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Compliance
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July 30, 2024
FINRA Says Jarkesy Doesn't Apply To Its Internal Proceedings
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is opposing a broker's attempt to get the regulator's internal proceedings against him tossed, saying that he has no case under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Jarkesy decision because FINRA is not a government regulator subject to the same constitutional challenges as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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July 30, 2024
DC Circ. Must Block EPA Mercury Rule, Challengers Say
Challengers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule tightening mercury and other toxic metal emission standards for some coal-fired power plants are hitting back against arguments by the agency and its supporters that their requested stay of the rule isn't warranted.
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July 30, 2024
High Court Ruling Dooms EPA Smog Plan, DC Circ. Told
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce smog-forming emissions across several states is reason enough for the D.C. Circuit to invalidate the rule, several states, industry groups and energy companies argued.
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July 30, 2024
10th Circ. Shields Feds From Fire Mismanagement Suit
The U.S. Forest Service doesn't have to face allegations it mismanaged the response to two Utah wildfires in 2018, the Tenth Circuit said Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Exxon Loses Bid For Avangrid Docs In Mass. Climate Suit
ExxonMobil will not gain access to potentially millions of documents from wind energy company Avangrid as part of the Massachusetts attorney general's long-running climate change suit, after a state court judge found it "inconceivable" that the sought-after material could be relevant to the case.
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July 30, 2024
Low-Power TV Stations Seek More Latitude From FCC
Low-power television stations believe it's time for the Federal Communications Commission to allow them to start operating at higher levels of power as long as they remain in their service contours.
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July 30, 2024
Calif. Broker-Dealer To Pay FINRA $1.5M For Excessive Trades
Broker-dealer Western International Securities Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle allegations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that the firm failed to properly monitor potentially excessive trading in about 100 accounts, and it was hit with a separate cease-and-desist order from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday over Regulation Best Interest violations.
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July 30, 2024
Feds, SEC Say Creator Of Crypto Co. BitClout Misled Investors
Federal prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced parallel actions Tuesday against the founder of crypto project BitClout for allegedly duping investors and spending millions of proceeds for his own benefit.
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July 30, 2024
DC Circ. Wants Chevron Ruling Addressed In GHG Case
The D.C. Circuit asked challengers of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's tighter greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles to discuss how the litigation is affected by recent court decisions, including the U.S. Supreme Court's blockbuster ruling that undid what is known as Chevron deference.
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July 30, 2024
SF Fed Tells 9th Circ. Banks Not Entitled To Master Accounts
The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank told the Ninth Circuit that it was not obligated to give a master account to an Idaho trade finance fintech, arguing federal law does not make these payment system gateways available to everyone regardless of risk.
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July 30, 2024
SEC Asks To Amend Token Claims In Binance Complaint
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a D.C. federal court that it plans on amending its claims concerning third-party tokens that traded on crypto exchange Binance's platform, according to a Tuesday status update in the enforcement suit.
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July 30, 2024
AI Dominance In Startup Funding Has Small Biz Concerned
Except for funding for artificial-intelligence startups, early-stage companies are struggling to raise capital amid higher interest rates and lean markets for initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, members of a small business-focused panel advising the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Psychedelics And The Law: A Midyear Review
A groundbreaking effort to secure federal approval for a psychedelic medication hit an unexpected snag. Religious groups asserting the right to access controlled substances had mixed success in federal court. Physicians seeking to administer psilocybin to terminally ill patients will finally have their day in court. Here are the major developments in psychedelics law from the first half of 2024.
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July 30, 2024
Former Prosecutor 'Coming Back Home' To NJ Boutique
After prosecuting federal healthcare crimes in New Jersey, a former assistant U.S. attorney has returned to boutique firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP to guide clients as part of the firm's white collar criminal and regulatory defense and investigations practice with a focus on healthcare litigation and licensing, the firm announced Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Pot Cos. Can't Push RICO Claims Against Calif. City
A California federal judge has thrown out racketeering claims by six cannabis companies that accuse the city of Cudahy of illegally assessing fees, saying that because Congress listed cultivation and sale of cannabis under the definition of racketeering, they can't recover damages.
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July 30, 2024
Vista Delays Vote On CSG Deal To Review Alternative Paths
Vista Outdoor Inc. on Tuesday delayed its shareholder vote on the sale of its sporting products division, The Kinetic Group, to Czech defense company Czechoslovak Group AS to begin a review of strategic alternatives, which includes evaluating a competing bid from Dallas-based MNC Capital Partners LP.
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July 30, 2024
Houston Energy CEO Ran $21M Stock Scheme, SEC Says
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued the head of a Houston energy company in Texas federal court, alleging he raised more than $21 million from over 300 investors nationwide through a fraudulent and unregistered offering of preferred stock in his fuel-blending company.
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July 30, 2024
Fla.'s Workplace DEI Training Rules Get Permanently Blocked
A Florida federal judge made permanent a ban on a state law provision that prevents employers from promoting various sex- and race-based concepts in diversity training sessions after the state said it wouldn't challenge an Eleventh Circuit ruling upholding a preliminary injunction on the measure.
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July 30, 2024
Katten Adds Mayer Brown Practice Group Co-Chair In Chicago
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has added to its financial markets litigation and enforcement practice group an attorney who formerly co-chaired a similar practice at Mayer Brown LLP and also has previous in-house experience.
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July 30, 2024
FTC, Career Step Pitch $43.5M Deal For Alleged Bogus Claims
Career Step LLC, a for-profit online career training company, has struck a $43.5 million proposed settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission claims it targeted servicemembers and their spouses with deceptive advertising about its programs and the successes of its students.
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July 30, 2024
Texas, Meta Reach Historic $1.4B Deal In Biometric Data Suit
The state of Texas has reached a historic $1.4 billion settlement with Meta Platforms Inc. in a lawsuit accusing the social media giant of illegally collecting Facebook users' biometric data through its now-discontinued facial recognition feature, attorneys for the state announced Tuesday.
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July 29, 2024
5th Circ. Pauses DOT's New 'Junk Fees' Rule Amid Review
The Fifth Circuit on Monday agreed to temporarily block a U.S. Department of Transportation rule requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront while the appellate court reviews the rule, which has been challenged by major airlines and airline associations.
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July 29, 2024
Live Nation Judge Tightens In-House Counsel's Access To Docs
A New York federal judge imposed new restrictions Monday on Live Nation in-house counsel's access to documents and testimony from witnesses from its rivals in the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit, tightening a days-old two-tiered system after hearing concerns from those competitors.
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July 29, 2024
11th Circ. Affirms Ga. Prison Officer Immunity For Strip Search
An Eleventh Circuit panel said that Georgia prison officers violated a woman's constitutional rights when they subjected her to a strip search and manual body cavity search during a visit to see her incarcerated husband, but precedent blocks it from overturning a ruling holding the officers were entitled to qualified immunity.
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July 29, 2024
Virtu Pushes For SEC Crackdown On 'Penny Stock' Listings
Virtu Financial Inc. is pressing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to force Nasdaq and other exchanges to crack down on so-called penny stocks, petitioning the agency to initiate rulemaking that would stop companies struggling to stay above $1 per share from continuing to trade on the exchanges.
Expert Analysis
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'Food As Health' Serves Up Fresh Legal Considerations
The growth of food as medicine presents a significant opportunity for healthcare organizations and nontraditional healthcare players to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs, though these innovative programs also bring compliance considerations that must be carefully navigated, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist
Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds
The upcoming elections across New York this year will be the first under the state’s public campaign finance program — which may broaden federal prosecutors' purview to target state election fraud and corruption, says Jarrod Schaeffer at Abell Eskew.
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FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling
As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.
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FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.
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3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up
Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.
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BF Borgers Clients Should Review Compliance, Liability
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced enforcement proceedings against audit firm BF Borgers for fabricating audit documentation for hundreds of public companies, those companies will need to follow special procedures for disclosure and reporting — and may need to prepare for litigation from the plaintiffs bar, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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New TSCA Risk Rule Gives EPA Broad Discretion On Science
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent final amendments to its framework for evaluating the risks of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act give it vast discretion over consideration of scientific information, without objective criteria to guide that discretion, say John McGahren and Debra Carfora at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Fintech Compliance Amid Regulatory Focus On Sensitive Data
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent, expansive pursuit of financial services companies using sensitive personal information signals a move into the Federal Trade Commission's territory, and the path forward for fintech and financial service providers involves a balance between innovation and compliance, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Cos. Must Stay On Alert With Joint Employer Rule In Flux
While employers may breathe a sigh of relief at recent events blocking the National Labor Relations Board's proposed rule that would make it easier for two entities to be deemed joint employers, the rule is not yet dead, say attorneys at Day Pitney.
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4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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Contractors Must Prep For FAR Council GHG Emissions Rule
With the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council expected to finalize its proposed rule on the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risk this year, government contractors should take key steps now to get ready, say Thomas Daley at DLA Piper, Steven Rothstein at the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, and John Kostyack at Kostyack Strategies.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.