Editor’s Note: The FTC continues to crack down on privacy and cybersecurity, including issuing a new warning to tax preparation companies and entering into a consent decree with 1Health.io. VPPA and BIPA litigation continues to dominate the courts, including a denial of a motion to dismiss regarding worker’s voiceprints. In California, a federal judge enjoined enforcement of the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. On the international level, Canada issued a Generative AI Code of Conduct for feedback, and the EU-DPF survives a court case.

This article, part of our Creditor’s Rights Toolkit series, discusses strategies for businesses to protect themselves when they suspect a customer might file for bankruptcy. These strategies include:

Obtaining a Deposit: This makes the business a secured creditor, which often get paid in full in a bankruptcy case, unlike unsecured creditors.

Establishing Payment in…

On November 8, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule outlining the conditions under which a reporting company can report another entity’s FinCEN identifier instead of an individual’s beneficial ownership information (BOI). A FinCEN identifier is a unique number issued by FinCEN to an individual or a reporting company that has provided its BOI to FinCEN.

Understanding the complex interplay between successor liability and bankruptcy law is crucial for creditors seeking to recover debts. In this article in our Creditor’s Toolkit series, we dissect the nuances of Section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code, which typically exempts bankruptcy sales from successor liability, while also shedding light on the exceptions to this rule.

Troutman Pepper has been recognized for its exceptional work in the field of Banking & Finance and Financial Services Law in the 14th edition of Best Law Firms®. Our firm’s National Tier 1 rankings include Banking and Finance Law, Financial Services Regulation Law and Banking & Finance Litigation.

On October 13, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 666, which amends the California Financing Law to prohibit a covered entity from charging certain fees in connection with a commercial financing transaction with a small business. Under the law, a small business is defined as an independently owned and operated business, with its principal office located in California, its officers domiciled in California, and, together with affiliates, 100 or fewer employees and average annual gross receipts of $15 million or less over the previous three years. “Covered entities” do not include depository institutions.

On November 3, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) voted unanimously to finalize the procedures for designating a nonbank financial company for Federal Reserve supervision. FSOC’s Interpretive Guidance aims to establish a “durable” process for using its nonbank financial company designation authority, maintain rigorous procedural protections for companies reviewed for potential designation, and remove “unwarranted hurdles” to designation imposed by the 2019 Interpretive Guidance. FSOC had issued a proposed Interpretive Guidance in April 2023, which received 47 comments. The final version takes into account those comments.

As discussed here, on August 1, the two major national credit union trade associations — the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) — announced plans to merge and create a new organization called America’s Credit Unions. Today, CUNA announced that the organizations’ members voted overwhelmingly (94% of CUNA members and 86% of NAFCU members) in favor of the merger. America’s Credit Unions will be legally formed on January 1, 2024.