In Sztrom v. SEC, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia confirmed that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, which curtailed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ability to seek civil penalties in its administrative forum, does not eliminate the agency’s long-standing ability to pursue industry bars through administrative follow-on proceedings. The opinion underscores that, even after Jarkesy and other recent limits on agency power, the SEC may still use its in-house process to determine whether to bar previously enjoined defendants from the securities industry, with independent review limited to the courts of appeals.

On March 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that both agencies describe as “historic.” The MOU is intended to reset the relationship between the agencies by reducing turf battles, avoiding duplicative regulation, and providing clearer, technology-neutral oversight — particularly in markets where securities and derivatives regimes overlap, including crypto. While it does not change either agency’s statutory authority, it creates a formal framework for coordination that will materially affect how policy, examinations, and enforcement play out in practice.

State attorneys general (AGs) from across the political spectrum have refused to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) midtrial settlement with Live Nation. The bipartisan multistate coalition vowed to “keep fighting this case without the federal government,” underscoring that state AGs are increasingly prepared to part with the DOJ and take the lead in complex enforcement actions.

Political activities sit at the intersection of law, policy, and reputation. Companies operating in highly regulated industries cannot avoid political law issues, and it is frequently more complex than expected.

This quarterly newsletter highlights a few practical issues we are seeing with clients and a handful of developments worth keeping on the radar.

Virginia Attorney General (AG) Jay Jones has joined an ongoing lawsuit by 23 Democratic AGs challenging Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Russell T. Vought’s interpretation of the CFPB’s statutory funding mechanism that would leave the agency without operating funds.

Washington, D.C. and Atlanta – March 2026 – Troutman Strategies (Strategies) and Troutman Pepper Locke’s Regulatory Investigations, Strategy + Enforcement (RISE) team announced the addition of three professionals who deepen the firm’s federal, state, and regulatory capabilities: Jason A. Smith with the RISE team in Washington, D.C. and New York, Audra Hill as state affairs coordinator in Georgia, and Brian Mann as a government affairs specialist on the federal team in Washington, D.C.

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Thursday, March 26 • 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET

Gene Fishel will be speaking on the “Cyber Threats – Are You Prepared?” webinar, being held on March 26.

Join professionals from McGriff, the US Secret Service, Troutman Pepper Locke, and A.B. Data to learn more about fraud and cybercrimes. Organizations of all sizes…

A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee marks a significant development in the ongoing dispute over whether sports event contracts offered on prediction market platforms are properly regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or whether such contracts should be regulated by the states as sports betting. Tennessee officials had issued a cease‑and‑desist order contending that certain sports‑linked event contracts were akin to unlicensed sports wagering under state law. Prediction contract platform provider, Kalshi, responded by filing suit in federal court, arguing that these contracts were “swaps” governed exclusively by the Commodity Exchange Act and subject to the CFTC’s jurisdiction, not Tennessee’s sports‑betting framework.

This article was originally published by Virginia Lawyers Weekly and is republished with permission.

Upon taking office Jan. 17, Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones issued a series of pronouncements in quick succession that signal his administration’s core priorities, and that are sure to reverberate through Virginia’s legal landscape. They include actions involving consumer protection, health data privacy, immigration, education, and environmental issues.

New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James reached a $2.5 million settlement with health insurer EmblemHealth following an investigation of the behavioral health provider “ghost networks.” “Ghost networks” are provider networks in which many of the providers listed in the insurer’s directory of “in-network” providers are actually unavailable, not accepting new patients, or not actually participating in the network. The investigation also focused on compliance with state and federal behavioral health parity laws. As part of the settlement, the insurer will pay more than $2.5 million and undertake changes to its policies and procedures.