CFTC Takes 1st Steps Toward Prediction Market Regulations

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened the door Thursday to promised prediction market regulation, calling for public feedback on what such rules might look like while laying out the staff's view on the current rules that the platforms should follow in order to offer betting on sports and other events.

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Fed's Bowman Previews Plan To Rewrite Bank Capital Rules

By Jon Hill

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said Thursday that federal regulators will move next week to propose a sweeping overhaul of U.S. bank capital rules, previewing changes that are expected to result in a "modest" net easing for larger banks.

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Feds Rip 'Incoherent' SBF Claim Of Political Weaponization

By Aislinn Keely

Federal prosecutors fired back at convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's pro se bid for a new trial as a "transparent attempt" to further allegedly false narratives that his collapsed crypto exchange was solvent, and he was a victim of political retribution.

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Analysis

IP Notebook: TM Use At High Court, Popeye, Kurt Cobain

By Ivan Moreno

This edition of emerging copyright and trademark cases and trends looks at an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court that questions the definition of trademark "use in commerce" under the Lanham Act and a battle over the use of "Popeye" as a trademark.

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Brief

Democrats Vow To Oversee DOJ's Reported Binance Inquiry

By Sarah Jarvis

Three Democratic U.S. senators said Thursday that they will oversee a reported investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into potential Iran sanctions violations carried out on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

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PayPal Execs Hit With Derivative Suit Over 2027 Forecast

By Sydney Price

PayPal executives and directors were hit with a shareholder's derivative suit accusing them of damaging the company with comments about the strong growth trajectory for its branded checkout segment that the investor said turned out to be untrue.

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SoftBank-Backed PayPay Downshifts To $880M IPO

By Grace Dixon

SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Japanese mobile payment service PayPay Corp. began trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday at $16 a share, below the range it had announced in early March as the war in Iran roils the market.

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Celsius Accuses Fireblocks Of 'Staggering' Crypto Negligence

By Dorothy Atkins

The Chapter 11 plan administrator for defunct cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network urged a New York bankruptcy judge Wednesday to order Fireblocks to respond to discovery demands over the cybersecurity company's alleged "staggering negligence" that led to the destruction of cryptographic keys and the loss of Ethereum tokens worth tens of millions of dollars.

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5 Takeaways From OCC's 'Appealing' Exam Challenge Revamp

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent proposed overhaul of its bank appeals framework introduces several attractive, high-level changes that OCC-supervised banks and their counsel should note, and may lead to an increase in successful exam challenges, says James Williams at Venable.

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What The CFTC's Event Contracts Amicus Brief Is Missing

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit's North American Derivatives Exchange v. Nevada case declines to define the boundary between swaps and wagers, leaving market participants, exchanges and intermediaries operating within a regulatory framework whose boundaries remain undrawn, says Tamara de Silva at De Silva Law Offices.

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Series

Podcasting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Podcasting has changed how I ask questions and connect with people, sharpening my ability to listen without interrupting or prejudging, and bringing me closer to what law is meant to be: a human profession grounded in understanding, judgment and trust, says Donna DiMaggio Berger at Becker.

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4th Circ. Scolds Atty Suspected Of Using AI In Race Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Fourth Circuit has reprimanded an attorney suspected of using generative artificial intelligence to draft briefs in a race discrimination lawsuit against Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., warning that courts need to grapple with the technology as it "may soon become the norm."

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Democrats Seek Review Of Bondi's Role In Brother's Cases

By Alison Knezevich

Two Democratic lawmakers have asked the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general to review whether Attorney General Pam Bondi "adequately recused herself" from cases involving clients represented by her brother Brad Bondi, who is a partner at Paul Hastings LLP.

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Sinema Says Tryst With Ex-Guard Not In NC Court's Reach

By Abigail Harrison

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, now a Hogan Lovells attorney, told a North Carolina federal court Thursday that a lawsuit alleging her cross-country affair with a former member of her security detail ended a 14-year marriage must be dismissed because the trysts occurred outside state borders.

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Ex-Judge Testifies About Alleged Forgeries In Amazon Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia testified Thursday about the alleged forging of court documents, signatures and court stamps in a criminal case against a woman accused of defrauding Amazon out of $9.4 million through fraudulent invoices. 

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Judge Newman Takes Suspension Battle To Supreme Court

By Ryan Davis

Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman brought her fight against a suspension imposed on her by her colleagues to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing that a lower court wrongly held that her challenges to the order are not subject to judicial review.

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Calif. Bar Says Internal Docs Bolster Claims Against Exam Co.

By Emily Sawicki

The State Bar of California has bulked up its breach of contract and fraud suit against the administrator of its "disastrous" February 2025 bar exam, filing an amended complaint in light of information it says it learned from internal communications unearthed amid discovery.

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Holyoak's US Attorney Nomination Advances

By Courtney Bublé

The nomination of Melissa Holyoak, former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, to be U.S. attorney for the District of Utah was sent to the full Senate on Thursday.

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