Sky Blog
The FTC recently announced the first use of its “Penalty Offense Authority” in many years. The agency dusted off this statutory tool as part of its multifaceted effort to continue to obtain monetary relief in its consumer protection enforcement actions …
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) that seeks to clarify the circumstances under which a fiduciary subject to ERISA may consider climate change and other environmental, social …
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (the “GDPR”) changed the global privacy landscape, and has been called the “gold standard” for data protection regulation. Recently, a number of U.S. states have introduced privacy laws, which borrow certain GDPR concepts …
On November 10, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin analyzing consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB over the past four years related to crypto-assets and platforms. According to the CFPB, fraud, scams and transaction issues accounted for …
A new and potentially significant tool in regulatory enforcement is emerging for executives whose companies suffer a cybersecurity incident. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), in a recently proposed Decision and Order, held James Rellas, the Chief Executive Officer …
Machines are increasingly making important decisions that have traditionally been made by humans, such as who should get a job interview or who should receive a loan. For valid legal, reputational, and technical reasons, many organizations and regulators do not …
On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced settlements for approximately $24 million and $29 million, respectively, with virtual currency exchange Bittrex, Inc. (Bittrex). …
On October 19, 2022, 19 Republican state attorneys general (the AGs) launched a coordinated investigation by issuing civil investigative demands (CIDs) to six major US banks. The CIDs seek information related to the banks’ membership in the United Nations’ Net-Zero …
On October 4, 2022, the White House released the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (the “Blueprint”), which provides non-binding “principles” for organizations in both the public and private sectors to use when developing or deploying artificial intelligence (“AI”) …
On October 20, 2022, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS” or “the Committee”) released its first-ever guidelines (the “Guidelines”) pertaining to the enforcement actions that CFIUS may take under applicable statutes and regulations (“CFIUS Rules”). The …
In a new paper, we compare the main models of corporate governance (Schoenmaker, Schramade and Winter, 2022). One is the stakeholder model, which recognizes that companies have responsibilities to society that are broader than just making a profit. A problem …
On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a long-awaited final rule implementing the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The final rule adopted much of FinCEN’s December …
There has been significant regulatory attention recently to “dark patterns,” including FTC guidance, state privacy laws, and state and federal enforcement actions. Some of this activity involves new regulations, and some is based on decades-old consumer protection laws …
Elite U.S.-based global law firms (Biglaw) concentrate their offices in the costliest districts of superstar cities, especially two neighborhoods in Manhattan. This pattern has persisted despite both the dispersal of Biglaw clients across less-dense, lower-cost U.S. locations and the development …
One of the most difficult challenges for cybersecurity professionals is the increasing complexity of corporate systems. Mergers, vendor integrations, new software tools and remote work all expand the footprint of companies’ information systems, creating a larger attack surface for hackers. …
On September 13, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement with Prosperity Bank, a regional bank with branches in Texas and Oklahoma, for processing a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of an ineligible borrower.…
On August 25, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a draft Strategic Plan (the Plan) for fiscal years 2022–2026. The Plan focuses on three goals that, according to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, advance the SEC’s mission to protect …
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought 51, 30, and 33 insider trading cases in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. Whether those numbers mean that insider trading is relatively uncommon or that the cases regulators and prosecutors have pursued …
The ability of disclosure rules to provide investors, consumers, and the public with useful information depends largely on how well the rules are enforced. Strong enforcement helps ensure the provision of information and increases companies’ desire for mandatory disclosure. In …
Nations and businesses often compete and clash. But the war on business has escalated in recent years as nation-states and non-state actors target specific businesses with sanctions and recriminations and new intensity and methods. The many legal, economic, and social …