Fintech

  • November 13, 2024

    Republic Bank's 'Dysfunction' Enabled Its Failure, FDIC Says

    The former Republic First Bank failed because of its inability to hold certain debt securities, its insufficient liquidity and an ineffective board and management team, according to a post-mortem review issued Wednesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s watchdog.

  • November 13, 2024

    Feds Seek FTX Assets Used For Alleged China Bribes

    U.S. prosecutors have asked a New York federal judge to help secure millions of dollars worth of digital assets held at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, alleging the tokens are tied to what they described as bribes that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried paid to Chinese law enforcement officials.

  • November 13, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Won't Ax Injunction In 'Open AI' TM Fight

    A man accused by OpenAI of preventing the ChatGPT maker from registering its name as a trademark lost his Ninth Circuit challenge to an injunction blocking him from using the "Open AI" mark while his case is pending.

  • November 13, 2024

    Swedish Fintech Klarna Confidentially Files US IPO Plans

    Klarna Group PLC, a Stockholm-based financial technology startup, announced Wednesday it has confidentially submitted its plans for an initial public offering to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, paving the way for a long-awaited listing.

  • November 13, 2024

    FTX Prosecutors Tout Tech Chief's 'Outstanding Cooperation'

    Manhattan federal prosecutors urged a lenient sentence for former FTX technology chief Zixiao "Gary" Wang, telling the court on Wednesday that his "outstanding cooperation" was instrumental in securing the lightning-fast indictment and ultimate conviction of founder Sam Bankman-Fried for an $11 billion fraud that sank the crypto exchange.

  • November 13, 2024

    Caitlyn Jenner's Crypto Venture Hit With Investor Suit

    Buyers of Olympic gold-medalist Caitlyn Jenner's cryptocurrency token slapped the celebrity with a proposed securities class action in California federal court Wednesday, alleging she failed to register the offering of her $JENNER token and "fraudulently solicited financially unsophisticated investors" to purchase the asset.

  • November 13, 2024

    Justices Puzzled By Nvidia's Position In Investor Case

    Some U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday seemed to regret the decision to hear a dispute between chipmaker Nvidia Corp. and its investors, wondering whether a disagreement over what the company knew about its sales to crypto miners has any bearing on other securities class action lawsuits.

  • November 13, 2024

    SEC's Uyeda Says Limits On Private Funds Need Review

    Smaller private and venture capital funds could benefit from less-stringent registration requirements, a Republican member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told an advisory panel Wednesday, saying the time is ripe to review whether existing thresholds still make sense.

  • November 13, 2024

    Trump Taps DOJ Critic Matt Gaetz For Attorney General

    President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next U.S. attorney general, seeking to elevate a close political ally to lead a Justice Department that the Florida lawmaker has sharply criticized and that last year declined to charge him in a sex-trafficking investigation.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Cleary's Matt Solomon

    Matt Solomon of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's digital asset disputes practice won a rare dismissal from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when the agency dropped its claims against the CEO of Ripple Labs, and he's taking the lessons from that case to defend another high-profile crypto suit from the SEC, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Fintech MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    Online Car Financing Co. Vroom Crashes Into Ch. 11

    Former used car seller and financier Vroom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday in Texas with a prepackaged plan to swap $290 million of debt for the bulk of the equity in a reorganized business.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump Taps Elon Musk To Head New 'Gov't Efficiency' Dept.

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly created "Department in Government Efficiency" for his administration come January.

  • November 12, 2024

    FTX Targets Scaramucci, PACs, Law Firm In Wave Of Suits

    Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed roughly 30 suits in a bid to recoup millions of dollars donated to political and charitable causes, losses caused by alleged market manipulation, and funds spent on business partnerships, including with Skybridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci and a boutique Florida law firm.

  • November 12, 2024

    5th Circ. Won't Reopen CFPB Payday Rule Fight

    The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday denied a bid from a lender to reopen an industry legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday loan rule that previously foundered at the U.S. Supreme Court, clearing the way for the rule to take effect.

  • November 12, 2024

    Celsius' Mashinsky Must Face Full Indictment, Judge Says

    Ex-Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky must face claims that he committed commodities and securities fraud and manipulated his now-bankrupt business's proprietary token after a New York federal judge declined to trim the indictment against him.

  • November 12, 2024

    'Pig Butchering' Crypto Ploy Launderer Cops To $73M Scheme

    A dual citizen of China and Saint Kitts and Nevis pled guilty in Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday to internationally laundering more than $73 million worth of criminal proceeds obtained through so-called "pig butchering" cryptocurrency investment scams.

  • November 12, 2024

    Visa To Fight Market Definition In DOJ Antitrust Case

    Attorneys for Visa told a New York federal judge on Tuesday that the company plans to argue the U.S. Department of Justice's debit card monopolization case should be tossed because it ignores a key payment method and attacks legitimate contracts.

  • November 12, 2024

    Fed Bans Ex-Bank Leaders Over Alleged COVID Relief Fraud

    The Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced Tuesday that it has prohibited two former top brass with Nano Banc from future participation in the banking industry, alleging they fraudulently obtained loans and grants through the federal CARES Act.

  • November 12, 2024

    Comerica Sues CFPB To Stop 'Ultra Vires' Benefits Card Probe

    Comerica Bank has sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a Texas federal court, accusing it of carrying out an overreaching and unlawful investigation into the bank's handling of a government program for distributing federal benefits via debit cards.

  • November 12, 2024

    Fla. Man Guilty In $1M Cash-To-Bitcoin Laundering Scheme

    A Boston federal jury has convicted a Florida resident of helping launder drug proceeds and enabling transfers of funds from fraud victims to romance scammers by converting more than $1 million in cash to bitcoin through his unlicensed "no questions asked" money transfer business.

  • November 12, 2024

    Former FTX Top Atty Joins Lowenstein Sandler In NY

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP announced Tuesday that the former general counsel at crypto exchange FTX will join the firm's New York office as a partner and chair of its new commodities, futures and derivatives practice group.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: Latham's Benjamin Naftalis And Douglas Yatter

    Benjamin Naftalis and Douglas Yatter of Latham & Watkins LLP served as lead counsel for Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao in a high–profile anti-money laundering investigation and represented Andreessen Horowitz in a proposed class action, earning them a spot among the 2024 Law360 Fintech MVPs.

  • November 12, 2024

    FTX Sues Binance, Former CEO Zhao Seeking $1.8B Clawback

    The estate of fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX has sued Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao to recover $1.76 billion it says the defunct company illegally transferred prior to its collapse two years ago, alleging FTX used customer money to complete a share repurchase that it couldn't otherwise afford.

  • November 08, 2024

    'Extraordinary Person' Gets 12½ years For Crypto Laundering

    Roman Sterlingov, the Russian and Swedish citizen convicted of money laundering for operating the world's largest cryptocurrency mixing service, was sentenced to 12½ years in prison Friday, even though the D.C. federal judge said it was "painful to see" an "extraordinary person" in such circumstances.

  • November 08, 2024

    Crypto Co. Seeks Freeze Of $4M In Contract Fight

    A group of companies known within the cryptocurrency industry as the Bixin Group has filed for an emergency motion to freeze a bank account of Alopex Advisors LLC holding a $4 million security deposit as it pursues arbitration in Hong Kong against Alopex over an agreement to help Bixin navigate the Icelandic property and energy markets.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Bill, NTIA Report Illustrate Open-Model AI Safety Debate

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    The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s balanced recommendations for preventing misuse of open artificial intelligence models, contrasted with a more aggressive California bill, demonstrate an evolving regulatory debate about balancing democratic access to this powerful new technology against potential risks to the public, say Stuart Meyer and Fredrick Tsang at Fenwick.

  • 7 Takeaways For Investment Advisers From FinCEN AML Rule

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    With a new FinCEN rule that will require covered investment advisers to implement anti-money laundering programs and comply with extra recordkeeping requirements by 2026, companies should begin planning necessary updates to their policies and procedures by focusing on seven of the rule’s key requirements, identified by attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools

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    A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

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    Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • What To Know About CFPB Stance On Confidentiality Terms

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    A recent circular from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represents a growing effort across government agencies to address overbroad confidentiality agreements, and gives employers insight into the bureau's perspective on the issue as it relates to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, say Holly Williamson and Elizabeth King at Hunton.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Navigating New Enforcement Scrutiny Of 'AI Washing'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent lawsuit against Joonko Diversity, its first public AI-focused enforcement action against a private company, underscores the importance of applying the same internal legal and compliance rigor to AI-related claims as other market-facing statements, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Increased Scrutiny Raises Int'l Real Estate Transaction Risks

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    Recently proposed regulations expanding the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' oversight, a White House divestment order and state-level legislative efforts signal increasing scrutiny of real estate transactions that may trigger national security concerns, say Luciano Racco and Aleksis Fernández Caballero at Foley Hoag.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • '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.

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