Today's Legal Pulse
Biden sues DOJ to block release of interview audio
President Joe Biden has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent the Department of Justice from publishing an audio recording of his interview. The action, reported by Axios and TIME, aims to keep the interview confidential amid political controversy.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader clear final merger hurdles
South Dakota Construction Company Sued Over Whistleblower’s Firing
U.S. Department of Labor sued Stone Hill Excavation LLC and its successor Split Rock Sand & Gravel for illegally terminating a worker who reported severe burns from a pressurized pipe. OSHA’s investigation confirmed the employee suffered second- and third-degree burns and was fired two days after reporting the incident, violating whistleblower protections under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota, seeks the employee’s reinstatement, back wages and $100,000 in punitive damages. This case underscores heightened regulatory scrutiny of retaliation claims in the construction sector.
Optimising Digital Contract Processes: Alternatives Companies Should Be Considering Now
Many firms still rely on email and PDF signatures, leading to version chaos, stalled approvals, and delayed sales. While e‑signature tools like DocuSign have been standard, rising costs and limited flexibility are prompting companies to explore more integrated contract‑management alternatives....
MVNOs Take Centre Stage in Legislative Shake-Up
South Africa’s parliament has approved an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act that puts mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) at the centre of regulatory reform. The bill, slated for public comment, seeks to curb discriminatory practices by mobile network operators...
General Court Confirms Reliance on Foreign Export Prices for Customs Valuation
On 25 March 2026 the EU General Court upheld that customs authorities may rely on export‑price data from a third country when applying the residual valuation method under Article 74(3) of the Union Customs Code. The ruling stemmed from a post‑clearance audit of...
Iowa AG Files Lawsuit Against Change Healthcare over 2024 Data Breach
Change Healthcare, a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, faces a lawsuit filed by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird alleging violations of state consumer‑protection and data‑security laws. The suit stems from a February 2024 breach that went undetected for ten days, exposing Social...
Nearly 1,700 British Tourists Sue TUI Over Illnesses in Cape Verde, Eight Deaths Reported
Nearly 1,700 British holidaymakers have filed lawsuits against TUI Group, alleging they contracted serious gastrointestinal infections while staying at Cape Verde resorts. The claims cite Salmonella, E. coli and Shigella outbreaks, with eight reported deaths linked to the illnesses. TUI...
New Ofcom Boss Ian Cheshire’s In-Tray Is Full but One Issue Will Dominate
Ian Cheshire, former Kingfisher chief and Channel 4 chair, becomes Ofcom chair amid a sprawling 2026‑27 plan that spans telecoms, broadband, postal services and media. The regulator’s top priority will be the Online Safety Act, a 2023 law aimed at curbing...
JD Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force Uncovers $6 Billion in Suspected Fraudulent Government Contracts
Vice President JD Vance’s newly formed anti‑fraud task force, in partnership with the General Services Administration, has identified roughly $6.3 billion in government contracts that may have been awarded to illegitimate firms. The effort targets 392 businesses across 895 contracts, with...
New Site Warns Of Sweeping 3D Printer Laws
A new advocacy site, Stop the 3D Printing Ban 2026, warns that several U.S. states are drafting anti‑gun legislation that could unintentionally criminalize ordinary 3D printers and related software. The bills use broad definitions of "additive manufacturing," potentially imposing record‑keeping,...
Jefferson Health Sues Aetna over Medicare Advantage ‘Downcoding’ Policy
Jefferson Health and Lehigh Valley Physician Hospital Organization have filed a federal lawsuit against Aetna, alleging that the insurer’s new “downcoding” policy unlawfully reduces Medicare Advantage inpatient payments. The policy classifies 1‑4 night admissions as low‑severity and reimburses them at...
NHTSA Closes Probe Into Tesla’s Smart Summon After Minor Crash Findings
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects and Investigations has closed its year‑long probe into Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, finding that fewer than one percent of millions of sessions resulted in minor property damage and no serious injuries....
Natixis CIB Adopts ISDA’s Digital Regulatory Reporting Solution
Natixis CIB has officially adopted ISDA’s Digital Regulatory Reporting (DRR) solution, leveraging the open‑source Common Domain Model (CDM) to automate regulatory filings. The platform translates a golden‑source interpretation of reporting rules into machine‑executable code, promising higher data accuracy and faster...
The Red Flag Mechanisms in Banking: Identifying and Investigating Potential Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Activities
Banks rely on automated red‑flag mechanisms to spot transactions that exceed predefined thresholds or deviate from a customer’s typical behavior. When an alert is generated, the Money Laundering Reporting Officer and AML analysts must investigate, often requiring customer responses before...
Performing Transaction Investigations
Transaction investigations are a core AML function where banks scrutinize alerts, compare them to customer risk profiles, and gather six months of account activity before entering a case into a management system. Investigators compile transaction, customer, and account data to...
AI Governance as a Compliance Obligation: Integrating ISO/IEC 42001
Artificial intelligence now underpins hiring, credit scoring, customer service, and risk assessment, turning it from a technical tool into a compliance liability. Algorithmic decisions can unintentionally breach anti‑discrimination, consumer‑protection, or privacy laws, and AI models evolve with data, producing outcomes...
Policy Paper: U.S. – UK Financial Regulatory Working Group Winter 2026: Joint Statement
The U.S. Treasury and Britain’s HM Treasury released a joint statement summarizing the 12th meeting of the U.S.–UK Financial Regulatory Working Group held on February 25, 2026. The officials highlighted coordinated actions on crypto oversight, climate‑related financial disclosures, cyber‑risk monitoring,...
Central Compliance Committee: Definition And The Important Composition Of CCC
The Central Compliance Committee (CCC) is a senior‑level body headed by the CEO and secretariated by the Chief Compliance Officer. It meets quarterly to assess the organization’s anti‑money‑laundering and counter‑terrorist‑financing (AML/CFT) posture, review regulatory changes, and coordinate risk‑based mitigation across...
Market Manipulation
Market manipulation involves intentional deception to artificially influence security prices, often through false statements or coordinated trading. The practice is most prevalent in thinly traded penny stocks, where pump‑and‑dump, short‑and‑distort, and other schemes can quickly move prices. Manipulators frequently employ...
Greece Proposes Law to Keep Kids Off Social Media
The Greek government has drafted a law that would bar anyone under 15 from using social‑media platforms, with parents required to install a monitoring app on all devices. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the measure via a TikTok video, citing...
FTC Approves E. Sun Financial's Acquisition of Mercuries Life
Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission approved E. Sun Financial Holding's acquisition of Mercuries Life Insurance, concluding the deal poses no competition risk. The transaction, a share‑swap valued at roughly NT$48.3 billion (about US$1.52 billion), was announced in January and awaits closing in the...
Claim of Unconstitutional School Discipline for Snapchat Among Friends Can Go Forward
The Northern District of Illinois revived a public‑high‑school student’s First Amendment claim after a lower court dismissed it for alleged off‑campus Snapchat harassment. Judge Franklin Valderrama held that the motion‑to‑dismiss stage was too early to assess whether the private message...
SEC Takes Gianoplus Consortia to Court for Fraudulent High-Yield Investment Program
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit in the Florida Middle District Court against Michael Peter Gianoplus, Traci Leigh Bransford‑Marquis, and their entity Gianoplus Consortia LLC. The complaint alleges that between March 2021 and January 2025 the defendants raised...
Iran, US Mull Hormuz Toll; Oman Warns Legal Fallout
Iran and the US are considering imposing tolls on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, challenging the UN Law of the Sea's free passage principle. Oman opposes the tolls, raising legal and economic concerns that could impact global maritime norms...
Hutchison Sues Maersk Over Panama Dispute
Hutchison takes Maersk to court over Panamanian fallout. Follows Hutchison legal action against Panama. https://t.co/9x8NUa7Yjv
Engineering Firm Breached Contract Before Start Date, EAT Rules
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that Loesche Energy Systems breached its employment contract with project‑manager candidate Sita Kankanalapalli by withdrawing the offer before the agreed start date. The September 2022 offer, set for a 1 November start, was conditional on satisfactory...
Understanding Money Laundering: Definitions, Elements, and the Role of Predicate Offense
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of illicit proceeds so they appear legitimate, a practice recognized worldwide with slight definitional variations. The core elements are illicit funds and the act of disguising their source. Predicate offenses—crimes such...
Trump Attacks On Public Media Blocked By Judge (But It’s Too Little, Too Late)
A federal judge issued a permanent injunction blocking President Trump’s executive order that stripped the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of its $1.1 billion budget for FY 2026‑27, effectively defunding PBS and NPR. The order had already forced CPB to vote for dissolution...
SEC Goes After BBFY USA, Captain Drake
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Mark D. Anderson, BBFY USA, Inc., and Captain Drake, LLC, alleging a fraud scheme that raised more than $2.4 million for the defunct Drake’s Organic Spirits. From 2016 to 2023, Drake’s...
European Union Sanctions Regulations: A Complete Overview Of EU Sanctions Regulations
The European Union implements sanctions—referred to as restrictive measures—through a multi‑stage process that culminates in a unanimous decision by the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Council and publication in the Official Journal. These measures range from diplomatic bans and...
FirstRand Jacks up UK Car Loan Provision to $993 Million, Puts Aldermore in Play
FirstRand increased its provision for mis‑sold motor loans to £750 million (about $993 million), up £510 million from the prior level. The South African bank announced it will exit its UK challenger bank Aldermore, citing a costly and flawed British motor‑finance redress scheme....
AML Compliance Program: Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program
Financial institutions must establish a comprehensive anti‑money laundering (AML) compliance program that integrates strong governance, risk assessment, policies, and employee training. The board of directors sets the tone at the top, appoints a qualified AML officer, and oversees a three‑line‑defense...
Independent AML Audits in Law Firms: What They Are and Why They Matter
Law firms must conduct independent Regulation 21 AML audits to prove controls work in practice. The SRA expects evidence that anti‑money‑laundering policies are embedded, not just documented, and may enforce penalties for non‑compliance. Audits assess policies, risk assessments, due‑diligence, monitoring, training,...
![[Video] Daily Compliance News: April 8, 2026, The Fleeing Binance Edition](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://jdsupra-static.s3.amazonaws.com/profile-images/og.2237_4849.jpg)
[Video] Daily Compliance News: April 8, 2026, The Fleeing Binance Edition
Bloomberg reports a rapid exodus of compliance professionals from Binance, with more than 30 officers resigning in a matter of weeks. The departures are linked to heightened regulatory pressure and internal concerns over the firm’s anti‑money‑laundering (AML) framework. Binance’s leadership...
Webinar: Eudia + ServiceNow: The 10x Future of Inhouse Legal Teams
Artificial Lawyer is hosting a free webinar on April 22 at noon EST featuring Eudia’s CEO Omar Haroun and ServiceNow representative Andrew Brereton. The session, titled “Self‑Service Legal: Eudia, ServiceNow, and the 10x Future of In‑House Legal Teams,” will explore how...
PTAB Institutes Post-Grant Review in Entegris, Signaling Broad Scrutiny of Early Patent Claims
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has instituted a post‑grant review (PGR) of Entegris, Inc.’s patent in case PGR2026‑00037. Unlike inter‑ partes review, a PGR allows challenges on eligibility, novelty, obviousness and specification‑based grounds under §§101, 102, 103 and...
Sixth Circuit OKs Disqualifying Republican Primary Candidate Who Admits He's a Democrat Infiltrating the Party
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed Ohio’s decision to remove Samuel Ronan from the Republican primary ballot after he publicly admitted he was a Democrat infiltrating the party. The court held that Ohio Rev. Code § 3513.07’s...
Tech Boss Who Blew Whistle on Chinese Investment Awarded £1.5m
Dr. Ron Black, former chief executive of Imagination Technologies, raised alarms that the Chinese state‑owned fund China Reform was poised to seize control of the UK chip‑design firm. After reporting the risk to senior directors and meeting with GCHQ, he...
AAFA Takes Legal Action over California’s Textile EPR Rollout
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has filed a legal challenge against California's CalRecycle over the selection of a producer‑responsibility organization (PRO) for the state’s inaugural textile extended producer responsibility (EPR) law. AAFA contends the chosen PRO fails to...
Competition Stories: July 2025 – December 2025
The EU competition landscape is seeing a surge in parallel investigations, especially in digital markets where the European Commission and national competition authorities (NCAs) often pursue the same conduct. The WhatsApp AI‑provider policy sparked simultaneous probes by the Commission and...
US Treasury Faces Deadline on Russian, Iranian Oil Waivers
The US has to answer some questions: Does the US Treasury extend the waiver on Russian oil sales? (the general license expires on Sunday, Apr 11) And more politically charged, does the US Treasury extend the waiver on Iranian oil sales?...
Most Founders Don’t Need a Lawyer—Until They Really Do
Founders are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT to draft first‑pass contracts such as NDAs, MSAs, and employment agreements, cutting time and cost. While AI can generate standard language and explain clauses, the real risk lies in high‑stakes agreements where...
SEC Announces Enforcement Results for Fiscal Year 2025
The SEC finally released its FY 2025 enforcement results, revealing 456 actions—including 303 standalone cases and 69 follow‑on proceedings—that generated $17.9 billion in monetary relief. The agency disclosed that 1,095 investigations were closed without enforcement and highlighted a strategic pivot toward fraud‑centric...
Pay Day: What States, Job Seekers & Workers Expect on Salary Transparency
Pay transparency statutes are rapidly expanding, now covering 12 states and the District of Columbia, and many localities, forcing employers to disclose salary ranges, benefits, and sometimes additional job details in postings. The rules also extend to remote positions, meaning...
Risk Strategies Claims Ex-Employees’ Talent and Customer Raid Has Cost It $900K
Boston‑based specialty insurer Risk Strategies has filed a federal lawsuit against former executives Tim and Sheena Tracy and their new employer, Marshall + Sterling, alleging they poached clients and staff while using confidential trade secrets. The firm says the coordinated departure cost...
Today in Supreme Court History: April 8, 1952
On April 8 1952 President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 10340, directing the seizure of steel mills to avert a strike during the Korean War. The Supreme Court, in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, struck down the order as an unconstitutional overreach...
Rulemaking Petition Asks SEC to Address Offering Communications Rules
A rulemaking petition filed by Radivision’s CEO asks the SEC to overhaul pre‑offering communication safe harbors. It proposes expanding Rule 163B’s test‑the‑waters safe harbor to include accredited investors and broadening Rule 169 to cover digital and social‑media disclosures. The petition also seeks...
Audit AI Outputs Now to Avoid $145K Fines
$145K in AI citation fines. Q1 2026. Already billed. Courts are not warning anymore. 4 things to audit: Map AI output exposure Test compliance flexibility Check association risk Reframe automation language Who verifies before it goes out? https://t.co/jiDxZhf68S
‘A Statement That Probably Needed to Be Made’
A federal judge ruled that Executive Order 14290, which defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and cut federal money to NPR, PBS and tribal stations like KSUT, violated the First Amendment. The decision, brought by KSUT, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen...
Iowa Governor Signs Law Cutting Foster Parent Training Time by Half
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill that overhauls state foster‑parent training, reducing the mandatory 30‑hour curriculum to a flexible program that can be completed in three to four months. The change aims to speed placements and broaden the pool...
After Cox Ruling, Supreme Court Wipes Out Grande Communications’ $47M Music Piracy Verdict
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6 vacated a $46.7 million copyright‑infringement judgment against Grande Communications, sending the case back to the Fifth Circuit for review under the new Cox v. Sony standard. The Cox decision held that internet service providers are...