"One-Man CFTC" Allows for Quick Rulemaking

One-Man CFTC Speeds Up Rulemaking on Prediction Markets, Crypto

The US regulator in charge of derivatives trading is rapidly proposing rules to establish its authority over prediction markets and digital assets, charging ahead with formal policies on big-ticket issues even as four out of its five commissioner seats remain vacant.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has initiated rulemaking on eight items since June, roughly doubling its output from the rest of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a list of published proposals. [...]

The rulemaking process at the CFTC can move quickly with Selig alone at the helm, attorneys said.

“He doesn’t have to worry about getting the vote of other commissioners,” said Timothy Massad, a former Democratic CFTC chairman who’s now a Harvard Kennedy School of Government research fellow.

“It reflects the increased politicization of the agency, and that’s not a good trend,” he added.

by Bloomberg Law

Have Private Suits Filled Gap Left By SEC's Crypto Pullback?

As the SEC has entered a new phase, an important question arises: Has private litigation filled the gap left by the decline in SEC crypto enforcement?

To address the question, this article analyzes the 181 crypto-related federal cases filed between Jan. 1, 2021, and May 31, 2026. The results suggest that private litigation has not fully offset the decline in SEC litigation in terms of volume. However, private litigation has not disappeared and continues to pursue claims across a broader range of crypto-related activities, resulting in a litigation landscape that differs from the SEC's enforcement focus.

While the SEC has concentrated primarily on token offerings, stablecoins, staking and lending programs, and other crypto investment schemes, private litigants have also targeted crypto exchanges and trading platforms, mining companies, nonfungible token projects and a broader range of participants throughout the crypto ecosystem.

by NERA

Blanche Takes Goldilocks Approach to Foreign Bribery Enforcement

When President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Justice to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, I thought it was a mistake. The FCPA is far too important to treat as optional. For decades, it’s been one of the main ways the US has shaped global anti-corruption enforcement and made clear that international business shouldn’t be determined by whoever is willing to pay the most to the right government official.

The February 2025 executive order that directed a broad pause on new enforcement activity sent the message that foreign bribery was no longer something the US intended to take seriously.

But as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sits before Congress this week for his confirmation hearing, his June 2025 FCPA guidelines outline a more balanced approach for enforcers. The so-called Blanche Memo didn’t abandon the FCPA altogether, it narrowed the DOJ’s focus. In important respects, that narrower approach makes sense. Over time, FCPA enforcement has become too broad and moved beyond the statute’s core purpose. The FCPA was never intended to turn every act of foreign bribery, anywhere in the world, into a major American criminal case.

by Bloomberg Law

An SEC email address mix-up is causing confusion and threatening to disrupt its proposal to scrap quarterly reporting requirements

In May, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a new rule that would let publicly listed companies report their financial results twice a year instead of every quarter, as is currently required. The agency asked the public to weigh in and send its feedback to [email protected]. But the comment inbox that the SEC lists on its own instructions page—and has printed in almost every rule proposal it has issued since at least 2019—is [email protected]. With an “s.”

The comment (or…comments) period on the semiannual reporting rule closed on July 6, but the email address confusion cropped up on Monday in a letter to the commission from nonprofit investor advocate Better Markets. The letter, addressed to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, said the posted email address was “incorrect,” and said the error “undoubtedly deprived some members of the public of the opportunity to express their views on an extensive, far-reaching and dramatic change to corporate reporting that upends half a century of practice.”

by Fortune

The Latest in the Uncle Nearest Whiskey Saga: Federal Fraud Investigations

The nearly yearlong courtroom drama surrounding the embattled Uncle Nearest distillery took a sharp turn on Friday, when the receiver appointed to manage its finances reported that two federal agencies were investigating potential financial misconduct involving the once-high-flying Tennessee whiskey company.

The receiver, Phillip Young, wrote in a second-quarter status update that he had turned over documents to both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, which often investigates banking fraud.

While Mr. Young did not provide details about the investigations, the company’s founder, Fawn Weaver, has come under scrutiny for a $20 million loan from MarcyPen, a venture capital firm owned in part by the music mogul Jay-Z. In a court appearance in February, she said that she had initially hidden the loan from her company’s creditors, a potential violation of federal banking laws.

by NYT