A former general counsel at Deutsche Bank AG, who most recently led the anti-financial crime unit, is joining Coinbase Global Inc. as chief compliance officer, he said in a LinkedIn post Monday, a move that comes as policymakers work to set rules of the road for cryptocurrency.
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Ex-Deutsche Bank GC Is Coinbase's Next Compliance Chief

By Michele Gorman

A former general counsel at Deutsche Bank AG, who most recently led the anti-financial crime unit, is joining Coinbase Global Inc. as chief compliance officer, he said in a LinkedIn post Monday, a move that comes as policymakers work to set rules of the road for cryptocurrency.

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Nasdaq Presses SEC To Enact Clearer Digital Asset Rules

By Tom Zanki

Nasdaq is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and its sister agency that regulates derivatives to adopt clearer rules governing digital assets, calling for a system that classifies such products into four categories.

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NJ Can't Take Action Over Kalshi's Sports Contracts, For Now

By Aislinn Keely

A New Jersey federal judge on Monday barred the state's gambling regulators from taking action over Kalshi's sports event contracts for the time being, after he found that the contracts appear to fall within the "exclusive jurisdiction" of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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Feds Urged To Drop Crypto Mixer Charges After DOJ Memo

By Aislinn Keely

Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to continue pursuing a criminal case against two executives of crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet in light of a recent U.S. Department of Justice memo limiting certain digital asset prosecutions.

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POLICY & REGULATION

DC Circ. Restores Ban On CFPB Mass Layoffs Amid Appeal

By Jon Hill

A D.C. Circuit panel said Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must refrain for now from mass employee firings, backtracking from a prior decision that the Trump administration had used to attempt a now-suspended layoff of nearly all the agency's staff.

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Trump Sued Over 'Unprecedented' NCUA Board Purge

By Jon Hill

The two Democratic credit union regulators whom President Donald Trump ousted earlier this month from the National Credit Union Administration sued Monday to be reinstated to the agency's board, challenging their terminations as "unprecedented" and unlawful.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

Wells Fargo Exits CFPB's Mortgage, Auto Loan Consent Order

By Sarah Jarvis

Wells Fargo & Co. announced Monday it has exited a consent order it inked with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a 2018 settlement that stemmed from allegations of improper practices in the bank's auto lending and mortgage divisions.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

DOJ Memo Maps Out A Lighter Touch For Digital Assets

A recent memo issued by the Justice Department signals a less aggressive approach toward the digital asset industry, with notable directives including disbandment of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, a higher evidentiary bar for unlicensed money transmitting, and prosecutions of individuals rather than platforms, say attorneys at Cleary.

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FDIC Rules Rollback Foretells More Pro-Industry Changes

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s March withdrawal of Biden-era proposals to tighten brokered deposit rules and impose new corporate governance standards shows that acting chair Travis Hill’s commitment to reviewing regulations that may restrict growth and innovation for financial institution and fintech companies is unlikely to flag soon, say attorneys at Cooley.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

The 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

Law firms and the legal profession are facing new uncertainties, shifting the stress levels, economic pressures, and overall contentment of lawyers in private practice, according to the 2025 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.

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'The Court Is Not A Cartoon': Judge Rips Dragon Watermark

By Hailey Konnath

A Michigan federal magistrate judge Monday ordered an East Lansing, Michigan, firm called Dragon Lawyers PC to stop plastering its pleadings with a large, suit-clad purple cartoon dragon watermark on each page, saying it's not only "distracting, it's juvenile and impertinent."

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Analysis

Feds Have Strong Hand On Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Danielle Ferguson and Carolyn Muyskens

A Wisconsin state judge faces an uphill battle in defending against federal criminal allegations that she helped a man evade immigration officials at a Wisconsin courthouse, but she may be able to stake out a defense in arguing the government can't prove intent, experts told Law360. 

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California Judge Loses Pay After Conviction For Murdering Wife

By Gina Kim

The California Commission on Judicial Performance formally suspended a California judge without pay after a state jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last week for shooting his wife to death in their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023, following a heated argument. 

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Q&A

Sullivan M&A Chief Sees Opportunities Amid Tariff Turmoil

By Al Barbarino

After a rocky start to 2025, the mergers and acquisitions landscape is grappling with economic volatility, shifting trade policies and a complex regulatory environment. But even in a "choppy" market, there are always deals to be made, says Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's M&A group and co-head of its corporate governance practice.

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NJ Judge Apologizes Through Waylon Jennings Lyrics

By George Woolston

Clark Township, New Jersey, Municipal Judge Antonio Inacio said Tuesday that he isn't proud of all the things that led him to appear before a Garden State judiciary disciplinary committee, but he can say that he never intentionally hurt anyone by his conduct.

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$10M Brown Rudnick Deal With Guo Trustee Gets Judge's OK

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a $10 million deal between Miles Guo's Chapter 11 trustee and the Chinese exile's onetime attorneys at Brown Rudnick LLP, and greenlighted 10 lesser settlements with other firms and luxury retailer Versace.

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Analysis

GOP Plan To Shutter Audit Watchdog Could Strain SEC

By Jessica Corso

Congressional Republicans are renewing the push to get rid of a financial regulator that conservatives have complained is costly and lacks proper oversight, but some former staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board wonder whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the manpower or expertise to take over the board's duties.

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Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

By Andrea Keckley

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.

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Justices Scoff At Feds' Defenses In Mistaken FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

Supreme Court justices Tuesday appeared flummoxed by the government's "ridiculous" arguments it should be immune to a Georgia resident's lawsuit over a mistaken FBI raid on her house, but seemed unlikely to issue a blanket ruling on when an officer's discretion trumps their liability for injuries caused by their actions.

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Alex Jones Wants High Court Look At $1.3B Sandy Hook Case

By Brian Steele

Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a mammoth libel judgment that families of Sandy Hook shooting victims secured against him and his company over his conspiratorial broadcasts calling the massacre a hoax, he told a Connecticut appellate court in seeking to extend a pause on the payout.

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Breyer To Talk Pragmatism At NJ Bar Association Convention

By Carla Baranauckas

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will bring his pragmatic legal philosophy to center stage when he appears at the New Jersey State Bar Association Convention on May 16 in Atlantic City.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AT&T Inc.

Apple Inc.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Deutsche Bank AG

FTI Consulting Inc.

Institute for Justice

LinkedIn Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

NASDAQ Inc.

National Treasury Employees Union

New Jersey State Bar Association

New York University

Public Citizen Inc.

Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board

State Bar of Michigan

Wells Fargo & Co.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

ArentFox Schiff LLP

Arnold & Porter

Baker & Hostetler

Broocks Law Firm

Brown Rudnick

Cleary Gottlieb

Clement & Murphy

Cohn Birnbaum

Cooley LLP

Cravath Swaine

Dechert LLP

GPS Legal

Gibson Dunn

Gupta Wessler

Hodgson Russ

Holwell Shuster

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Koskoff Koskoff

Latham & Watkins

Lowenstein Sandler

McManimon Scotland

Milbank LLP

NachtLaw

Neubert Pepe

Randazza Legal Group

Spero Law LLC

Sullivan & Cromwell

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Commission on Judicial Performance

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Reserve System

National Credit Union Administration

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Supreme Court

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut