Expert Analysis

• Community Bank Order Signals Fintech Partnership Scrutiny

  

  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent consent order against Community Federal Savings Bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance programs offers clear and urgent lessons for community banks pursuing revenue growth through fintech partnerships and payments services, say attorneys at Bradley.

• Where Is The Line On Actionable Comms In Securities Cases?

  

  Recent securities cases demonstrate the difficulty in discerning a clear difference between statements made in connection with the purchase or sale of securities and those that aren't, with that line more likely attributable to individualized factual situations than to any doctrinal differences of opinion between various courts, says Samuel Groner at Fried Frank.

• Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

  

  The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

• 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

  

  Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

• Key Post-Proposal Shifts Likely In CFPB Loss Mitigation Rule

  

  Mortgage servicers, borrowers and consumer advocates should prepare for a likely narrowed version of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's loss mitigation rule, which is likely to permit sequential reviews, defer to investor guidelines, extend compliance timelines and preempt conflicting state standards, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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  Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

• What's Inside Proposed, Expanded NY Stablecoin Regulations

  

  New York's recently proposed regulations for payment stablecoin issuers would, if adopted, increase the regulatory burdens of a state license, and midsize issuers considering a conversion to a federal charter should weigh the associated costs of both options, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

• When Leaked Settlement Talks Complicate High-Profile Cases

  

  A recent sexual harassment case involving JPMorgan Chase highlights how leaked settlement offers can affect public perception of litigation, reminding parties that a confidentiality label does not automatically create an enforceable obligation because evidentiary exclusion is limited and purpose-specific, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

• Ala. Bank Case Tells A Cautionary Tale On Collateral Risks

  

  The Alabama Supreme Court's recent decision in U.S. Bank Trust National v. Bonilla, concerning a residential foreclosure gone awry, teaches that, beyond the common refrain of knowing your customer, banks should also take steps — such as obtaining a survey or purchasing title insurance — to know their collateral, says Danielle Douglas at Adams & Reese.

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  Judges On AI: Examining Administrative, Organizational Uses

  

  U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas examines how artificial intelligence could transform a court's ability to deal with administrative work and organize materials when preparing for hearings or drafting opinions, thereby affording judges more time to resolve contested issues.

• From Order To Regulation: How EOs Are Reshaping Banking

  

  The pattern of regulatory activity emerging in the wake of the Trump administration's first 18 months of executive orders makes clear that financial institutions should treat presidential directives as early warning signs and not wait for final rules to assess the accompanying compliance impact, says Jonathan Kolodziej at Bradley.

• How 9th Circ. 'Shadow Trading' Case May Affect Private Credit

  

  Private credit firms should not wait for a result in the Ninth Circuit appeal in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Panuwat to address material nonpublic information exposure under existing statutes and take steps to ensure their internal policies and surveillance are ready for increased regulatory scrutiny, says Steve Brown at StarCompliance.

• 4 Cert. Denials Keep Personal Jurisdiction Issues Percolating

  

  After the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Ford Motor v. Montana and Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway expanded limits on personal jurisdiction, the justices' denials this term of four certiorari petitions suggest they are content to let jurisdiction questions brew in lower courts before weighing in, say attorneys at Hunton.

• CFPB Fair Lending Litigation Reveals Compliance Complexity

  

  A recent legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's fair lending amendments underscores continuing uncertainty over disparate impact liability, discouragement standards and special purpose credit programs, signaling that financial services providers should avoid hasty compliance changes, say attorneys at Weiner Brodsky.

• FDIC Proposals Mark Pullback In Bank Resolution Rules

  

  A recent pair of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposals would fundamentally reshape testing of banks' resolution-related capabilities from a mandatory exercise to a voluntary one supported by significant financial incentives, amounting to an overall reduction in reporting requirements, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.