Expert Analysis

• Fraud Enforcement, Sentencing Face Unusual Convergence

  

  The Trump administration’s newly created task force to eliminate fraud and the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent proposals to scale back certain elements of the federal sentencing framework seem to point in opposite directions, creating a collision of policy priorities that may reshape how fraud cases are charged, negotiated and sentenced for years to come, says David Tarras at Tarras Defense.

• Peptide Policy Is Shifting Toward Sanctioned Compounding

  

  The policy landscape for peptides is undergoing a significant shift under the Trump administration, moving toward a complex system of verified compounding and complementary enforcement that will likely bring peptides firmly back into the sphere of legitimate consumer products, say attorneys at Sheppard.

• Gender-Expansive Calif. Equal Pay Laws Widen Employer Risk

  

  California's recent amendments to strengthen its Equal Pay Act and Pay Transparency Act aim to shrink the wage gap, not only for women, but also for nonbinary and transgender employees, creating new compliance obligations for employers and increasing their potential exposure, say attorneys at the Jhaveri-Weeks Firm.

• Insights From OppFi Suit On Building Calif. Bank Partnerships

  

  A California state judge’s tentative ruling, walking through business evidence that Utah bank FinWise was not a “rent-a-bank” that fintech firm Opportunity Financial used as a front to dodge interest rate caps on in-state lenders, offers a helpful road map for structuring legally compliant bank-fintech partnerships under California law, say attorneys at Manatt.

• Keys To Building Defensible Psychedelic Therapy Programs

  

  Given the rapidly evolving legal environment for psychedelic therapies and heightened liability and compliance risks facing providers, meticulous documentation, robust risk management protocols, and proactive engagement with professional organizations and insurers are essential strategies, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and L. Alison McInnes at Mindful Health Solutions.

• CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

  

  It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

• Prepping For White House's Proposed AI Framework

  

  The artificial intelligence legislative framework issued by the White House last month reframes the policy landscape, creating a number of near-term developments for companies to track as congressional committees attempt to convert the framework into legislative text, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• 5 Takeaways From Capital Proposals For Community Banks

  

  While much commentary has centered on how federal regulators' proposed capital overhaul would affect the biggest banks, there are several aspects that regional and community institutions should note too, including the potential benefits of the expanded risk-based approach and reduced capital requirements for mortgage origination, say attorneys at Covington.

• Opinion

  State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

  

  Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

• EPA's Retreat On GHGs Reshapes Preemption Debate

  

  In the wake of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission of its finding that it can regulate climate-threatening greenhouse gases, states are poised to step up their own GHG regulation — but the EPA's new framework creates substantial uncertainty over the extent of federal preemption, say attorneys at Holland & Hart.

• What Justices' Review Of Guam Case Will Mean For Permitting

  

  In U.S. Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, the U.S. Supreme Court will address whether a federal agency's permit application is a final decision that courts can review — a question whose answer could reshape the timing and strategy of environmental litigation across the federal permitting landscape, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

• Calculating Damages In IEEPA Tariff Refund Litigation

  

  To calculate damages in the spate of refund litigation triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision invalidating tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the central question will be how to determine where in the supply chain their economic burden ultimately came to rest, say analysts at Charles River Associates.

• Mortgage EO Casts Wide Net In Push To Ease Lending Rules

  

  A recent executive order targeting mortgage credit access states an intent to promote competition among all types of lenders and is notable for its breadth, resetting regulatory expectations in a number of areas including origination, digitization and licensing, says Kara Ward at Baker Donelson.

• Opinion

  Futures Market Anonymity Now Presents A Structural Problem

  

  Following anomalous trading on prediction markets just before major recent policy announcements from the Trump administration, many have called on Congress to act, but the problem is not primarily a statutory gap — it is a structural one, built into the self-regulatory model that governs futures exchanges, says Tamara de Silva at De Silva Law Offices.

• Opinion

  Judicial Restraint Anchors Constitutional Order

  

  Contrasting opinions in two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Trump v. CASA and Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections — demonstrate how the judiciary’s constitutionally entrusted role can easily be preserved or disrupted, and invite renewed attention to the enduring importance of judicial restraint, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.