Treasury Looks To Cut Suspicious Activity Reporting 'Noise'

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's enforcement arm Thursday released clarifications about requirements related to suspicious activity reports, specifying among other things that financial institutions do not have to document their decisions not to file the reports.

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Judge Scuttles CFTC Settlements In $21M Crypto Scam Case

By Jessica Corso

A Florida federal judge has rejected a pair of proposed U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission settlements in a case alleging a $21 million crypto trading scheme, giving the short-staffed agency only a few days to explain why she shouldn't dismiss the allegations.

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Clearview AI's £7.5M GDPR Fine Faces Renewed Scrutiny

By Eddie Beaver

A London tribunal has decided that a lower court was wrong to find that the U.K.'s data protection regulator lacked the power to fine Clearview AI Inc. £7.5 million ($10 million) over its collection of images of U.K. citizens from social media without their knowledge.

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Bessent Touts Trump's 'Community Bank Comeback' Agenda

By Jon Hill

U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday pledged a wide-ranging regulatory push to spur a "community bank comeback," previewing plans that include easing capital rules, updating anti-money laundering standards and supporting expanded deposit insurance.

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Ally Securities Arm To Pay FINRA $850K Over Records Lapses

By Sydney Price

Brokerage firm Ally Invest Securities LLC has agreed to pay the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority $850,000 to settle claims it did not review or maintain millions of relevant communications records between the firm and its customers due to its failure to take reasonable compliance measures and electronic system failures.

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Senate Crypto Bill Weakens State Fraud Protection, Experts Say

By Aislinn Keely

State regulators and legal experts are urging leaders of the Senate Banking Committee to overhaul their draft crypto market structure legislation on the grounds that the current text would weaken state power to police fraud and protect investors in crypto markets and beyond.

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FERC Nixes Ban On Pipeline Work During Project Appeals

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has scrapped a rule barring construction activities on gas infrastructure projects when approvals are being challenged, saying it's no longer necessary and bogs down the development of needed infrastructure.

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Judge Tosses San Juan Climate Suit Against Energy Cos.

By Keith Goldberg

A federal judge has dismissed San Juan, Puerto Rico's lawsuit linking energy giants' alleged concealment of fossil fuels' effects on climate change to a pair of hurricanes, saying it's indistinguishable from a recently dismissed suit brought by other Puerto Rico municipalities.

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Analysis

False-Statement Case Puts Comey In Rare Company

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI director James Comey is the latest addition to the relatively short list of government officials who have been criminally charged over the past several decades with making false statements to Congress.

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Conn. Official Pushed Firm That Hired Family, Witnesses Say

By Aaron Keller

Two local Connecticut officials on Thursday testified that Kosta Diamantis, a former state budget official accused of corruption, pushed them to hire a construction management firm they considered expensive and unnecessary without disclosing that the firm had hired his daughter and was allegedly paying him kickbacks.

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Whistleblower Asks High Court To Revive NASA Fraud Case

By Madeline Lyskawa

A whistleblower is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revive a False Claims Act suit accusing a NASA contractor of overbilling, arguing that the Sixth Circuit wrongly let the government dismiss the case without considering the whistleblower's time and money commitment.

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Paxton Can Move To Close Houston Nonprofit, Panel Says

By Gina Kim

Texas appellate court justices on Thursday said Attorney General Ken Paxton can initiate legal proceedings to take away an immigrant-led nonprofit's corporate charter and tax-exempt status, noting his allegations claiming it failed to comply with its purpose by engaging in political activities show there's probable ground to proceed. 

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Calif. Enacts Law To Boost Pay Parity Protections

By Grace Elletson

A California law aimed at increasing the accuracy of the compensation estimates that state employers are required to include in job postings and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom makes clear that perks such as stock options are considered wages and expands the limitations window for pursuing pay bias claims.

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Biotronik Wants Full 9th Circ. Review Of Whistleblower Ruling

By Tom Lotshaw

Biotronik Inc. urged the full Ninth Circuit to review a panel ruling that revived a whistleblower suit alleging the company used unlawful compensation tactics to boost heart-device sales, saying it should have been tossed based on prior disclosures in news articles.

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Kentucky AG Enters Roblox Fray, Says App Attracts Predators

By Emily Field

The Kentucky attorney general has filed his own suit against Roblox, joining other plaintiffs alleging that the popular gaming platform fails to safeguard against adult sexual predators seeking to target and exploit minors despite assurances to parents that its platform is safe for their children.

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FCC Looks To Scale Down Broadband 'Nutrition' Label Reg

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission will consider making broadband "nutrition" labels a little leaner after the agency during the Biden administration imposed what the industry sees as overly burdensome requirements.

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A Look At Project Crypto's Plans For Digital Asset Regulation

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins' recent announcement of Project Crypto, an agencywide initiative to modernize federal securities regulations, signals a significant shift toward a more flexible regulatory framework that would shape the future of the U.S. digital asset market, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

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AG Watch: Va. Race Spotlights Consumer Protection Priorities

Ahead of the state's attorney general election, Virginia companies should assess how either candidate's approach could affect their compliance posture, with incumbent Jason Miyares promising a business-friendly atmosphere that prioritizes public safety and challenger Jay Jones pledging to focus on economic justice and corporate accountability, says Chuck Slemp at Cozen O’Connor.

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Strategies For Defending Banks In Elder Abuse Cases

Several recent cases demonstrate that banks have plenty of tools to defend against claims they were complicit in financial abuse of older adults, but financial institutions should also continue to educate customers about third-party scams before they happen, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Breaking Down The Intersection Of Right-Of-Publicity Law, AI

Jillian Taylor at Blank Rome examines how existing right-of-publicity law governs artificial intelligence-generated voice-overs, deepfakes and deadbots; highlights a recent New York federal court ruling involving AI-generated voice clones; and offers practical guardrails for using AI without violating the right of publicity.

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Series

Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Impersonators Hit With NY Fraud Claims

By Emily Sawicki

New York Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to take down a slew of businesses whose names are variants of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, accusing them of attempting a scheme to fraudulently redirect checks meant for the global corporate law firm.

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NY Atty General Indicted Following Pressure From Trump

By Lauren Berg

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted in Virginia federal court Thursday on charges related to mortgage fraud, three weeks after President Donald Trump wrote a social media post encouraging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action because James and two other political opponents were "guilty as hell."

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Tort Report: Nuked 'Nuclear Verdict' Stays, Texas Justices Say

By Y. Peter Kang

The fate of a "nuclear verdict" that was used to jump-start tort reform campaigns across the country and a settlement of a suit over a Kiss guitar technician's death lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Jenn Mascott Of WH Counsel's Office Confirmed To 3rd Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47 on Thursday to confirm Jenn Mascott, currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, to the Delaware seat on the Third Circuit.

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7th Circ. Nominee Taibleson Advances To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced on party lines the nomination of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, to serve on the Seventh Circuit, as well as four district judicial nominees and five U.S. attorney nominees.

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Baldoni Atty Faces LA Malpractice Suit Over Client 'Betrayal'

By Emily Sawicki

Entertainment attorney Bryan Freedman has been accused in Los Angeles County Superior Court of turning his back on a former client, allegedly convincing him to sign an unfavorable settlement on trademark claims against "It Ends With Us" star Justin Baldoni, only to later begin representing the actor and director.

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Calif. Supreme Court Justice Martin Jenkins To Retire

By James Mills

California Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Jenkins, the first openly gay man and the third African American man to sit on the bench, will retire at the end of October, the court announced Thursday.

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Weinstein Says Jurors Traded Threats, Tainting Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

Harvey Weinstein's legal team said his June sexual assault convictions were tainted by juror misconduct, including physical threats and an unfounded bribery claim, arguing in a motion for a new trial that a judge refused to properly investigate.

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