In addition to receiving cease-and-desist orders from several states (Arizona, Illinois, Montana, and Ohio), and ongoing litigation against New Jersey state gaming regulators in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, KalshiEx LLC (Kalshi) is also now embroiled in litigation with regulators in Maryland and Nevada. Kalshi operates as a designated contract market, which allows adults in all 50 states to make financial trades on a broad range of topics — from sports to the weather.
Ashley Taylor, Clayton Friedman, Michael Yaghi, Natalia Jacobo, and Jay Myers of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP discuss stepped up enforcement efforts among state attorneys general in the face of the Trump administration’s broad deregulatory agenda and as federal agencies appear to shift litigation priorities.
Read the full article at Reuters and Westlaw Today.
Nevada Attorney General (AG) Aaron D. Ford recently announced that the State of Nevada and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have filed a suit against IYOVIA. IYOVIA currently operates under the brand names IM Mastery Academy, iMarketsLive, and IM Academy (collectively, “IML”) and is accused of falsely promising significant income through trading in various financial markets and through a multi-level marketing scheme.
In a significant regulatory shift, the Texas Lottery Commission has enacted an immediate ban on lottery ticket courier services in the state, effective February 24. This decisive move marks a stark departure from the commission’s previous position that it lacked jurisdiction over these couriers. State officials in Texas backing the change assert that groups who buy mass quantities of lottery tickets using unregulated lottery couriers avoid safeguards in the regulatory system and undermine public trust in the lottery system.
Alaska’s Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit recently announced it obtained a Superior Court order issuing a $250,000 civil penalty against B. Merry Studio, which the state alleged to have marketed products as being made in Alaska, when the products were manufactured in the Philippines. The products at issue include knives, figurines, and animal carvings. While some of the products included raw materials sourced from Alaska, the products were assembled in the Philippines. When B. Merry Studio shipped the products to Alaska, their finishings included “Made in Philippines” stickers. The company allegedly replaced these stickers with labels that stated, “Alaskan Made” and “Made in Alaska.”
Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys assess the evolution of California’s auto-renewal law and the impact of these amendments on businesses and consumers.
Warnings of an impending regulatory focus on hidden and junk fees materialized following President Joe Biden’s call to Congress during his 2023 State of the Union address to eliminate them. On December 17, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its final rule, Trade Regulation rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (Junk Fees Rule), which bans junk fees associated with live-event ticket and short-term lodging (hotels and vacation rentals). By focusing exclusively on the live-event ticket and short-term lodging sectors, the rule is notably narrower in scope than the originally proposed rule from October 2023, which targeted junk and hidden fees across all industries nationwide.
In the seventh episode of our 12 Days of Regulatory Insights podcast series, members of the firm’s Advertising + Marketing practice, Mike Yaghi and Natalia Jacobo, examine the evolving landscape of advertising and marketing regulations. The episode focuses on the impact of recent efforts to curb junk fees, state mandates for transparent pricing, and potential regulatory changes anticipated with the new administration in 2025.
Among the several provisions on the ballot in the recent election, Missouri citizens voted for Amendment 2, which will legalize online and retails sports betting. The amendment won by a small margin of less than 7,500 votes.
On September 24, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2863 into law. The bill amends California’s existing regulations on automatic renewal offers and continuous service offers made to California consumers.