Fintech

  • February 13, 2024

    Crypto Exec Wants IRS Summonses Quashed, Citing Privacy

    A cryptocurrency executive charged in a 2020 bitcoin fraud investigation was never notified about Internal Revenue Service summonses later sent to two banks that sought his and his company's financial records, he told a Texas federal court, arguing that the summonses should be quashed.

  • February 13, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    A pizza chain, an energy company, a medical-device maker and a Manila casino were all hit with book-and-record demands last week in Delaware's Court of Chancery. A shoe company also walked away from a shareholder suit, two cryptocurrency companies tallied the costs of a broken merger, and three cigarette giants argued over Florida settlement payments.

  • February 13, 2024

    Fintech Group Of The Year: Sullivan & Cromwell

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's fintech group led some of 2023's most headline-grabbing crypto cases, from steering the bankruptcy of FTX to defending Coinbase in a landmark securities registration suit, earning the firm a spot among Law360's 2023 Fintech Groups of the Year.

  • February 12, 2024

    'Pig Butchering' Scheme Took Down Small Bank, Fed IG Says

    The July collapse of a Kansas community bank appears tied to a type of crypto scam known as pig butchering, enabled by a failure of internal controls that allowed its former CEO to allegedly siphon off enough money to force the bank's closure, according to a new report by a bank regulatory watchdog.

  • February 12, 2024

    Bank Trade Chief Warns Of Rules 'Masquerading As Guidance'

    The American Bankers Association's chief executive fired off a warning shot at federal regulators on Monday over their use of agency guidance, cautioning that several recent documents addressing certain bank fees and other practices are no substitute for formal rulemaking.

  • February 12, 2024

    TradeStation Fined By FINRA For Supervisory Failures

    Broker-dealer TradeStation Securities agreed to pay $700,000 to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to settle claims that it failed to properly use anti-money laundering programs to alert the firm of suspicious trading by its customers, and that it did not implement proper procedures for the sales of certain securities.

  • February 12, 2024

    Crypto Pastor Enlisted Family For Scam, Colo. Officials Say

    A pastor accused of running a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme targeting Christians also recruited his father, in-laws and other church leaders to sell the worthless coin in exchange for commissions of up to $32,500, Colorado's securities commissioner said Monday.

  • February 12, 2024

    FTX Says User Agreements Don't Sink $157M Clawback

    A lawsuit to recoup cryptocurrency withdrawn from defunct trading platform FTX Trading Ltd. in the run-up to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy shouldn't be tossed, FTX told a Delaware bankruptcy court, saying the court can't determine who owned the $157.3 million of digital assets held in customer accounts at the motion to dismiss stage.

  • February 12, 2024

    ByteDance Can't Pause TikTok's EU 'Gatekeeper' Designation

    A European court has rejected a bid by TikTok's parent company ByteDance to pause the video-sharing service's designation as a "gatekeeper" ahead of a March deadline to comply with new obligations under the Digital Markets Act to provide users more choice.

  • February 12, 2024

    Cannabis Fintech Withheld $500K In $7.5M Deal, Suit Says

    A Washington state-based fintech firm that provides payment solutions to cannabis retailers failed to pay the final $500,000 in a $7.5 million deal to buy a rival company, according to a breach-of-contract suit filed in Seattle federal court.

  • February 12, 2024

    Financial Services Co. Underpaid Women Execs, Ex-VP Says

    Trustly Inc. vastly underpaid female executives compared to their male colleagues in keeping with a misogynistic "tech-bro culture," according to a former vice president who claimed in a complaint filed in New Jersey federal court that she was discharged for raising concerns about the pay disparity.

  • February 12, 2024

    Frank Execs Say JPMorgan Is Withholding Communications

    Charlie Javice and Olivier Amar, the indicted former executives of student loan startup Frank, asked a Manhattan federal judge Saturday for an extension of time to decide on raising an advice-of-counsel defense at their trial, saying they can't make a decision yet because JPMorgan is withholding discovery of their communications with Frank's general counsel.

  • February 12, 2024

    Online Marketplace Wish Sold At Steep Discount To $1.1B IPO

    ContextLogic Inc. announced Monday that it would sell off its operating assets and liabilities, including the e-commerce platform Wish, to Qoo10 for $173 million, in a deal that represents a significant drop-off from Wish's $1.1 billion initial public offering in 2020 and that was driven by respective legal advisers Sidley Austin LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP.

  • February 12, 2024

    Genesis Hit With Objections To $1.6B In Grayscale Trust Sales

    Cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global is facing opposition to its effort to sell about $1.6 billion worth of shares in Grayscale Investments trusts to raise money for its Chapter 11 estate, with Grayscale and Genesis' parent company lodging objections to the proposed transactions in New York bankruptcy court.

  • February 12, 2024

    Fintech Group Of The Year: Skadden

    Within one month, the fintech practice group at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP secured the dismissal of class actions against Coinbase — one of the largest U.S. digital asset platforms — and MakerDAO, a leading decentralized finance system, earning it a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Fintech Groups of the Year.

  • February 09, 2024

    Merrill Customer Sues Over Lax WhatsApp Supervision

    A Merrill customer has filed suit against two of the broker-dealer's branch managers for allegedly failing to supervise advisers who used WhatsApp to communicate about risky options strategies that ultimately wiped out his account.

  • February 09, 2024

    SafeMoon CEO Finally Gets Bail In $300M Crypto Fraud Case

    A New York federal judge on Friday agreed to let the CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency asset company SafeMoon out on bail, after a monthslong, multijurisdictional tug of war over fears he would flee rather than face trial over accusations that he bilked investors out of $300 million.

  • February 09, 2024

    New SEC Dealer Rule Leaves Crypto Pros Feeling In The Dark

    A newly finalized rule from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requiring certain traders to register with the agency as dealers will set near-unworkable compliance hurdles for some crypto firms — chief among them determining who will have to register, attorneys say.

  • February 09, 2024

    Robinhood Inks $9M Deal To End Promotional Text Suit

    Stock-trading app Robinhood has agreed to pay $9 million to resolve proposed class claims that its "Refer a Friend" program caused non-users to receive unsolicited promotional texts, in violation of Washington state law, consumers told a Seattle federal judge Thursday.

  • February 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Alice Rejection Of Financial Trading Patent

    The Federal Circuit has backed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to reject an application for a patent on electronic trading of financial instruments, affirming a finding that the patent didn't actually cover something patentable.

  • February 09, 2024

    SEC's 'Orwellian' Trade Database Is Unlawful, 11th Circ. Told

    Citadel Securities LLC and the American Securities Association have laid out their objections to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission directive that requires brokerage firms to fund the buildup of a database known as the consolidated audit trail, telling the Eleventh Circuit that the tool created an "Orwellian surveillance regime" that puts American investors at risk of being hacked.

  • February 09, 2024

    SEC To Collect $81M In Fines In Latest Texting Probe Cases

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that it has secured agreements to pay more than $81 million in fines from 16 firms over their employees' use of personal messaging apps to do business, though the agency added that one set of firms ended up paying much less for having self-reported the violations.

  • February 09, 2024

    Fintech Group Of The Year: Morrison Foerster

    Morrison Foerster LLP's fintech team counseled technology startups as well as financial agencies on handling cyberattacks, strategic partnerships and acquisitions, guiding a client's $220 million digital asset recovery effort and advising Experian on the launch of a full-service digital banking platform, earning the firm a spot among Law360's 2023 Fintech Groups of the Year.

  • February 09, 2024

    Off The Bench: NCAA NIL Rule Lives; Dartmouth Players Win

    In this week's Off The Bench, a Tennessee judge sends mixed signals to the NCAA in the fight over its NIL recruiting ban, Dartmouth's basketball players tally a win for college athletes' unionization efforts, and DraftKings tries to stop rival Fanatics from benefiting from a former executive who switched sides. If you were on the sidelines over the past week, Law360 is here to clue you in on the biggest sports and betting stories that had our readers talking.

  • February 09, 2024

    NY AG Seeks $2B More From Genesis Parent Co. In Fraud Suit

    New York's attorney general filed an expanded complaint Friday accusing Digital Currency Group and other cryptocurrency companies of defrauding customers out of more than $3 billion, shortly after reaching a settlement with its subsidiary Genesis Global Capital in its bankruptcy case.

Expert Analysis

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Decoding The Digital Asset Landscape In Bankruptcy

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    Recent cases show the explosion of cryptocurrency as an asset class has created new challenges for debtors-in-possession, bankruptcy trustees, and federal and state receivers, and fiduciaries will have to consider a number of legal and practical considerations when determining how to manage these assets in insolvency, say David Castleman at Otterbourg and Anthony Facciano at Stretto.

  • Keeping Tabs On Fight Over Board Diversity Rule At 5th Circ.

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    Attorneys at Mintz dissect why the Fifth Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to Nasdaq’s new requirement that listed companies disclose board diversity data, assess how a petition calling the decision pro-discrimination may fare, and discuss where companies that have yet to meet the exchange's diversity goals go next.

  • What To Expect From California's Digital Assets Regime

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    California’s recent passage of two new laws that create a broad licensing, oversight and enforcement framework for the virtual currency arena will likely affect most digital asset companies doing business in the U.S. when it goes into effect in January 2025, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Why SEC Is Worried AI Could Lead To Recession, Racial Bias

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    U.S. Securities Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler recently indicated he believes the agency should have a seat at the artificial intelligence regulatory table, which he said, if left unchecked, could lead to systemic racial bias, IP issues and even a recession, says Nancy Wojtas at Cooley.

  • Preparing Bank Customer Service For New CFPB Scrutiny

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    With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau indicating it will soon use a lesser-known Dodd-Frank provision to pursue large banks that unreasonably impede consumers seeking account information, all financial institutions should look for potential obstructions posed by their customer service procedures, says Matthew Walker at Vorys.

  • New CFTC Enforcement Policy May Finally Deter Recidivists

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recently announced policies designed to crack down on market misconduct recidivists may finally raise the stakes enough to motivate institutions to improve their compliance infrastructure, say Dan Chirlin and Marc Armas at Walden Macht.

  • Key Points From NY Regulators' Crypto Listing Update

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    Virtual currency entities should review the New York State Department of Financial Services' recently proposed guidance for self-certification of coins, which features heightened listing standards and a new delisting framework, and evaluate its impact on their existing practices and coin-listing procedures, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Inside The Current State Of International Crypto Compliance

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    A recent Financial Action Task Force report regarding adoption of international virtual asset compliance standards reflects a fairly grim state of affairs, but a broader look at providers' risk mitigation efforts and developments is encouraging, say Leah Moushey and Franco Jofré at Miller & Chevalier, and Meredith Fitzpatrick at Forensic Risk Alliance.

  • Why Public Cos. Should Also Comply With SEC's Names Rule

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's updated Names Rule specifically clarifies that funds must consider ESG factors in their investment strategies if their names so imply, public companies should also heed the message and conduct business consistent with the way they market or advertise themselves, says Spencer Feldman at Olshan Frome.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: The UK

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    Following Brexit, the U.K. has adopted a different approach to regulating environmental, social and governance factors from the European Union — an approach that focuses on climate disclosures by U.K.-regulated entities, while steering clear of the more ambitious objectives pursued by the EU, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes

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    Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.

  • Planning Compliance For Updated FinCEN Reporting Rules

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    Although the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's reporting deadline for beneficial ownership information may seem far off, companies should act now to determine which corporate entities must report and what information must be collected, given the potential time, resources and legal questions involved, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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