OCC Unveils Landmark Stablecoin Rule Proposal

By Jon Hill and Aislinn Keely

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency took a significant step Wednesday toward standing up its oversight framework for stablecoin issuers, proposing rules that lay out how licensing will work, what activities will be allowed and what prudential standards will apply.

Proposed Rule attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

CFTC Taps Ex-SDNY Prosecutor To Lead Enforcement

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's enforcement division is set to be led by a former federal prosecutor who tackled financial fraud and insider trading cases in the Southern District of New York before turning to private practice, most recently as a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

CFTC Warns Against Prediction Market Insider Trading

By Aislinn Keely

The CFTC on Wednesday warned prediction market traders it "has full authority to police illegal trading practices" on regulated platforms as it flagged two penalties Kalshi levied against an editor for popular internet video brand MrBeast and a California political candidate who each allegedly flouted the platform's insider trading rules.

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

OppFi Nears Win Over Calif. Regulator's 'Rent-A-Bank' Case

By Jon Hill

A California state judge has preliminarily ruled that state regulators cannot treat Opportunity Financial's lending partnership with an out-of-state bank as an unlawful "rent-a-bank" scheme, potentially handing a major win to the fintech firm in a long-running legal battle over enforcement of California's interest-rate limits.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Valve Promotes Illegal Gambling In Its Games, NY AG Claims

By Katryna Perera

The New York attorney general Wednesday sued Valve Corp., claiming the video game developer has been illegally promoting gambling to children through games like Counter-Strike by "enticing" them to pay for chances to win virtual items, some of which can be rare and hold significant monetary value.

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

Crypto Hedge Fund Manager Charged With Tax Evasion

By Emilie Ruscoe

Federal prosecutors have charged a crypto hedge fund manager who has renounced his U.S. citizenship with filing false tax returns and willfully failing to disclose millions of dollars' worth of foreign assets.

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

DCG Crypto Class Action Proceeds, But State Law Claims Cut

By Katryna Perera

Digital Currency Group must face a proposed class action accusing it of trying to conceal a $1.1 billion debt crisis from lenders through a "sham transaction" with its crypto-lending subsidiary, but a Connecticut federal judge cut state law claims on the grounds that they overlapped with the suit's federal securities claims and could delay the action if allowed to remain.

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

Kalshi, Robinhood Look To Dismiss Calif. Tribes' Gambling Suit

By Elaine Briseño

Prediction market Kalshi Inc. is pushing back against the efforts of three California indigenous groups in federal court to stifle its sports event contract activity in the state, arguing the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act does not authorize the tribes to regulate their activity.

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

IP Co. Investors Sue Over AI-Focused Acquisition Losses

By Sydney Price

Executives and directors of semiconductor technology company Synopsys Inc. were hit with a shareholder's derivative suit accusing them of misleading investors about the operational challenges faced by one of its segments following a $35 billion acquisition of an artificial intelligence company made in 2024.

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

Winston & Strawn-Led SPAC Mozayyx Prices Upsized $261M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Special purpose acquisition company Mozayyx Acquisition Corp. began trading publicly on Wednesday after raising $261 million in its upsized initial public offering.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC's Morocoin Case Presents A Crypto Jurisdiction Dilemma

The allegations in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Morocoin describe serious fraud and resulting harm, but it's less clear how the facts establish that the fraud involved a securities transaction, particularly given the changes to how the SEC views investment contracts involving crypto-assets and the application of the Howey test, says Dave Hirsch at McGuireWoods.

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

Takeaways From CFPB's Retreat On Immigrant Fair Lending

Practices discouraged under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Justice Department's 2023 statement on the treatment of immigration status under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act may now be permissible following its recent withdrawal, making it crucial for lenders to follow unfolding fair lending developments in this area, say attorneys at Steptoe.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tom Goldstein Guilty On Tax Evasion, 11 Other Counts

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder and famed U.S. Supreme Court advocate Thomas Goldstein was found guilty of tax evasion, as well as aiding in the filing of false tax returns and lying on loan applications, by a Maryland federal jury Wednesday. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Patterson Belknap Adds Ex-SDNY Prosecutor Maurene Comey

By Alison Knezevich

Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, who handled some of the nation's highest-profile cases before she was fired by the Trump administration, has joined Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, the firm announced Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cat Cover Story In Ginsburg Health Hack Gives Judge Pause

By Hayley Fowler

A Fourth Circuit jurist on Wednesday seemed fixated on the feline excuse a former hospital transplant coordinator gave FBI agents when he was questioned in 2019 about accessing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's healthcare records.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Democrats Cast Doubt On New DOJ Fraud Role

By Courtney Bublé

During the confirmation hearing on Wednesday for President Donald Trump's nominee for the new assistant attorney general for fraud role, Democrats expressed anxiety about the White House's involvement in the fraud crackdown and how genuine the effort is.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Demand Explanation For DOJ Antitrust Chief's Exit

By Lauren Berg

Two Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demanded Wednesday that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi explain to lawmakers why the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust chief was forced to resign, expressing concern about the administration's potential interference with merger reviews and antitrust litigation.

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

Florida Co. Blames Holland & Hart For $21M Judgment

By Zach Dupont

A Florida-based company claimed in Colorado federal court Wednesday that a Holland & Hart LLP attorney was negligent in representing it in a lawsuit from the city of Fort Collins that eventually ended in a more than $21 million judgment against the company.

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

'Do Not Lie To Me': Calif. Judge Panel Agrees Credibility Is Key

By Bonnie Eslinger

California federal judges speaking at a Federal Bar Association panel in San Francisco have urged attorneys to protect their credibility in the courtroom, with one judge bluntly telling lawyers "do not lie to me" and another revealing it's "shocking" how frequently judges share notes about lawyers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Set New Limits On Recess Testimony Talks

By Cara Salvatore

A unanimous Supreme Court set limits Wednesday on the right to counsel during overnight breaks in a defendant's testimony under the Sixth Amendment, ruling that prohibiting talk about "testimony for its own sake" strikes an appropriate constitutional balance.

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

Netflix Swaps Out Latham For Munger Tolles In Antitrust Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

Latham & Watkins LLP withdrew Wednesday as defense counsel for Netflix in a proposed consumer class action in Illinois federal court claiming Meta cut an illegal deal ceding the video streaming market to Netflix, which is now represented by Munger Tolles & Olson LLP.

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

Foley & Lardner Wants 'Scattershot' Malpractice Suit Tossed

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP is urging the Delaware Superior Court to toss a malpractice suit accusing the firm of negligence in representing an officer of a now-defunct food recycling company in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment, saying it "suffers from basic pleading defects."

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