The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited innovation exemption, permitting certain crypto projects and liquidity providers to support tokenized stock trading for a five-year period without registering as exchanges or dealers.
Law360
Fintech
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

SEC_Chairman_Paul_Atkins_42121.jpg

SEC Issues Innovation Exemption For Tokenized Stock Trading

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited innovation exemption, permitting certain crypto projects and liquidity providers to support tokenized stock trading for a five-year period without registering as exchanges or dealers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Broker TradeZero Fined Over Data Breach Tied To Chatbot

By Julie Manganis

An unvetted chatbot and lax security policies allowed hackers to access personal and financial information of nearly 15,000 customers of online brokerage TradeZero America, the Massachusetts Securities Division said Thursday in announcing a $750,000 fine against the company.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

For Single-Party FTC, Easier Suits May Come With A Cost

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission has ditched its historical multimember, multiparty ethos for a one-party regime in which fewer dissents might make it easier for Chairman Andrew Ferguson to pursue his agenda, but it also forecloses the potential "moderating influence" that comes with winning broad buy-in from commissioners of two parties.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

POLICY & REGULATION

FDIC Pitches Plan For Faster Bank Merger Reviews

By Jon Hill

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. moved Thursday to revamp its procedures for vetting bank mergers, floating a package of proposed changes that could speed up the agency's reviews for many transactions and lead to fewer getting held up over competition concerns.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Republicans Move Trump's CFPB Pick Ahead To Full Senate

By Jon Hill

President Donald Trump's latest pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved closer to confirmation Thursday as Republican lawmakers voted to advance his nomination to the U.S. Senate floor.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Canada Commits To Trade Initiatives With EU, Southeast Asia

By Dylan Moroses

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday committed to work with European Union officials to enhance the trading relationship between the bloc and Canada as the country's top trade official is scheduled to visit major partners in Asia in the coming days to advance negotiations on trade agreements.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

Dickinson Wright Denied Fees For SEC Trade Suspension Win

By Katryna Perera

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has denied a request from Dickinson Wright PLLC for roughly $572,000 in attorney fees for its representation of Nano Magic in getting the company's COVID-19-era trading suspension overturned in 2024.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DEALS

Deals Rumor Mill

OpenAI Aims For $1.2T Valuation, More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI is mulling a private funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at $1.2 trillion; Blackstone is looking to raise $8 billion for its latest Green Infrastructure Credit Fund; and Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings is looking to raise $10 billion by listing American depositary receipts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

How AI Fraud Alerts May Raise Banks' Elder Exploitation Risk

As banks deploy artificial intelligence fraud detection, documented alerts and review decisions may shape elder exploitation claims, discovery disputes and defenses over what institutions knew before releasing suspect payments, say Michael Gilfix and Benjamin Gicqueau at Gilfix & La Poll.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Attys 'Itching' To Join Congressional Probes Of Trump Admin

By Phillip Bantz

Efforts to recruit high-powered lawyers to Capitol Hill to potentially lead congressional committee probes into the various dealings of President Donald Trump's administration are gaining momentum as Democrats push to retake control of Congress in the quickly approaching midterm elections.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-DOJ Chief Lambastes 'Abuses Of Power' In Goldstein Case

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice constantly made false statements in its criminal case against famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein, and his convictions must be erased because "prosecutorial misconduct pervaded every stage of the proceedings," a former DOJ prosecutor told the Fourth Circuit.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Sullivan

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, a group backed by Michael Dell's family office and Sequence Holdings acquires a majority interest in The Baldwin Group, May Mobility merges with a blank check company, and Infineon Technologies sells its memory chip business to Winbond Electronics.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Wis. Judge Keeps License Amid ICE Conviction Appeal

By Ryan Boysen

The ex-Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing an ICE arrest will remain an attorney in good standing while she appeals, after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declined to suspend her law license.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Richards Layton Litigator Selected For Chancery Seat In Del.

By Rose Krebs

A Richards Layton & Finger PA attorney has been nominated by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to serve on the bench of the nationally important Chancery Court, a venue that adjudicates some of the biggest corporate law cases.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Questions Whether 'Lawfare' Fund Fight Is Really Moot

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge seemed unlikely to toss a challenge to the Trump administration's nixed "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and tax audit immunity for the Trump family Friday, saying she worries the fund could be revived in a different form down the road.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Chief US District Judge In SC To Take Senior Status Oct. 1

By Courtney Bublé

Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain of the District of South Carolina has informed the president that he will be taking semiretired status on Oct. 1, according to an update posted Friday by the federal judiciary.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Starbucks settled a high-profile discrimination suit with Florida over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, agreeing not to use race- or sex-based goals in hiring and promoting. And the SEC floated changing how publicly traded companies seek shareholder input, including promising to end one pathway for shareholders to place their proposals on corporate ballots. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Reed Smith Defends Docs Production In Ex-Atty's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

Reed Smith LLP urged a New Jersey court on Thursday to reject an "impulsive" motion from a former attorney suing it for gender discrimination seeking to strike its answer and affirmative defenses.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schemery Zicolello leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Third Circuit panel ruled that police cannot conduct warrantless strip searches outside of jails or prisons absent consent or an emergency.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Slate blue promo that reads Law360 Pulse Pro Bono Leaders dark blue promo that reads 2026 Rising Stars

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bankers Association

Anthropic PBC

Apollo Global Management LLC

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Bank of America Corp.

Broadcom Inc.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Conference of State Bank Supervisors

Corporate Legal Operations Consortium

DePuy Synthes Cos.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

Financial Times Group Ltd.

Finastra

George Washington University

Google LLC

HSBC Holdings PLC

Infineon Technologies AG

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Johnson & Johnson

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Kioxia Corp.

KnowBe4 Inc.

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Major League Baseball Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Morgan Stanley

National Treasury Employees Union

New York University

Nike Inc.

Ohio State University

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Otsuka America Inc.

Phantom Technologies Inc.

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp.

S&S Worldwide Inc.

Starbucks Corp.

State Bar of California

Target Corp.

Tesla Inc.

The Baldwin Group

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

TotalEnergies SE

Toyota Motor Corp.

TripAdvisor Inc.

U.S. Bancorp

Vista Equity Partners Management LLC

Walmart Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akin Gump

Alston & Bird

Bowman & Brooke

Carmagnola & Ritardi

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

Davis Polk

Dickinson Wright

Donohue Brown

Dunn Isaacson Rhee

Eckert Seamans

Fabyanske Westra

Fenwick & West

Fish & Richardson

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Gilfix & La Poll

Greenberg Traurig

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Jenner & Block

Kasowitz LLP

Kellogg Hansen

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Lewis Brisbois

Lowenstein Sandler

Miller & Chevalier

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Morrison & Foerster

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Richards Layton

Schemery Zicolello

Skadden Arps

Sterne Kessler

Stoel Rives

Sullivan & Cromwell

Tollefson Bradley

Venable LLP

Wachtell Lipton

Weil Gotshal

Wiley Rein

Wilson Sonsini

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Blue Lake Rancheria

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

European Commission

European Parliament

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Trade Commission

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Internal Revenue Service

New York Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Nevada

Wisconsin Supreme Court