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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How 3 Courts Are Approaching AI Adoption

By Emily Sawicki

The rules surrounding artificial intelligence experimentation in courts run the gamut from court systems offering proprietary tools and training to unwritten policies that essentially amount to don't ask, don't tell.

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Analysis

With Data And AI, Whistleblowers Set Off An FCA Tidal Wave

By Phillip Bantz

Whistleblowers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to comb through public data in search of potential False Claims Act cases, unleashing a flood of new complaints that are shaking up white collar defense and government enforcement efforts while subjecting more companies to potentially false allegations, experts say.

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Conn. Justices Threaten Sanctions For AI Errors

By Andrea Keckley

The Connecticut Supreme Court has threatened to sanction GLG Law LLC and one of its attorneys for submitting documents in two cases "that misrepresented the law through the use of generative artificial intelligence," according to a Tuesday order that summoned them to appear in court next month.

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Atty DQ Over Inadvertent Doc Disclosure Overturned

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state appeals court has upended the disqualification of defense counsel in a sexual battery suit, saying documents undermining the case that were accidentally produced via a Dropbox link were not privileged.

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DOJ Nominee Questioned About Deleted Social Media Posts

By Courtney Bublé

A nominee for a top U.S. Department of Justice position, who is a real estate attorney turned tech entrepreneur, came under fire on Wednesday for past social media posts that he's now deleted.

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Booker, Cassidy Press DOJ On Trump Immunity Deal

By Courtney Bublé

Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., wrote to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday expressing "serious concerns" about the alleged immunity for President Donald Trump, his family and businesses in the controversial settlement he reached with the IRS.

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