State AG Pulse | Vermont: Small Is Mighty
On September 9, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it settled charges against seven public companies for alleged violations of Securities Exchange Act Rule 21F-17. According to the SEC,...more
The District of Columbia (DC) Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recently entered into settlements with four title companies in connection with title company joint ventures that included the companies and real estate agents...more
On July 29, the attorney general (AG) for Washington, D.C. sued StubHub, Inc. (StubHub) for violations of the district’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act. The complaint accuses StubHub of employing “dark patterns,”...more
On June 27, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, ruling that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) use of in-house tribunals for civil penalties in securities fraud...more
Expert Allegations Could Become More Frequent in Securities Fraud Complaints and Possibly Erode Pleading Standards - A Ninth Circuit panel ruling that plaintiffs could use expert analysis to bolster securities fraud claims...more
Subscription services, initially marketed as a cheaper, more accessible option, have recently been experiencing a price surge. In 2023, top subscription apps like Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTubeTV, Netflix, Peacock, HBO...more
Last week, Michigan Attorney General (AG) Dana Nessel formally launched an investigation under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA) into the marketing and business practices of a group of interconnected pest control...more
Morrison Foerster’s State and Local Government Task Force is pleased to provide our bimonthly newsletter summarizing some of the most important and interesting developments from state attorneys general across the country and...more
In Short - The Situation: The civil action of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") against Archegos Capital Management LP and its CFO is but one of many civil and criminal matters arising out of Archegos's...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in a couple of recent settled actions, continues to warn companies that the practice of requiring departing employees to sign comprehensive releases in return for...more
Deceptive advertisements, market manipulation, misappropriation of customer funds, and “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” sessions served as the catalysts of a civil enforcement action the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed...more
On May 10, SoLo Funds, Inc. (Solo), one of the largest community lending platforms in the United States, entered into a settlement with the District of Columbia attorney general (OAG). The settlement resolves claims that the...more
Last week, the EDNY and the DOJ Consumer Protection Branch brought a civil enforcement action against defendants who manufacture and sell an herbal tea product called B4B Earth Tea Extra Strength (“Earth Tea”). Earth Tea...more
[co-authors: Amelie Hopkins, and Collin Grier] The year 2021 started with the hope of COVID-19 vaccines and a return to (relative) normalcy, only to conclude with new variants that presented new challenges and extended...more
A recent Fifth Circuit ruling suggests a softening of the SEC’s obligation to return disgorgement awards directly to victims, says Elisha Kobre, a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. The issue is relevant because the...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered into a Consent Order with a lending platform that services and facilitates the origination of consumer loans through a merchant network. The platform agreed to provide...more
Fiscal year 2020 marked the ten-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act establishing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s whistleblower program. Since its inception through the...more
As 2020 drew to a close, enforcement authorities throughout the United States and the Americas continued to investigate fraud, corruption, and other misconduct across the region. Below, we highlight some developments from...more
Welcome to Wiley’s update on recent developments and what’s next in consumer protection at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this newsletter, we analyze recent regulatory...more
On September 16, 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted three precious metals traders for allegedly violating six criminal statutes, including the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act...more
A federal appellate court in California issued a decision effectively ratifying the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s expansive view of its authority to bring enforcement actions addressing a diverse range of purported...more
At both the state and federal level, antitrust enforcement agencies continue to pursue successful challenges to physician practice transactions. This article summarizes two recent enforcement actions, as well as a new state...more
• A New York federal judge held that virtual currencies are commodities within the meaning of the Commodity Exchange Act. • This marks the first court decision to assess and to adopt the CFTC’s position that virtual...more
On January 23, 2018, Mick Mulvaney, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), published an opinion editorial in The Wall Street Journal (the “Op-Ed”) describing his vision of the CFPB’s role in...more
After five years of growth through a series of acquisitions, the Washington State Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit to thwart and unwind the most recent expansion efforts of Franciscan Health System (“CHI Franciscan”)...more