Rules & Proposals

The SEC has proposed expanding the “test-the-waters” accommodation—currently available to emerging growth companies—to all issuers, including investment company issuers. 

With a comment period now wrapped up, the CFPB plans to move forward with a proposal to offer firms innovative “trial disclosure programs.”

The SEC was spared setting mandatory arbitration policy when New Jersey’s attorney general argued a shareholder initiative proposed for Johnson & Johnson would be illegal.

Expressing their staunch opposition to the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, a group of Senate Democrats have written to the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Communications Commission, urging them to reject the plan.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are seeking public feedback on the collection, use, and protection of sensitive personal information by financial regulators and private companies.

The FCC has escalated its war against robocallers by proposing new rules banning illegal spoofed text messages and international calls. There is also a renewed threat of regulation and enforcement against phone companies that fail to deploy effective caller ID authentication plans.

Fenergo, a provider of client lifecycle management solutions for financial institutions, announced Rules as a Service, a cloud-based regulatory rules offering.

The newly reintroduced Corporate Political Disclosure Act seeks to require publicly traded companies to disclose their political expenditures through the SEC.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has denied the government’s motion to dismiss Public Citizen v. Trump, a case challenging a 2017 executive order directing federal agencies to repeal two federal regulations for every new rule they issue.

A proposed new change to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing depositions that would effectively create time-consuming and costly new discovery disputes has companies and their defense counsel up in arms.

SunTrust Banks and BB&T Corp. recently announced merger plans. The deal is drawing the scrutiny of Congressional Democrats, less for the details of the merger than the regulatory atmosphere that encouraged it and the forthcoming approval process.

Jumping into an arena the private sector has trailblazed, the federal government is redoubling its efforts regarding the development of artificial intelligence. On Feb. 11, President Trump announced a new initiative intended to help the U.S. gain dominance in deployments of the emerging technology.

The CFPB this week both cracked down on a law-breaking payday lender and announced an effort to weaken 2017 rules meant to hold small-dollar lenders to greater oversight and scrutiny.

A recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board restores a traditional test for classifying workers as either employees or independent contractors.

Critics are taking their shots against the CFPB for attempting to scale back its rules covering payday lenders. Lawmakers are also questioning the Bureau’s retreat from negotiating enforcement settlements that fail to include monetary restitution for customers.

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday finalized changes to its stress testing program for the nation’s largest and most complex banks. The intent is to make the resiliency assessments “more open, transparent, and effective.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is the latest legislator to move forward with a bill to establish a national consumer data privacy law. His proposed American Data Dissemination (ADD) Act, uses the Privacy Act of 1974 as its framework.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has sent a letter to Eddie Lampert, chairman of Sears Holdings, asking him for “a long-term plan to protect workers” as the legendary retailer faces bankruptcy proceedings.

The House of Representatives has passed three bipartisan bills, previously advanced by the House Financial Services Committee, that aim to curb insider trading and human trafficking.

Qualified Opportunity Zones were created by tax reform legislation to incentivize investments in economically distressed communities. In this podcast, we discuss their complexities with Mayer Greenberg and Kevin Matz, tax experts and partners at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking to legislatively expand its purview to police financial products targeted to military personnel.

As the government reopens after a month-long shutdown, the SEC is among the agencies returning to normal operations. Companies, however, should expect to vie for assistance on a "first come, first served" basis.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is increasingly a catalyst for new risks and tough choices for corporations.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee, has announced a series of hearings he wants before the Committee. He is also escalating document demands from scandal-plagued Deutsche Bank.

With new leadership, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the House Financial Services Committee is setting its agenda for the new session of Congress.