On March 12, 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced federal criminal charges in “Operation Varsity Blues,” the largest college admissions case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Fifty people have been charged for their involvement in what prosecutors describe as a nationwide conspiracy to get the children of
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Positive FCA Enforcement Trend for Defense Contractors: DOJ Reaffirms Commitment to Exercise Statutory Authority to Dismiss
Following recent changes to Department of Justice policy regarding individual accountability in government investigations of corporate wrongdoing, DOJ has recently further demonstrated its willingness to consider a flexible approach in applying the False Claims Act.
In a January 28, 2019 speech by Deputy Associate Attorney General Stephen Cox to the 2019 Advanced Forum on
CFPB Signals Potential for Fair Lending Rulemaking
This post recently appeared in our sister publication, Consumer FinSights.
In its recently published Fall 2018 Rulemaking Agenda, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection announced that it is considering future rulemaking activity regarding the requirements of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) – specifically, “concerning the disparate impact doctrine in light of recent
California Passes Small Business Truth-in-Lending Law
This post originally appeared on our sister publication Consumer FinSights
On September 30, 2018, California enacted the nation’s first small business truth-in-lending law when Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1235. The law aims to protect small businesses from predatory lending practices by requiring increased transparency of certain business-purpose loans marketed to small
State Regulators Announce Cryptocurrency Crackdown
On May 21, the North American Securities Administrators Association (“NASAA”) announced a massive and coordinated series of enforcement actions by U.S. state and Canadian provincial regulators to combat fraudulent practices involving cryptocurrency-related investment products.
As cryptocurrencies have gained in popularity, companies have increasingly turned to a method known as an initial coin offering (“ICO”) to
No Changes to CFPB This Year
In a statement on Thursday, April 26, a key House Republican on CFPB issues effectively admitted that despite his own efforts and those of the Trump Administration including Acting CFPB Director, Mick Mulvaney, Congress will almost certainly make no changes to the structure of the CFPB this year. As a result, there will probably be
Senate Votes to Strike Down Key CFPB Bulletin on Lending Discrimination in the Indirect Auto Market
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted almost entirely along party lines to invalidate, under the Congressional Review Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) (in)famous 2013 Bulletin on lending discrimination in the indirect auto market via discretionary mark-ups and dealer compensation policies. The 2013 Bulletin, construing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and its implementing rule,
Does United States v. Ying Expand the Knowledge Requirement for “Classical” Insider Trading?
On March 14, 2018, the SEC and DOJ sued Jun Ying, a former Chief Information Officer within an Equifax Inc. business unit, for insider trading. Specifically, they accused him of knowing about a significant Equifax data breach prior to its public disclosure and, while in possession of that material nonpublic information, exercising his Equifax options
“White Hat” Ethical Hackers and Corporate Investigations
This post originally appeared in our sister publication, Password Protected. 
A “white hat” is an ethical computer hacker who specializes in penetration testing and other testing methodologies to ensure the security of an organization’s information systems. According to the Ethical Hacking Council, “The goal of the ethical hacker is to help the organization
Full D.C. Circuit Court, Reversing Decision Below, Holds that CFPB’s Independent Structure is Constitutional; also Reinstates Important RESPA Rulings
In a long-awaited constitutional decision regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today in PHH v. CFPB reversed a prior ruling by a three-judge panel that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured. As we previously reported, that prior panel’s prior decision — stayed since its issuance in October