Swedbank Says DOJ Has Closed AML Probe Without Action

By Jon Hill

Swedbank, one of the biggest banks serving Europe's Baltic region, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has released it from a long-running anti-money-laundering-related investigation, removing another U.S. legal cloud hanging over the lender.

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Wells Fargo Brass Gets 1st OK For 'Fake' Diversity Suit Deal

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has granted the first green light to a settlement reached between Wells Fargo investors and executives in a derivative suit claiming the bank's leadership failed to address the company's discriminatory lending practices and engaged in "fake" interviews with diverse candidates.

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2nd Circ. Suspects Forum Shopping In Credit Suisse Suit

By Brian Steele

Two Second Circuit judges Wednesday sounded inclined to uphold the dismissal of a breach of duty claim against Credit Suisse and others tied to its auditing firm, with one saying the decision to bring the stock-plunge case in New York "almost smacks of forum shopping."

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Judge Asks If Execs 'Blindsided' Truist With Mass Exodus

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina business judge on Wednesday repeatedly returned to whether three former executives who led Truist's real estate finance arm ever revealed to the bank that they were in "secret" talks to join a competitor and bring dozens of their colleagues with them, signaling he'd let a jury decide if the mass exodus is to blame for the business's alleged losses.

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Alternative Asset 401(k) Investing Rule Sent To OMB

By Kellie Mejdrich

The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm related to fiduciary duties involved with alternative asset investing in 401(k)s, marking the last hurdle before the regulations' release for public comment. 

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Senate Banking Committee Postpones Crypto Bill Markup

By Aislinn Keely

The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday night postponed a highly anticipated mark-up of a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his opposition to the latest draft, saying his firm would "rather have no bill than a bad bill."

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FTC Says Payments Co. Should Pay $53M For Violating Deal

By Emilie Ruscoe

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Nevada federal judge to order a payment processor and two of its executives to pay over $52.9 million for consumer relief after allegedly violating terms of its 2015 settlement of the regulator's claims it willfully facilitated payments for bad actors.

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Miami Man Admits To $250K Zelle Scam In Connecticut

By Brian Steele

A Florida man has pled guilty to a conspiracy charge in Connecticut federal court over his role in scams that ripped off victims including Zelle users for more than $250,000, prosecutors said Wednesday.

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$9.6M Deal Over Capital One 401(k) Forfeitures Gets 1st OK

By Gina Kim

A New York federal judge preliminarily approved Capital One Financial Corp.'s $9.6 million settlement to end a proposed class action alleging it improperly used $42.65 million in forfeited employee funds that were paid into the company's retirement plan to reduce its own contributions instead of curtailing administrative costs. 

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JPMorgan's Tobacco-Use Health Fee Is Illegal, Employee Says

By Sydney Price

A JPMorgan Chase & Co. employee has hit the financial giant with a proposed class action in a New York federal court accusing it of issuing health insurance plans including fee requirements for tobacco users that violate the antidiscrimination provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

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Brief

Conn. Credit Union Hit With 2nd Data Breach Class Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

Connecticut's Ellafi Federal Credit Union on Wednesday was hit with a second proposed class action over an October data breach that affected more than 17,600 members.

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MoFo Taps Ex-FTX GC, Associate Counsel As Fintech Partners

By Michele Gorman

The former top lawyer and another former in-house counsel at imploded cryptocurrency exchange FTX have joined Morrison Foerster LLP as partners in its financial services and fintech industry groups, the firm announced on Wednesday.

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How 2025 Executive Orders Are Reshaping Consumer Finance

In 2025, President Donald Trump used executive orders to initiate a reversal of policies on fair lending, urge agencies to use enforcement and supervisory tools to police debanking, and reduce consumer financial regulation — and the resulting flurry of deregulatory activity will likely continue in 2026, says Elizabeth Tucci at Goodwin.

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Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

In the fourth quarter of last year, New York state enacted several developments that affect financial services regulation and business, cementing upcoming compliance obligations including cybersecurity best practices and retail stores' cash management, says Chris Bonner at Barclay Damon.

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Opinion

US Cybersecurity Strategy Must Include Immigration Reform

Cyberthreats are escalating while the cybersecurity workforce remains constrained due to a lack of clear standards for national-interest determinations, processing backlogs affecting professionals who protect critical public systems and visa allocations that do not reflect real-world demands, says Rusten Hurd at Colombo & Hurd.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Forming Measurable Ties

Relationship-building should begin as early as possible in a law firm merger, as intentional pathways to bringing people together drive collaboration, positive client response, engagements and growth, says Amie Colby at Troutman.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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