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Compliance
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June 27, 2024
DOL Benefits Chief Defends Fiduciary Rule Before GOP Panel
The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits agency on Thursday defended recently finalized policy expanding the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, drawing criticism from a Republican-controlled panel of House lawmakers at an oversight hearing.
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June 27, 2024
Free-Speech Orgs Tell DC Circ. TikTok Ban Is Prior Restraint
A collection of free speech and press groups has urged the D.C. Circuit to strike down Congress' TikTok sale-or-ban law, calling the statute a "direct and serious threat" to First Amendment freedoms in an amicus brief.
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June 27, 2024
Madigan Judge Doesn't Want Trial To Slip After Justices Rule
The Illinois federal judge overseeing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said Thursday he was hesitant to delay an October trial after the U.S. Supreme Court removed prosecutors' ability to go after state officials for accepting gratuities.
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June 27, 2024
CFPB Urged To Set Standards On Rooting Out AI Lending Bias
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should give the financial industry more explicit instructions to minimize discrimination risk when harnessing artificial intelligence and other algorithmic technology for lending, a pair of prominent consumer advocacy groups told the agency.
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June 27, 2024
NTSB Rips Boeing For Blabbing About Blowout Probe
The National Transportation Safety Board sanctioned Boeing on Thursday for sharing nonpublic details of an ongoing investigation into January's 737 Max 9 midair door plug blowout, deepening the American aerospace giant's regulatory troubles amid multiple probes into its safety culture and quality control.
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June 27, 2024
Feds Back Debevoise Bid To Avoid Cognizant Trial Testimony
The U.S. Department of Justice would like a New Jersey federal court to throw out a subpoena compelling trial testimony from a Debevoise & Plimpton LLP partner regarding an investigation into an alleged bribe the government believes two former Cognizant Technology Solutions executives supplied to an Indian company.
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June 27, 2024
Bradley Arant Adds Former Wells Fargo Associate GC In DC
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has hired a former associate general counsel for both Wells Fargo and Bank of America, who previously served as a U.S. attorney in the Central District of California and most recently as a Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP partner.
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June 27, 2024
Vista Delays Czech Deal Vote In Light Of $3.2B MNC Bid
Vista Outdoor Inc. said Thursday it will postpone a special meeting of stockholders to vote on the sale of part of its business to a Czech defense group in light of a new $3.2 billion buyout offer from Dallas-area private equity shop MNC Capital Partners LP.
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June 27, 2024
Supreme Court Freezes EPA's 'Good Neighbor' Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce cross-state pollution Thursday, finding several states and industry groups challenging it in court will likely prevail on the merits.
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June 27, 2024
Justices Limit SEC's Use Of In-House Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's use of its in-house court system, saying the accused have a right to a jury trial when financial penalties are on the table.
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June 26, 2024
BlackRock Can't Escape Saba Capital's Voting Bylaws Suit
A New York federal judge Tuesday refused to toss Saba Capital Management's lawsuit claiming a BlackRock Inc. environmental, social and corporate governance trust has illegal shareholder voting bylaws, but also refused to block BlackRock from applying the bylaws at issue to the current election.
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June 26, 2024
SEC Crypto Stance May Shift With Election, Rulemaking Suits
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to shift its cryptocurrency posture to some degree if a new chair is installed after the coming presidential election, but firms not content to wait for a change in the guard can consider challenging the agency's rulemaking process, experts said Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
Conn. Trader's Brother Cops Plea In $30M Brazilian Oil Plot
A Connecticut man has pled guilty to helping to bribe officials at Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro SA, also known as Petrobras, allegedly to help his commodities trader brother earn more than $30 million in ill-gotten profits from deals with the oil giant, according to federal court documents.
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June 26, 2024
Justices Chide 5th Circ. In Biden Social Media Case
The Fifth Circuit relied on "clearly erroneous" facts and an overgeneralized view of standing when it ordered the Biden administration to stop working with social media platforms to combat COVID-19 and election misinformation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday as it threw out a challenge to the government's actions.
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June 26, 2024
SEC Fines Ex-Tech Co. Controller In Insider Trading Matter
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that an electronic security solutions company vice president and controller will pay over $435,000 to settle claims that he sold shares of the company based on financial results that were not publicly available at the time.
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June 26, 2024
Ex-Ameriprise Father-Son Duo Agree To Return Biz Info
A father and son and their former employer, financial services company Ameriprise, have reached an agreement that will see the two men return confidential records they allegedly took "in the dark of the night" as they exited the company for jobs with a competitor.
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June 26, 2024
Calif. Sanctioned $111M In 30-Year Prison Staffing Case
A California federal judge has ordered state officials to hand over more than $111 million for failing to bring prison mental health staffing up to levels set by the court in 2009 in a 30-year-old case, saying Tuesday that "given defendants' contumacy, it is for the court to effect compliance."
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June 26, 2024
State Data Privacy Law Patchwork: Midyear Report
States jumped on the consumer data privacy law bandwagon at a brisk clip in the first half of 2024, although it remains unclear if this push will be enough to encourage Congress to finally enact a nationwide framework this year.
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June 26, 2024
Chamber Backs 9th Circ. Call To Nix SEC's 'Gag Rule'
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is among those calling on the Ninth Circuit to overturn a long-standing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission policy that settling parties not be allowed to deny the allegations against them, saying that the so-called gag rule threatens the free speech rights of the accused.
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June 26, 2024
Crypto App Pledges More Refunds In Multistate Settlement
Cryptocurrency platform Abra has agreed to return millions of dollars in digital assets to U.S. customers after getting busted for running a mobile application for crypto transactions without the required money transmitting licenses, a coalition of state financial regulators announced on Wednesday, with Washington state taking the lead.
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June 26, 2024
New Hampshire Claims TikTok Exploits Kids For Profit
Social media titan TikTok is exploiting children by intentionally designing its platform to be addictive, so children will keep scrolling on the app for as long as possible, the state of New Hampshire argues in a heavily redacted lawsuit in state court.
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June 26, 2024
States Say Revised EPA Water Rule Worse Than Original
Two dozen states are seeking a quick win against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and several Native American tribes in their suit challenging a revised rule defining the Clean Water Act's reach, saying it doesn't solve many problems found in the original rule.
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June 26, 2024
FBI Beats Epstein FOIA Case Due To Ghislaine Maxwell Appeal
A New York federal judge handed the FBI a win Tuesday in gossip site Radar Online's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the government's sex-trafficking investigation records into the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, finding that the documents could affect the ongoing appeal of Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
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June 26, 2024
Pilgrim's Pride Settles Grower Pay Antitrust Case
An Oklahoma federal judge hit the brakes Wednesday on a lawsuit seeking nearly $3 billion in damages from Pilgrim's Pride Corp. over claims it conspired with other chicken producers to suppress farmer compensation after the sides reached a settlement.
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June 26, 2024
EU Court Tosses Spanish Shipping Cos. State Aid Appeal
A European court on Wednesday once again dismissed a 2014 challenge to the European Commission's move to block a Spanish tax scheme benefiting Spanish shipbuilders and their suppliers.
Expert Analysis
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Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws
Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.
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Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation
Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.
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New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape
While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.
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How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits
In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.
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Social Media Free Speech Issues Are Trending At High Court
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision examining what constitutes state action on social media can be viewed in conjunction with oral arguments in two other cases to indicate that the court sees a need for more clarity regarding how social media usage implicates the First Amendment, say attorneys at Kean Miller.
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Opinion
CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking
In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.
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How Cos. Can Protect IP In Light Of FTC Noncompete Rule
While several groups are challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s recently approved rule banning noncompetition agreements, employers should begin planning other ways to protect their valuable trade secrets, confidential information and other intellectual property, says Thomas Duston at Marshall Gerstein.
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FDIC Bank Disclosure Rules Raise Important Questions
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rules mandating disclosures for nonbanks offering deposit products leave traditional financial institutions in a no-man's land between fintech-oriented requirements and the reality of personal service demanded by customers, say Paul Clark and Casey Jennings at Seward & Kissel.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Recent Wave Of SEC No-Action Denials May Be Slowing
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March granted no-action relief to Verizon and others on the grounds that a director resignation bylaw proposal would mean violating Delaware law, bucking recent SEC hesitation toward such relief and showing that articulating a basis in state law is a viable path to exclude a proposal, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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PE-Healthcare Mergers Should Prepare For Challenges
State and federal regulators are increasingly imposing new requirements on healthcare transactions involving private equity partners, with mergers that would have drawn little scrutiny a few years ago now requiring a multijurisdictional risk analysis during the deal formation process, say attorneys at Stinson.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Drafting Calif. Cannabis Management Services Agreements
Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law explore the ways in which management services agreements function in the California commercial cannabis industry, and highlight a few specific terms and conditions that are crucial when drafting these agreements.
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Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.