Expert Analysis

• New Concerns, Same Tune At This Year's SIFMA Conference

  

  At this year's Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference on legal developments affecting the financial services industry, government regulators’ emphasis on whistleblowing and AI washing represented a new refrain in an increasingly familiar chorus calling for prompt and thorough corporate cooperation, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

• 8 Tips As GCs Prep For New SEC Climate Disclosure Rules

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted rules governing climate-related disclosures represent a major change to the existing public company disclosure regime, so in-house counsel should begin to evaluate existing systems and resources related to emissions data, and identify the changes that will need to be made, say attorneys at Bracewell.

• Series

  Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

• How New SEC Rule May Turn DeFi Participants Into 'Dealers'

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a new rule to amend its definition of a securities "dealer," but the change could have concerning implications for decentralized finance and blockchain, as the SEC has suggested it may subject DeFi participants to registration requirements and other regulations, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Opinion

  Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

  

  As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

• 2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.

  

  The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

• Series

  Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

• The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face

  

  Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.

• 2 Issues For Venture-Backed Climate Tech Startups To Avoid

  

  As climate tech startups become more common, poor equity dilution management and stacked seed financing are two common pitfalls that apply more acutely to climate tech startups than to the broader venture-backed startup space, say attorneys at Goodwin.

• Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs

  

  Investment advisers should prepare for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed rule that would significantly expand anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism obligations by assessing illicit financing risks, and expect examiners to scrutinize unregistered advisers and those with certain foreign clients, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

  

  Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

• How Private Funds Can Navigate New FinCEN Reporting Rules

  

  In light of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's new regulations implementing beneficial ownership reporting requirements, private fund managers must assess whether certain obligations apply to entities within their structures and whether potential structural changes could simplify those obligations, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

• How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection

  

  Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

• What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

  

  Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

• Innodata Suit Highlights 'AI Washing' Liability Risk For Cos.

  

  A class action against software company Innodata over so-called AI washing, one of the first of its kind, underscores the litigation and enforcement risks that can arise from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel theory about misleading artificial intelligence capabilities, say attorneys at Bracewell.