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Compliance
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April 12, 2024
Justices Could Limit Bribery Law Used In Ill. Corruption Cases
The nation's top court will hear arguments Monday in a case that could narrow the scope of federal bribery law, and potentially upend major Chicago cases, if justices follow what experts say is their recent pattern of raising the bar for prosecuting corruption.
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April 12, 2024
Florida Loses Bid To Retain Control Of CWA Permit Program
A D.C. federal judge on Friday rejected Florida's bid to retain some control over a Clean Water Act permitting program that he recently found was improperly handed off to the state by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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April 12, 2024
Justices Limit Shareholder Suits Over Corporate Disclosures
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a corporation's failure to disclose certain information about its future business risks, absent any affirmative statement that would make such silence misleading, cannot itself be the basis of a private securities fraud claim.
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April 11, 2024
Autonomy Became Less Transparent Before Sale, Jury Told
An ex-market analyst testifying Thursday in a California criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch duped HP into buying the British company for $11.7 billion told jurors that the company became less forthcoming about some of its accounting a couple of years before the sale.
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April 11, 2024
Proposed BIPA Penalty Reforms Advance In Ill. Legislature
The Illinois Senate on Thursday passed legislation that would update the Biometric Information Privacy Act as well as tweak its liability guidelines, a clarification that proponents say is needed to protect businesses from costly, frivolous litigation.
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April 11, 2024
CFPB Says Credit Card Shares Disqualifying In 5th Circ. Case
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sparred Thursday with a coalition of trade groups over recusal standards in their Fifth Circuit lawsuit challenging the agency's new $8 credit card late fee rule, arguing that a judge's ownership of stock in a major card-issuing bank ought to be disqualifying in itself.
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April 11, 2024
FTC Curtails Treatment Provider's Sharing Of Health Data
The Federal Trade Commission took its latest step Thursday to crack down on the mishandling of sensitive health information, announcing a settlement that requires a New York-based alcohol addiction treatment service to obtain affirmative consent before sharing this data with third parties and bars the company from disclosing this information for advertising purposes.
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April 11, 2024
PCAOB Says China Focus Boosted Its '23 Enforcement Haul
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said in a report released Thursday that its first China-based enforcement actions helped it rake in a record-breaking $20 million in civil penalties for auditor violations last year, a second-year record that it is already set to surpass in 2024.
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April 11, 2024
Auto Tech Group Floats Bill To End Abusers' Car Access
An auto technology group is pressing Congress to pass legislation that would make it easier for domestic violence survivors to cut off abusers' access to vehicles that use advanced wireless connectivity and could be used to track abused partners.
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April 11, 2024
FCC Says Satellite Co.'s Dispute With Backer Belongs In Court
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday told a satellite company and its financial backer to take their squabble over a withdrawn enforcement petition to court, rejecting BIU LLC's bid to reopen an administrative proceeding first prompted by Spectrum Five.
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April 11, 2024
Wells Fargo Wants Ex-CEO's $34M Back-Pay Suit Tossed
Wells Fargo & Co. has asked a California state court to throw out a lawsuit filed by former CEO Timothy Sloan that seeks $34 million in compensation he alleges was wrongfully withheld from him, a payout the bank maintains it doesn't owe.
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April 11, 2024
FTC Sends More Refunds To Customers Throttled By AT&T
The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it was sending out nearly $6.3 million worth of partial refunds to AT&T customers under a 2019 settlement the carrier reached for throttling their unlimited data plans.
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April 11, 2024
Price-Fixing Cartel Self Reporting On 'Steady Uptick,' Panel Says
U.S. and European antitrust enforcers touted a turnaround Thursday in the number of companies self-reporting price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation schemes in the search for "leniency" from financial and criminal penalties over the last three years.
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April 11, 2024
Full 8th Circ. Hears Ark. Bid To Revive Youth Trans Care Ban
An en banc panel of the Eighth Circuit weighing whether to revive an Arkansas state law that banned gender-affirming care for children and teens heard oral arguments Thursday, as Arkansas officials sought to demonstrate that the law does not unconstitutionally discriminate based on sex.
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April 11, 2024
FTC 'Hopeful' Merger Judges Can See Past Market Definition
The Federal Trade Commission's top antitrust enforcer emphasized Thursday that the FTC and Justice Department's new merger guidelines could facilitate transaction challenges based solely on "direct" competitive effects, regardless of what market definition numbers indicate.
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April 11, 2024
JPMorgan Analyst's Acquittal Sinks Stock Tip Case, Man Says
A Los Angeles man is planning a Ninth Circuit appeal after he was found guilty of trading on privileged information supplied by a childhood friend who was an analyst at JPMorgan Securities LLC, reasoning that he could not be guilty because the friend was acquitted at a separate trial.
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April 11, 2024
Visa Beats Some Merchant Claims In Antitrust MDL
A New York federal judge has trimmed claims lodged by Home Depot and other merchants against Visa and several banks in sprawling multidistrict antitrust litigation dating back to 2005 over network rules forcing merchants to accept the companies' cards.
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April 11, 2024
FDA Commissioner Says Congress Must Act On Hemp, CBD
The commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that the agency did not consider hemp-derived CBD safe enough to be sold lawfully as a dietary supplement, and urged Congress to create a new pathway to regulate the substance.
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April 11, 2024
Interior Dept. Finalizes Rule To Strengthen Endangered Species Act
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday announced a final rule it said is intended to increase participation in its voluntary conservation programs, but environmentalists slammed it as "a huge missed opportunity" to improve conditions for wildlife.
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April 11, 2024
Black Workers, Fish Farm Settle Claims Of Migrant Hiring Bias
Black farmers and a Mississippi-based fish farm have agreed to settle claims that the farm pushed out the U.S. citizen farmers in favor of Mexican migrant workers, they announced to a Mississippi federal court on Thursday.
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April 11, 2024
CFPB, EU Say Teamwork 'Critical' As Fintech Bridges Atlantic
The consumer protection watchdogs in Europe and the U.S. said Thursday that their ongoing dialogue has yielded three shared focuses — the expansion of technology firms' payment services, the use of artificial intelligence in consumer markets and buy now, pay later products.
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April 11, 2024
Judge Sends Tax Data Suit Against H&R Block To Arbitration
A man who used H&R Block to prepare his taxes online and then sued the company, along with Google and Meta Platforms Inc., for sharing his private data must pursue his claims against the tax preparation software giant in arbitration, a California federal judge ruled Thursday.
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April 11, 2024
Odebrecht Exec Details Bribes To Ex-Ecuador Comptroller
The former director of Odebrecht SA's operations in Ecuador told jurors Thursday that he paid millions in bribes to "Miami" — a code name for Ecuador's former comptroller — related to various infrastructure projects the Brazilian conglomerate was building in the country.
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April 11, 2024
Vineyard Wind Project Thoroughly Vetted, Feds Tell 1st Circ.
The federal government on Thursday urged the First Circuit to uphold a Massachusetts federal judge's decision tossing a fishing group's challenge to the Vineyard Wind project, saying it was approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior after extensive analysis.
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April 11, 2024
Colonial Oil Fined $2.8M For Violating Renewable Fuel Rules
Colonial Oil Industries Inc. will pay a $2.8 million fine to resolve allegations it dodged federal renewable fuel mandates by selling 100 million gallons of diesel to marine vessels without buying required offset credits, according to a proposed settlement filed in Georgia federal court.
Expert Analysis
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10 Areas To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting Law
The near future holds a number of key areas to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law, ranging from dramatic developments in the space industry to recent National Defense Authorization Act updates, which are focused on U.S. leadership in emerging technologies, say Joseph Berger and Chip Purcell at Thompson Hine.
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Why Individual Officers Are BSA-AML Enforcement Targets
Banking compliance professionals should use recent enforcement actions against individual officers at both Sterling Bank and the New York State Employees Credit Union to assess whether they are equipped with the tools and authority necessary to avert deficient Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, says Sam Finkelstein at Volkov Group.
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How New SEC Rule May Turn DeFi Participants Into 'Dealers'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a new rule to amend its definition of a securities "dealer," but the change could have concerning implications for decentralized finance and blockchain, as the SEC has suggested it may subject DeFi participants to registration requirements and other regulations, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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What Texas Employers Should Know After PWFA Ruling
After a Texas federal judge recently enjoined federal agencies from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, all employers must still remain sensitive to local, state and federal protections for pregnant workers, and proactive in their approach to pregnancy-related accommodations, says Maritza Sanchez at Phelps Dunbar.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice
With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.
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2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.
The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Legal Issues When Training AI On Previously Collected Data
Following the Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance about the use of customer data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should carefully think through their terms of service and privacy policies and be cautious when changing them to permit new uses of previously collected data, says James Gatto at Sheppard Mullin.
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Protested CFPB Supervisory Order Reveals Process, Priorities
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s order announcing its first use of special oversight power to place installment lender World Acceptance Corp. under supervision despite resistance from the company provides valuable insight into which products and practices may draw bureau scrutiny, and illuminates important nuances of the risk assessment procedures, say Josh Kotin and Michelle Rogers at Cooley.
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Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
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Tips For Healthcare M&A Amid Heightened Antitrust Scrutiny
As the Biden administration maintains its aggressive approach to antitrust merger enforcement, prudent healthcare M&A counsel will consider practical advice when contemplating their next transaction, including carefully selecting a merger partner and preparing for a potentially long waiting period prior to closing, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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New Eagle Take Permit Rule Should Help Wind Projects Soar
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recently issued final rule revising the eagle take permit process should help wind energy developers obtain incidental take permits through a more transparent and expedited process, and mitigate the risk of improper take penalties faced by wind projects, says Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference
Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.