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Fintech
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March 15, 2024
Feds Say Bankman-Fried Deserves 40 To 50 Years In Prison
Sam Bankman-Fried should spend 40 to 50 years in prison for engaging in a massive fraud that sank his FTX crypto exchange, Manhattan federal prosecutors argued Friday, pushing back against a request by defense counsel for a sentence of roughly six years.
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March 14, 2024
17 Added To SEC's $300M Suit Alleging Crypto Ponzi Scheme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday expanded its takedown of an alleged $300 million crypto Ponzi scheme with a suit against 17 individuals for their roles in a business that allegedly targeted Latino investors.
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March 14, 2024
CFPB To Mull Official 'Standard Setters' In Open Banking Push
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra outlined plans for his agency to start offering formal accreditation for open banking "standard-setting organizations" as it prepares to finalize a landmark new rule on data-sharing between banks and fintech firms.
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March 14, 2024
Artist Can't Exhibit 'MetaBirkins' NFT After TM Trial Loss
The Los Angeles-based designer behind the "MetaBirkins" non-fungible token is barred from displaying his artwork at a Swedish museum after a federal judge ruled there is a high probability he will use the platform to promote products that a jury previously said infringed trademarks held by luxury French fashion house Hermes International.
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March 14, 2024
Bankman-Fried Taps New Firm For SEC, CFTC Defense
Convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has swapped his Cohen & Gresser LLP counsel for attorneys at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoades LLP in his stayed civil cases.
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March 14, 2024
Court Urged To Give Sullivan & Cromwell $31M For FTX Work
A Delaware bankruptcy judge should give Sullivan & Cromwell LLP about $31 million in fees for its work in FTX Trading Ltd.'s case from August through October 2023, the Chapter 11 fee examiner said.
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March 13, 2024
Crypto Exchanger Admits To Unlicensed Money Biz Charge
A California man on Wednesday copped to a federal charge that he ran an unlicensed money transmitting business, agreeing to forfeit cryptocurrency, cash and precious metals worth over $1.3 million.
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March 13, 2024
Treasury Says Crypto Mixer Is 'Corporation In All But Name'
The U.S. Department of the Treasury told the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that it was justified in sanctioning crypto mixer Tornado Cash because the crypto project "is a corporation in all but name" rather than ownerless computer code, as its users contend.
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March 13, 2024
Robinhood Says Investors Shouldn't Get Discovery Extension
Trading platform Robinhood has told a Florida federal court that it should not be required to produce documents requested by investors in their "eleventh hour" motion to extend discovery in a suit alleging investors were damaged when Robinhood suspended purchases of so-called meme stocks to avoid a purported liquidity problem.
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March 13, 2024
Genesis, Gemini Can't Ax SEC Suit Over Crypto Loan Program
A New York federal judge refused Wednesday to toss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations that crypto exchange Gemini Trust Co. and bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Capital LLC violated securities laws by running the now-defunct investment program Gemini Earn that sold alleged unregistered securities.
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March 13, 2024
CFPB Slams 'Forum-Shopping' Bid To Halt Card Late-Fee Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is urging a Texas federal judge to refuse bank industry groups' request for an emergency injunction over the agency's recently finalized $8 credit card late-fee rule, arguing their case is too flimsy to justify putting the new rule on hold.
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March 13, 2024
North American Deal-Makers Bearish On 2024 M&A
A minority of deal-makers in North America expected increases in mergers and acquisitions activity moving into 2024, though their counterparts in Asia and the EMEA region were significantly more optimistic, a new report from software company SS&C Intralinks shows.
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March 12, 2024
Crypto Bank Anchorage Brings On Ex-SEC Atty As Legal Chief
Crypto bank Anchorage Digital has hired a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission senior attorney and Bain Capital regulatory adviser to head its legal operations after the departure of its general counsel, the bank announced early Wednesday.
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March 12, 2024
Terraform Can Retain Dentons In Ch. 11, Firm Will Return $48M
Terraform Labs can hire Dentons US LLP as its special counsel in its Chapter 11 case, a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday, with the firm agreeing to return $48 million of a $70 million retainer that was hit with objections.
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March 12, 2024
Wells Fargo Can Arbitrate Cardholders' Suit, Conduent Can't
New Mexico residents who claim Wells Fargo mishandled reports of fraud involving their state-issued debit cards will see their proposed class action claims against the bank sent to arbitration — but their claims against a third-party contractor can stay in court, a federal magistrate judge has determined.
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March 12, 2024
Binance Investors Must Wait To Depose Ex-CEO, Judge Says
A Florida federal judge has said that the investors suing crypto exchange Binance over alleged money laundering and securities law violations don't need to rush to depose its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, now that his criminal sentencing has been delayed.
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March 12, 2024
Treasury Sanctions More Iran-Backed Terrorist Operatives
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday unveiled new sanctions against a handful of individuals with ties to the designated terrorist group Al-Ashtar Brigades, singling out "key Iran-based operatives" as well as a financier for the group.
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March 12, 2024
IP Offices Tell Congress Legal Changes Not Needed For NFTs
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office told Congress in a report Tuesday about the intellectual property implications of nonfungible tokens, identifying opportunities and concerns about the technology, while advising against changing IP law or policy as a result.
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March 12, 2024
OCC's Hsu Says 'Operational Resilience' Regs May Be Coming
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's acting chief, Michael Hsu, said Tuesday that federal regulators are looking at pursuing new rules to bolster larger banks' ability to withstand and recover from external and internal disruptions to their critical operations.
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March 12, 2024
Crypto Mixer Operator Found Guilty Of Money Laundering
A Washington, D.C., jury on Tuesday found the operator of crypto mixing service Bitcoin Fog guilty of facilitating tens of millions of dollars in transactions linked to illicit activities on darknet marketplaces.
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March 12, 2024
TransUnion Unit Pays $37M On Credit Card Data Misuse Claim
TransUnion's data unit Argus Information & Advisory Services will pay $37 million to the federal government to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by allegedly misusing anonymized credit card data it obtained from banks under contracts with federal regulators over a decade-long period, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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March 12, 2024
Paul Weiss' Digital Tech Chair On AI's Promises And Perils
While generative artificial intelligence promises to increase access to justice and kill the billable hour, we don't know how to prevent it from unleashing misinformation and disinformation on the electorate, says Katherine Forrest, a former Manhattan federal judge who is now chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's digital technology group.
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March 11, 2024
Forex Firm Wants CFTC Sanctioned For 'Bad Faith' Behavior
A foreign exchange firm accused by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission of defrauding customers is calling on a New Jersey federal judge to sanction the agency for a "pattern of misconduct" that includes knowingly submitting false statements to the court and attempting to intrude on attorney-client privilege.
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March 11, 2024
Coinbase Asks 3rd Circ. To Force SEC To Set Rules For Crypto
Crypto exchange Coinbase asked the Third Circuit on Monday to force the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to set rules of the road for digital assets in an opening brief that argued the agency failed to provide "a reasoned explanation" for why it denied an earlier request for crypto rulemaking.
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March 11, 2024
FDIC's Crypto Caution Has 'Significant Downsides,' Hill Says
Travis Hill, vice chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said Monday that the agency's cautious attitude toward cryptocurrency needs more nuance and risks sending the wrong message to banks that they shouldn't even "bother trying" to get involved with anything crypto-related.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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Grayscale Win Over SEC May Finally Herald Spot Bitcoin ETPs
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve any exchange-traded product based on spot bitcoin prices, a recent D.C. Circuit order that the SEC revisit Grayscale Investments’ application to offer shares in such a fund may signify the beginning of the end to the crypto industry's long quest to establish these products, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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Calif. GHG Disclosure Law Will Affect Companies Worldwide
California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which will require comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions disclosures from large companies operating in the state, will mean compliance challenges for a wide range of industries, nationally and globally, as the law's requirements will ultimately trickle out and down, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
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Clues On High Court Outcome In CFPB Constitutionality Case
At oral argument in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to have significant reservations with finding the bureau's funding mechanism unconstitutional, which likely means the CFPB will continue on its path set back in 2010, says Jim Sandy at McGlinchey Stafford.
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New DOJ Roles Underscore National Security Focus
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent creation of two new leadership positions signals to the private sector that federal law enforcement is pouring resources into corporate investigations to identify potential national security violations, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Fintech-Bank Partnerships Hold Potential, But Tread Carefully
A study recently released by the Federal Reserve Board highlights the federal preemptions that financial technology lenders can take advantage of to lend profitably in certain states, though fintech-bank partnerships face some regulatory challenges as well, say attorneys at Venable.
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Series
Calif. Banking Brief: The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3
Among the most significant developments in the California financial services sphere last quarter, the Legislature passed a new Digital Financial Assets Law, and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation continued its campaign against facilitation of out-of-state loans, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Unearthing The Lesser-Known 'Buried Facts' Doctrine
A New York federal judge’s recent suggestion that the “buried facts” doctrine may be applicable in the fraud trial of FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried should serve as a reminder to attorneys in all kinds of cases involving corporate disclosures that this lesser-known rule could torpedo their defense, say Corban Rhodes and Li Yu at DiCello Levitt.
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Opinion
Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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When And How Companies Should Build An AI Strategy
Once a company has decided to engage with artificial intelligence, there are myriad steps that need to be taken, beginning with the creation of an AI leadership team that has deep knowledge about the company's business risks and is highly respected by senior management, say Judith Rinearson and Corey Bieber at K&L Gates.
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Consumer Finance Cos. Must Seriously Consider Complaints
In light of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent action against alternative finance company Tempoe for failing to act on consumer complaints, other businesses that offer financial products or services should implement robust complaint response functions to mitigate or avoid similar encounters with the bureau, says Josh Burlingham at Goodwin.
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Data Furnishers Should Watch CFPB Plans For Class Actions
Companies should follow the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rulemaking process as it considers allowing class actions against data brokers that provide incorrect consumer information to credit reporting agencies, a move that could rewrite the legal risks of participating in the consumer reporting ecosystem, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Calif. Delete Act Paves Way For Data Broker Accountability
California's recent enactment of a law that will allow state residents to delete personal information held by some 500 data brokers shows there is renewed focus on holding an extremely lucrative but underregulated industry accountable — but doing so may require both legislation and litigation, says Karina Puttieva at Cohen Milstein.
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DeFi Enforcement Is Growing, Despite CFTC Dissonance
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recently settled actions against operators of three decentralized finance protocols appear to be part of an enhanced enforcement push, though commissioners don’t agree on how to promote constructive regulation, say Michael Philipp and Sarah Riddell at Morgan Lewis.