Expert Analysis

• Community Bank Order Signals Fintech Partnership Scrutiny

  

  The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent consent order against Community Federal Savings Bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance programs offers clear and urgent lessons for community banks pursuing revenue growth through fintech partnerships and payments services, say attorneys at Bradley.

• Where Is The Line On Actionable Comms In Securities Cases?

  

  Recent securities cases demonstrate the difficulty in discerning a clear difference between statements made in connection with the purchase or sale of securities and those that aren't, with that line more likely attributable to individualized factual situations than to any doctrinal differences of opinion between various courts, says Samuel Groner at Fried Frank.

• NJ Supreme Court Ruling Exposes D&O Gaps For PE Boards

  

  The New Jersey Supreme Court's recent decision in Mist Pharmaceuticals v. Berkley Insurance, barring directors and officers coverage, serves as a cautionary tale for private equity executives serving in overlapping roles at sponsor and portfolio companies, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• China's New Outbound Investment Rule Reshapes Deal Risk

  

  China's new outbound investment regulation introduces broad national security review and penalties, including personal liability, that will necessitate deeper diligence of cross-border deal participants with Chinese ties, earlier regulatory planning and closer attention to sanctions exposure, say attorneys at Freshfields.

• Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

  

  The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

• Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

  

  Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

  

  Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

• Assessing The Benefits Of Fla.'s Newest Business Structure

  

  As of July 1, Florida business owners can create protected series LLCs to shield assets from liability while avoiding increased costs and wasted time, but burdensome recordkeeping obligations are crucial to maintaining the very protection that makes them attractive in the first place, says Gregory Ritter at Moritt Hock.

• Series

  Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

• Employer Lessons From Apple Ruling Resolving OT Question

  

  In Costa v. Apple, a California federal court recently handed employers a win on a previously unresolved wage and hour question, offering a reminder that favorable outcomes on novel issues often hinge on the specific facts of a company's own program and compliance efforts, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

• What's Inside Proposed, Expanded NY Stablecoin Regulations

  

  New York's recently proposed regulations for payment stablecoin issuers would, if adopted, increase the regulatory burdens of a state license, and midsize issuers considering a conversion to a federal charter should weigh the associated costs of both options, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

• Why The 2nd Circ. Upheld Beneficial Ownership Blockers

  

  The Second Circuit recently held that a properly drafted contractual blocker — which caps an investor's beneficial ownership below 10% and automatically voids any transaction that would breach the cap — shields the investor from Section 16(b) liability, demonstrating that blockers have teeth, say attorneys at Sheppard.

• High Court, SEC Proposals Set Stage For Further Fund Reform

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in FS Credit Opportunities v. Saba Capital Master Fund and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rulemaking packages aimed at public market reforms provide a constructive backdrop for considering additional innovations to the listed fund structure, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• What New USDA 'Beneficial Owner' Definition Means For Cos.

  

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recent pitch to add a new "beneficial owner" definition to its foreign-owned land reporting framework would overhaul how fund managers and joint venture participants report U.S. agricultural land interests, creating diligence risks as companies reassess governance rights and management structure, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• AG Watch: Minn. Defends Prediction Markets Ban

  

  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has aggressively defended the state's landmark statute banning prediction markets, but the court's July 27 temporary injunction in U.S. v. Minnesota blocking the law from taking effect could set the template for state authority across the country, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.