NY Accuses Solar Co., Lenders Of $275M Homeowner Fraud

By Jon Hill

New York's attorney general sued a solar panel company and two lending partners in New York state court Tuesday, accusing them of a $275 million scheme involving costly solar and home improvement projects falsely pitched to homeowners as free or subsidized.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

JPMorgan Says Arbitration Pact Stands Despite Atty's Gaffe

By Craig Clough

JPMorgan Chase urged a Manhattan federal court Monday to send a former employee's race discrimination and pay bias claims to arbitration, arguing that an in-house lawyer's mistaken assurance prior to litigation that she wasn't bound by an arbitration agreement doesn't amount to a waiver of the right to enforce it.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Amici Chide Trump Admin For Calling Anthropic A Security Risk

By Tom Lotshaw

In separate amicus briefs to the D.C. Circuit, the ACLU, tech industry groups, former government officials and moral theologians variously panned the Trump administration's designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security as unjustified, unlawful and counterproductive.

5 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mastercard To Acquire BVNK For Up To $1.8B

By Al Barbarino

Mastercard said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion as the global payments giant looks to expand its "end-to-end support of digital assets" and connect blockchain-based payments with more traditional financial platforms.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Draws Lines With Crypto 'Token Taxonomy' Guidance

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shared its anticipated "token taxonomy" on Tuesday, issuing interpretive guidance that detailed which types of cryptocurrency assets appear to be beyond the reach of securities laws and the circumstances that could pull them back into the regulator's oversight as part of an investment contract.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Biden Admin's Definition Of ERISA Fiduciary Erased

By Grace Elletson

A Texas federal judge on Tuesday vacated regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor that would have expanded the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under federal benefits law, changes that a collective of insurance groups said the federal agency didn't have the authority to make.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Prediction Markets Have Opened Compliance 'Pandora's Box'

By Phillip Bantz

The burgeoning prediction market has exploded the definition of what qualifies as confidential corporate information that employees could misuse for personal gain, leaving companies scrambling to update internal policies and guidelines, compliance experts say.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

OFAC Fines Broker $1.1M Over Apparent Sanctions Violations

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Tuesday announced that Florida brokerage TradeStation Securities Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1.1 million to settle potential civil liability for violating the regulator's sanctions programs for Iran, Syria and Crimea.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BlackRock, State Street Want GOP States' ESG Suit Pared

By Bryan Koenig

BlackRock and State Street have asked a Texas federal judge to significantly winnow antitrust claims from Republican state attorneys general accusing the asset managers of driving up coal prices, arguing that claims based on electricity buyers are too far removed from coal.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bitcoin Depot's Conn. License In Limbo After Watchdog Probe

By Aaron Keller

Connecticut's banking watchdog has temporarily barred cryptocurrency exchange Bitcoin Depot from transmitting money, warning of possible civil penalties up to $100,000 per violation and accusing the entity of charging transaction fees above a 15% statutory cap.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BlackRock Must Face Ex-VP's Whistleblower Retaliation Suit

By Sarah Jarvis

BlackRock Inc. must face a suit in New York state court by a former vice president who alleges he faced retaliation and wrongful termination after raising concerns about self-dealing, corruption and conflicts of interest, with a state judge partially rejecting the asset manager's bid to dismiss the case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Judge Orders Consumers To Arbitrate Binance Claims

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal judge sent two proposed class suits against Binance to arbitration Monday after finding that the arbitration provision of Binance's terms of use applied to the investors' claims that the exchange laundered stolen cryptocurrency.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Get Smart: Navigating The Genius Act's Regulatory Gaps

While some recent Genius Act rulemaking has covered consumer protection issues within the stablecoin market, the context is generally narrow and the final outcome remains uncertain for financial institutions or companies in the evolving landscape, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

4 Ways To Help CBP Curb Shell Co. Import Schemes

Shifting to a proactive rather than reactive enforcement posture in addressing shell companies set up to skirt tariffs requires equipping U.S. Customs and Border Protection with enhanced investigative authorities, better intelligence support, and mechanisms to identify and hold accountable the ultimate illicit actors, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Industry Leaders Grapple With BigLaw Recruiting 'Chaos'

By Aebra Coe

Many large law firms hit elite law school campuses last September to begin recruiting first-year students for their 2027 summer associate job openings, in what panelists at a New York City Bar Association event Tuesday described as a dysfunctional system unhelpful to both law students and law firms.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Latham Hires Desmarais IP Partner In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Latham & Wakins LLP has hired a Desmarais LLP partner in D.C., who helped represent GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals in an ongoing infringement suit against Moderna Inc., the firm announced Tuesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Health Litigator Rejoins Holland & Knight From In-House Role

By Madison Arnold

A former Holland & Knight LLP attorney has returned to the firm in Jacksonville, Florida, after a 10-year stint in-house at Florida Blue, a subsidiary of GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Bills Would Reform Litigation Funding, Client Recruiting

By Emily Sawicki

Two new bills introduced to the California Assembly this week seek to impose reforms on the state's legal industry, including adding mandatory disbarment for attorneys convicted of felony "capping" — or illegally paying for client recruitment — and blocking corporate litigation funders from influencing cases.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Prior Counsel In Settled EBay Harassment Case Eyes Payment

By Julie Manganis

An attorney who previously represented a Massachusetts couple in a harassment lawsuit against eBay and three former executives has asked a federal judge to hold off on entering a dismissal in the now-settled case until she receives assurances she will be paid.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »