OKX's Legal Bench Gets Overhaul From Former NY Regulator

By Aislinn Keely

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX made a splash this week when it announced that former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will lead a new joint venture with Intercontinental Exchange. But behind the scenes, a longtime Cuomo associate has been quietly remaking the once-embattled company's legal department into a "competitive advantage" as the business seeks a foothold on Wall Street.

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Morgan Stanley Gets Initial OCC Nod To Launch 'Digital Trust'

By Jon Hill

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given an initial green light for Morgan Stanley to move forward with its plans to launch a cryptocurrency-focused trust bank, a first for one of Wall Street's banking giants.

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FTX Exec's Wife Gets Trial Date In Campaign Finance Case

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge Wednesday scheduled a November trial for crypto-lobbyist Michelle Bond, as she seeks to beat charges alleging she agreed with her husband, jailed former FTX executive Ryan Salame, to take illegal campaign cash from the bankrupt exchange.

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Kalshi Sues Ill. Officials Over Sports Event Contracts Law

By Celeste Bott

Kalshi sued Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other top state officials in Illinois federal court Tuesday to block the enforcement of a new law that requires prediction-market exchanges offering sports event contracts to obtain an Illinois gambling license and comply with state gambling regulations, saying federal law preempts those requirements.

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Kentucky Is Latest State To Catch CFTC Prediction Market Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has hit back against Kentucky regulators with a suit defending its jurisdiction over event contracts, after the state brought enforcement actions against several prediction market platforms alleging they violate the state's consumer protection and gambling laws by offering unlicensed sports wagering.

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Dem Lawmakers Probe SEC On Brokerage AI Agents

By Sarah Jarvis

Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee have urged U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins to detail the agency's perspective on brokerage and investment advice provided through agentic artificial intelligence, saying agentic trading by retail brokerage platforms "raises serious questions for investor protection, broker-dealer responsibilities, market integrity, and the accountability of AI developers."

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SEC Pressed To Curtail Hedge Fund, VC Reporting Rules

By Jessica Corso

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Ropes & Gray LLP are urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to rewrite the definition of "hedge fund" before putting into place proposed regulations on what those funds have to disclose about their holdings.

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Mass. AG Looks To Add Underage User Claims To Kalshi Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

The state of Massachusetts wants to expand its lawsuit alleging Kalshi offers unlicensed sports betting to add claims that the prediction market permits users under 21 and people on the state's gambling self-exclusion list to place bets.

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Investment Fund Hit With Class Action For Claimed $60M Loss

By Abigail Harrison

Lack of oversight and transparency within a private investment fund resulted in the purported loss of nearly $60 million after a board member is said to have siphoned the money away, according to a putative class action filed in the North Carolina Business Court.

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FDIC Proposal Takes Bank-Like AML Approach To Stablecoins

Rather than craft a bespoke regime for stablecoin issuers, a recently proposed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule builds a technology-neutral Bank Secrecy Act compliance framework under the Genius Act, firmly anchoring stablecoins within the U.S. financial regulatory perimeter, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

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A Midyear Look At Antiterrorism Act Jurisprudence And Policy

Plaintiffs have filed comparably fewer new actions under the Antiterrorism Act this year, though a handful of key decisions further defined the statute’s aiding-and-abetting standard and highlighted continuing risks for financial services companies, say attorneys at Skadden.

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Why Highly Specialized Experts May Risk Exclusion At Trial

Expert witnesses with highly specific areas of focus may be vulnerable to exclusion in court, making it important for attorneys to check how potential witnesses' qualifications can be bolstered by their publications and other professional activities, say Evan Weisberg and Christopher Cunio at Hunton, and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

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Groombridge Wu Tops Milbank Pay Scale For Associates

By Kevin Penton

Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone LLP is the latest firm to top the pay scale for associates announced earlier this month by Milbank LLP, with attorneys set to earn as much as $470,000.

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Senate Confirming Judges Faster Than In Trump's 1st Term

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate has confirmed 45 judges in the second Trump term, outpacing the rate of his first administration, Senate Republicans announced on Thursday.

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Attys Urged To Challenge Clients Who Demand AI Research

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge urged attorneys during a Thursday sanctions hearing to push back against clients who demand lawyers use generative artificial intelligence tools to conduct legal research, saying the technology is no substitute for professional judgment and discretion because it "aims to please" and can misstate the law.

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Lack Of Evidence Sinks Insurance Fraud Case, Atty Says

By Emily Sawicki

A Louisiana law firm and lawyer found guilty of criminal conspiracy and wire fraud for staging vehicle crashes as part of a scheme to defraud insurance carriers and trucking companies are seeking acquittal or a new trial, arguing that federal prosecutors failed to support their claims with evidence.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Blasts 'Inflated' DOJ Tax Math

By Jared Foretek

Convicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein and federal prosecutors are clashing again over their dramatically divergent sentencing recommendations, with the defense accusing the government of presenting a "one-dimensional caricature" of the famed lawyer in seeking an eight-year sentence, and prosecutors accusing him of potentially deleting "secret chats" with his gambling backers.

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Feds Say Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Was Let Off Easy

By Nadia Dreid

Both federal prosecutors and a Stephen Miller-founded public interest group believe that a Maryland federal judge let a woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off too easy because of her gender identity and want the Fourth Circuit to order resentencing.

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Quinn Emanuel Says 3M Fee Proposal Undervalues Its Work

By Carolina Bolado

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has objected to a special master's recommendation on the allocation of common benefit fees in the $6 billion settlement that ended multidistrict litigation against 3M over allegedly faulty combat earplugs, saying the amount doesn't value the "length, extent and impact" of the firm's work.

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