Analysis

AI Agents Raise Stakes For Banks As Legal Fights Loom

By Jon Hill

As major banks move to keep artificial intelligence agents from accessing customer accounts, financial services attorneys say the growing use of these tools in financial transactions could test the limits of existing consumer protection laws and set the stage for litigation.

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Interview

SEC's Top Cop On Building A 'Nimble' Enforcement Division

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lost hundreds of enforcement employees and seen significant restructuring of its regional offices over the past two years, but the Division of Enforcement's director said that hasn't stopped him from building a "nimble" program that is focused on more than just the number of cases filed.

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50 Cos. Object To Listing On OKX Tokenized Stock Venue

By Aislinn Keely

Fifty publicly traded firms including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and Nvidia have directed the tokenized stock trading venue OKXICE not to list blockchain-based forms of their shares, according to the crypto platform's latest disclosure.

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Lowenstein, Loeb Guide Tokenization Firm's $350M SPAC Deal

By Katryna Perera

Fintech firm tZERO Group Inc. and FG Imperii Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced Monday they have agreed to a $350 million merger, guided by Lowenstein Sandler LLP and Loeb & Loeb LLP.

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Coinbase Says NJ Dropped $5M Staking Securities Action

By Hailey Konnath

Coinbase said Monday that New Jersey has dropped a lawsuit accusing the crypto exchange of offering unregistered securities through its staking services and rescinded a 2023 cease-and-desist order that barred it from offering the rewards-generating product in the state.

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ATM Operators To Ask DC Circ To Revive Visa, Mastercard Suit

By Bryan Koenig

ATM operators gave notice that they'll ask the D.C. Circuit to revive their long-running certified class action accusing Visa and Mastercard of an anticompetitive agreement forcing them into higher network fees.

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Fintech Startup OPay Halts IPO Following Regulatory Inquiry

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Nigerian digital bank and financial technology startup OPay, which announced the pricing of its $304 million initial public offering Friday, told U.S. regulators Monday that it is delaying its planned public debut.

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Kirkland ITC Patent Litigator Leaves For Wolf Greenfield In DC

By Dani Kass

Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC has expanded its litigation team in Washington, D.C., with a U.S. International Trade Commission-focused intellectual property specialist from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the firm announced Monday.

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Opinion

A Capital Markets Agenda For The New Congress

When the 120th Congress convenes in January, it should place capital markets issues near the top of its to-do list, with a focus on legislation that can make the public company model more competitive, says David Kaufman at Thompson Coburn.

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How Banks Can Better Prepare For Wire Fraud Risks

Recent schemes serve as a reminder that banks can better limit liability for fraudulent wire transfers by documenting commercially reasonable security procedures, following them consistently, and addressing beneficiary name and account number discrepancies, says Shelli Clarkston at Spencer Fane.

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BigLaw Attys Step Up To Help Voters In Midterm Elections

By Jack Karp and Lynn LaRowe

Attorneys from several BigLaw firms are volunteering across the country to make sure voters don't run into problems casting their ballots or having those ballots counted in Tuesday's midterm elections.

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Brief

Winston Taylor, DLA Piper Match Milbank Pay Scale

By Tracey Read

Two more BigLaw firms have opted to match the new associate salary scale set by Milbank LLP in June.

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Analysis

Judiciary Stuck In AI Rulemaking Rut As Attys, Judges Protest

By Jeff Overley

Judiciary efforts to enact rules for the artificial intelligence age are mired in concerns about burdens on litigators, the tensions between burgeoning technology and snail-paced policymaking, and how to even define AI. And despite vivid examples of AI's risks, officials are inching toward mothballing the prominent project.

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Judge Orders Chicago US Atty To Testify In Misconduct Probe

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge has ordered Chicago's top federal prosecutor and three assistant U.S. attorneys to testify under oath about potentially false statements made to her in a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case against anti-ICE protesters, saying Monday that the government's shifting explanations about communications with DOJ leadership suggest prosecutors misled the court about outside involvement in the prosecution.

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NY State Bar Says Attys Can't Bill Time Saved By AI

By Andrea Keckley

The New York State Bar Association has told lawyers not to bill clients for the time they saved by using artificial intelligence, or for the time it took to learn a new AI tool.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week allowed a stockholder claim over R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion buyout to proceed, while investors in Meta Platforms Inc. sued to block a stock restructuring they say would let CEO Mark Zuckerberg sell billions of dollars in shares without giving up control of the company.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission caused a pair of playground equipment makers to abandon their planned merger, Canadian enforcers upended a deal for the Green Giant brand in the country and state attorneys general reached settlements for several regional deals.

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