SEC Fine Over Cyber Breach
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations that it failed to timely report a data breach that impacted the New York Stock Exchange and eight other subsidiaries.
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May 22, 2024
CFPB Says Some Credit Card Standards Apply To BNPL Firms
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that shoppers using buy-now, pay-later products are covered by some of the same federal safeguards as those that apply to traditional credit cards, issuing the agency's first-ever guidance directed at this fintech-heavy field of financing.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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What Makes Unionization In Financial Services Unique
Only around 1% of financial services employees are part of a union, but that number is on the rise, presenting both unique opportunities and challenges for the employers and employees that make up a sector typically devoid of union activity, say Amanda Fugazy and Steven Nevolis at Ellenoff Grossman.
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Opinion
CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking
In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.
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FDIC Bank Disclosure Rules Raise Important Questions
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rules mandating disclosures for nonbanks offering deposit products leave traditional financial institutions in a no-man's land between fintech-oriented requirements and the reality of personal service demanded by customers, say Paul Clark and Casey Jennings at Seward & Kissel.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Don't Fall On That Hill: Keys To Testifying Before Congress
Because congressional testimony often comes with political, reputational and financial risks in addition to legal pitfalls, witnesses and their attorneys should take a multifaceted approach to preparation, walking a fine line between legal and business considerations, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.
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Series
Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
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Expect Tougher Bank Exams 1 Year After Spring 2023 Failures
With federal banking agencies still implementing harsher examinations with swifter escalations a year after the spring 2023 bank failures, banks can gain insight into changing expectations by monitoring how the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are coordinating and updating their exam policies, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic
Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals
Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.
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The Drawbacks Of Banking Regulators' Merger Review Plans
Recent proposals for bank merger review criteria by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. share common pitfalls: increased likelihood of delays, uncertainties, and new hurdles to transactions that could impede the long-term safety and soundness of the banks involved, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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SEC Off-Channel Comms Action Hints At Future Enforcement
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent enforcement action against Senvest does not shed light on how the agency will calibrate penalties related to off-channel communications violations, it does suggest that we may see more cases against standalone investment advisers, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Fed. Circ. Defines Foreign IP Damages, Raises New Questions
In Brumfield v. IBG, the Federal Circuit recently clarified which standard determines the extraterritoriality of the patent statute after the U.S. Supreme Court's WesternGeco decision, opening a new avenue of damages for foreign activities resulting from certain domestic activities while also creating some thorny questions, say Amol Parikh and Ian Howard at McDermott.
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Series
Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.