Seeking to ensure that designated contract markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs) adequately incorporate an independent perspective, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)...

Following the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)'s February 2024 consultation on changes to its Enforcement Guide and publicising enforcement investigations (CP 24/2) (First Consultation)...

On May 15, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Association of Realtors filed a joint amici curiae (friend of the court)...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued an interpretive letter addressing whether national banks must comply with state money transmitter licensing requirements, particularly when state exemptions are tied to FDIC insurance status. This guidance arose from a dispute with Iowa over Fidelity Digital Assets' licensing obligations and establishes important precedent for national trust banks operating in the cryptocurrency custody space.

As we predicted last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has continued to prioritize COVID-19 fraud enforcement by utilizing its new task forces and newly budgeted resources to take aim...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois Governor Pritzker issued an Executive Order, pursuant to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act ("Act'), which was reissued over many months...

Starting September 1, 2023, health care facilities in Texas will have to make changes to their billing practices to comply with a newly passed law requiring greater transparency in medical...

On July 23, the New York Times published a full-page editorial titled "Fixing Sanctions."

U.S.Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a notice in the October 20 Federal Register regarding the use of statistical sampling methods in CBP audits conducted under 19 U.S.C. § 1509(b) and in prior disclosures.

In our Spring 2021 issue, we wrote about potential new advertising opportunities concerning the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rights of student athletes.

On June 2, 2011, the IRS provided additional guidance regarding its 2011 offshore voluntary disclosure initiative (OVDI) in the form of revised frequently asked questions (FAQs).

As we previously reported in both our 2009 Year-End Estate Planning Advisory and our December 23 Client Advisory Possible One-Year Elimination of Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax in 2010: Going, Going,Gone?, the federal estate and generation-skipping transfer ("GST") taxes are in a tremendous state of flux, having been set to expire on January.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Advice Memorandum 2010-005 (the AM), in which it held that a so-called barrier option or "knock-out option," as described below, would not be respected as an option for U.S. federal income tax purposes and would cause the optionholder to be treated as the owner of the "optioned" securities.

For the better part of a decade, every estate planning conversation my colleagues had with a high-net-worth family started with the same clock: the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act exemption was set to sunset at the end of 2025, and attorneys, advisors and trustees were racing to get gift programs, spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs) and irrevocable trusts funded before it reverted to pre-2017 levels.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged a group of companies and their natural person controller with operating an unlicensed futures brokerage company...

On July 23, 2025, the White House released "Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan", in accordance with President Trump's January executive order on Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI. As outlined by the White House...

French fashion house Pierre Cardin (Cardin) and one of its oldest licensees, Ahlers Group (Ahlers), agreed to restrict cross-border sales and sales to specific customers.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has recently published a consultation seeking feedback (Consultation) on draft technical advice to the European Commission...

On 22 July 2025, the European Commission announced that it had launched the process to renew the adequacy decision for the United Kingdom (UK) and confirmed that the UK's updated data protection framework...

Derivatives have evolved into essential financial instruments whose value derives from underlying assets like stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies. This comprehensive guide examines the global derivatives landscape, exploring various instrument types from futures and options to swaps and CFDs, while analyzing how regulatory frameworks across major financial centers shape modern trading practices.