Expert Analysis

• FINRA Guide Refines Rules Of The Road For Negative Consent

  

  A recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority notice streamlines the use of negative consent letters to customers, particularly for introducing brokers and clearing brokers, but it also attaches greater responsibility to compliance, and firms must ensure use of negative consent remains firmly within FINRA's bright-line rules, say attorneys at Mintz.

• FTC Focus: Antitrust Spotlight On 'Acqui-Hires,' Noncompetes

  

  A recent Federal Trade Commission focus on labor issues, like 'acqui-hire' deals, in which only a company's workforce is acquired, and noncompetes, shows that the agency is scrutinizing these issues on a case-by-case basis, necessitating a meaningful look at these transactions, particularly in the technology and artificial intelligence industries, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• A Single DOJ Corporate Enforcement Policy Raises Questions

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's soon-to-be-released uniform corporate criminal enforcement policy could address the challenges raised by the current decentralized approach, but it will need to answer a number of potential questions amid scant details, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

• Navigating Exclusion Decisions After SEC's No-Action Change

  

  Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's November changes to the Rule 14a-8 no-action letter process, shareholder proponents have turned to litigation if companies excluded their proposals under the new framework, with three recent cases offering useful lessons for companies navigating exclusion decisions this proxy season, say attorneys at Cleary.

• 5 Different AI Systems Raise Distinct Privilege Issues

  

  A New York federal court’s recent U.S. v. Heppner decision, holding that a defendant’s use of Claude was not privileged, only addressed one narrow artificial intelligence system, but lawyers must recognize that the spectrum of AI tools raises different confidentiality and privilege questions, says Heidi Nadel at HP.

• Fed's Abbreviated Supervisory Statement Packs A Big Punch

  

  Language used in a recent three-page statement from the Federal Reserve Board charts a very clear shift in the supervision of banks and bank holding companies, departing from traditional "Fed speak" and emphasizing material financial risks in exams, says Joseph Silvia at Duane Morris.

• Making Effective Use Of DOD's 'Patent Holiday' Program

  

  The U.S. Department of Defense's new defense patent holiday program, designed to let companies experiment with otherwise latent technology without paying typical up-front fees, can help contractors enter new technical domains and markets, but requires careful attention to export controls and patent infringement risks, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

• Health Co.'s 'Success Story' Misstep Holds HIPAA Lessons

  

  Cadia Healthcare Facilities' fall settlement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for improperly disclosing patients' protected health information in online success stories is an instructive example of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act risks that can arise from digital marketing efforts, say attorneys at Woods Rogers.

• After Learning Resources: A Practical Guide For US Importers

  

  Following the U.S. Supreme Court's Feb. 20 decision in Learning Resources v. Trump, U.S. importers and consumers on whom tariffs were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act can seek relief through existing administrative procedures or a yet-to-be-determined bespoke refund mechanism, and should plan for more changes in the tariff landscape, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

• State, Federal Policies Complicate Fuel And Carbon Markets

  

  As federal and state regulators advance a complex web of mandatory and voluntary programs and incentives that shape how transportation fuels are produced, traded and valued, new compliance obligations present both risks and opportunities for fuel market and carbon market participants alike, says Sarah Grey at Arnold & Porter.

• Opinion

  AI-Assisted Arbitration Needs Safeguards To Ensure Fairness

  

  As tribunals and arbitral institutions increasingly use artificial intelligence tools in their decision-making processes, ​​​​​​​clear disclosure standards and procedural safeguards are necessary to ensure that efficiency gains do not erode the fairness principles on which arbitration depends, says Alexander Lima at Wesco International.

• Logistics Update: What Immigrant Driver Rule Means For Cos.

  

  The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new final rule restricting issuance of commerical driver's licenses for nondomiciled drivers will have immediate operational implications for motor carriers, but the broader effects will ripple through relationships between service providers and their sources of freight, including brokers and shippers, say attorneys at Benesch.

• What Recent Dataset Suits Signal For AI Training Litigation

  

  Plaintiffs are moving away from abstract debates about artificial intelligence at large and toward dataset provenance, and three filings illustrate how provenance is pled using public dataset documentation, archives and discovery‑ready allegations about copying, retention and downstream handling, says Yulia Leshchenko at Name & Fame.

• How Del. High Court's Moelis Reversal Fits Into DExit Debate

  

  By declining to decide the facial validity of the provisions at issue in Moelis & Co. v. West Palm Beach Firefighters Pension Fund, the Delaware Supreme Court's recent reversal of the Court of Chancery's 2024 ruling highlights broader implications for the ongoing debate over whether companies should incorporate elsewhere, say attorneys at Akin.

• Reforms To Bank Agency Appeal Processes May Boost Usage

  

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent proposed changes to their respective appeals processes are likely to increase banks' filing of supervisory appeals, thanks to the reinforcement that the appeals will not be met with retaliation, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.