Fintech

  • December 03, 2024

    Coinbase Says It Won't Use Firms That Hire Crypto Enforcers

    Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made clear that it won't work with law firms that employ former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorneys who led the charge on crypto enforcement suits, singling out Milbank LLP for its hiring of ex-SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal.

  • December 03, 2024

    Ex-Lender Agrees To $1M FDIC Order After Enforcement Battle

    A retired small business financier has agreed to pay $1 million in restitution to end administrative Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. allegations of a fraudulent bridge loan scheme, with the agreement coming after his most recent constitutional challenges to the agency's structure fell flat in October.

  • December 03, 2024

    Judge Denies News Orgs. Bid To Unseal FTX Customer Names

    A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday said he wouldn't reverse an order allowing defunct crypto platform FTX Trading Ltd. to keep customer names out of public bankruptcy filings, rejecting an appeal from major news outlets to unseal the information and writing that sealing the information preserved FTX's assets and protected creditors from cybercrime.

  • December 03, 2024

    Ex-Va. Solicitor General To Co-Lead Steptoe Appellate Group

    Steptoe LLP has brought on as co-leader of the appellate practice a former solicitor general of Virginia whose past government work included being special counsel to the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the firm said Tuesday.

  • December 03, 2024

    'Bitcoin Jesus' Calls $48M Tax Dodging Case Unconstitutional

    An early Bitcoin investor known as Bitcoin Jesus asked a California federal judge Tuesday to dismiss charges that he dodged approximately $48 million in taxes by filing false tax returns and concealing how much cryptocurrency he owned, arguing that the charges are unconstitutional.

  • December 03, 2024

    Celsius Founder Cops To Fraud That Sunk $25B Crypto Lender

    Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky told a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday that he lied when he told the public that the fallen $25 billion crypto lender's tokens were a safe investment, pleading guilty to fraud charges ahead of a January criminal trial.

  • December 03, 2024

    NJ Law Firm Fights Depo Sanctions In Crypto Scam Suit

    New Jersey-based McCarthy & Soriero LLC has pushed back against a woman's contention in federal court that the firm "stonewalled" her efforts to depose its client in a lawsuit accusing him and his business of failing to prevent a roughly $200,000 cryptocurrency fraud, saying the client has been experiencing serious health issues.

  • December 03, 2024

    CFPB Pitches Plan For Tighter Regulation Of Data Brokers

    In a late push before the Biden administration's end, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved Tuesday to clamp down on the so-called data broker industry with a new draft rule that pivots off existing credit reporting protections for consumers.  

  • December 02, 2024

    Metropolitan Commercial Bank Aided Voyager Fraud, Suit Says

    Voyager Digital's former bank, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, has been hit with a 53-count complaint in New York federal court alleging it was complicit in bad behavior by the now-defunct crypto lender and should be on the hook for repaying platform users.

  • December 02, 2024

    SEC Crypto Cases To Face Review Under Trump

    President-elect Donald Trump's promises of a friendlier approach to the digital asset industry means a review is coming for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial crypto suits, but experts agreed that this doesn't mean enforcement actions in the space will grind to a halt.

  • December 02, 2024

    Bipartisan Bill Calls For AI Studies From Financial Regulators

    Leaders of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee want to codify their commitment to regulating and cultivating the use of artificial intelligence in the financial services industry with legislation introduced Monday that directs financial and housing regulators to produce reports on the use of AI in their respective sectors.

  • December 02, 2024

    Bank, Payment Processor Look To Sink Chargeback Fee Suit

    Esquire Bank NA and a payment processor it sponsors have asked a New York federal judge to toss all but one of an online merchant's proposed class action claims over a fee provision in their contract, arguing as a mediation date looms that most of the merchant's claims are either duplicative or inapplicable.

  • December 02, 2024

    SEC Taps Former Crypto Chief To Head Litigation Efforts

    The former acting chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission unit in charge of overseeing cybersecurity and cryptocurrency-related cases has been promoted to chief litigation counsel, expanding his oversight authority even as a more crypto-friendly administration is slated to enter the Oval Office in January. 

  • December 02, 2024

    Top Promoter Of $58M IcomTech Crypto Ponzi Gets 10 Years

    A Manhattan federal judge hit a Florida cryptocurrency salesman on Monday with a 10-year prison sentence for his role in promoting the $58 million IcomTech Ponzi scheme, saying he victimized others in a "get rich quick" scam and may do so again.

  • December 02, 2024

    Citi Splits Off Mexican Retail Bank Ahead Of Planned IPO

    Citigroup said Monday it has completed the expected spinoff of its Mexican retail banking unit called Banamex — part of a strategy to separate its retail and institutional banking businesses in Mexico — paving the way for an initial public offering of Banamex.

  • December 02, 2024

    Freshfields Lands Onetime SEC Acting Enforcement Head

    Freshfields has added a litigation partner in its Washington, D.C., office who brings with her nearly 17 years of government experience including time as acting director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division, according to a Monday announcement.

  • November 27, 2024

    Elon Musk Targets CFPB With Call To 'Delete' Agency

    Billionaire Elon Musk has called for abolishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, writing on his social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — that the government should "Delete CFPB" and "there are too many duplicative regulatory agencies."

  • November 27, 2024

    Arkansas Can't Bring Suit Against Crypto Miner For Now

    An Arkansas federal judge has temporarily barred state officials from taking action against a Chinese-born U.S. citizen's crypto mining operation after he challenged the investigation against him and the laws underpinning it as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

  • November 27, 2024

    Fintech Co. Ingo, Consumers Reach Deal To End Breach Suit

    Fintech deposit underwriter Ingo Money Inc. has reached a handshake deal to settle proposed class action claims that for seven months it sat on news that hackers had gotten hold of a "gold mine" of customers' personal information.

  • November 27, 2024

    5th Circ. Reverses Treasury's Block Of Crypto Mixer

    The Fifth Circuit has rejected the government's blacklisting of Tornado Cash for "its role in laundering virtual currency for malicious cyber actors," saying the cryptocurrency service's immutable smart contracts, or lines of privacy-enabling software code, are not "property" and are therefore unownable and cannot be blocked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

  • November 27, 2024

    Ballard Spahr Hires Fintech Assistant GC In Atlanta

    Ballard Spahr LLP has brought on the assistant general counsel for financial technology company Fidelity National Information Services Inc. to its Atlanta office, strengthening its intellectual property litigation focus with an attorney who has litigated patents extensively.

  • November 26, 2024

    Customers Sue Fintech Partner Banks After Processor Failure

    Five banks holding funds for customers of fintech platforms face proposed class action claims of gross mismanagement after "significant ledger irregularities" totaling $85 million were discovered in the wake of an intermediary software company's bankruptcy.

  • November 26, 2024

    Crypto Miner Can't Get Quick Appeal In SEC Fraud Suit

    A Utah man accused of defrauding crypto mining investors out of $18 million must face the claims that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought against him after a lower court judge on Tuesday declined his request to send the case to the Tenth Circuit.

  • November 26, 2024

    Oracle Says Crypto Co. Is Flouting 2020 Settlement Of TM Suit

    Oracle Corp. claimed in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in California federal court that cryptocurrency consulting company Crypto Oracle has resumed using the "Crypto Oracle" name four years after it agreed to stop using the "Oracle" marks in an earlier suit from Oracle Corp.

  • November 26, 2024

    5th Circ. Says CFPB Payday Rule Can Take Effect Next Year

    The Fifth Circuit said Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can begin requiring compliance with its payday lending rule in just a few months as planned, sidestepping a request from lender trade groups to keep a court-ordered stay in place for longer. 

Expert Analysis

  • 'Pig Butchering': The Scam That Exploits Crypto Confusion

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    Certain red flags can tip off banks to possible "pig-butchering," and with the scam's increasing popularity, financial institutions need to take action to monitor entry points into the crypto space, detect suspicious activity and provide a necessary backstop to protect customers, say Brandon Essig and Mary Parrish McCracken at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • How Transaction Lookbacks Can Guide Fintech Companies

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    As transaction lookbacks continue to be a key focus of enforcement actions, newer financial institutions like fintech companies should know they can benefit from proactively investigating their potential failure to identify suspicious activity, creating a compliance road map and building trust with regulators in the process, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • A Day In The In-House Life

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    This Expert Analysis series follows in-house fintech counsel on an average workday as they grapple with everything from regulatory challenges and product launches to work-life balance and lunch orders.

  • Series

    A Day In The In-House Life: Narmi GC Talks Peak Productivity

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    On a work-from-home day in August, Narmi general counsel Amy Pardee chronicles a typical day in her life in which she organizes her time to tackle everything from advising on products and contract negotiations to volunteering and catching up on the New York Times crossword.

  • Opinion

    CFPB's AI Stance Backslides On Innovation Issues

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent response to a Treasury Department's request for information about artificial intelligence in the financial services sector uses alarmist rhetoric about the technology's risks, ceding an opportunity to help shape this important discussion, says Mike Silver at Husch Blackwell.

  • How Ripple Final Judgment Fits In Broader Crypto Landscape

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    The Southern District of New York's recent $125 million civil penalty levied in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple will have a broad impact on the crypto industry as it was the first to hold that blind sales of digital assets are not securities, even if deemed securities in other circumstances, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar

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    The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Banking Compliance Takeaways From Joint Agency Statement

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    Federal bank regulatory agencies’ recent joint statement warning of risks associated with third-party fintech deposit services spotlights a fundamental problem that may arise with bank deposit products that are made through increasingly complex customer relationships, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • Regulators Are Revamping Use Of Bank Service Company Act

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Though the Bank Service Company Act was written six decades ago, banks and service providers should be alert to the evolving ways financial regulators are using the law as a tool for scrutinizing bank-fintech partnerships and third-party service providers that could put consumers at risk, say James Bergin and Paul Lim at Arnold & Porter.

  • Carbon Offset Case A Win For CFTC Enviro Fraud Task Force

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    An Illinois federal court's decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ikkurty — earning the CFTC a sizeable monetary award that will likely incentivize similar enforcement pursuit — shows the impact of the commission's Environmental Fraud Task Force, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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