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WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators will begin grading banks on which communities and geographies they service via online lending under tougher new rules modernizing fair lending standards to be finalized on Tuesday. The changes to 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations draw a line under a contentious multiyear effort that was delayed amid fierce lobbying by community groups and lenders, as well as by a change of presidential administrations. Conceived to prevent red lining, CRA regulations are central to banks' overall supervisory performance. Historically, CRA grades focused on how well banks serviced low-income communities where banks have branches. Banks on Tuesday said they supported fair lending but flagged concerns with the final rule.

Persons: Michael Barr, Michelle Bowman, Banks, Randy Benjenk, Lindsey Johnson, Pete Schroeder, Andrea Ricci, Michelle Price, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Federal, Fed, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office, Covington, Consumer Bankers Association, Thomson Locations: U.S, Burling

Slingsby steered the Flying Roo foiling catamaran to finishes of 5-2-1 to take a one-point lead over Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark, with Spain's Diego Botin six points back in third. Britain's Sir Ben Ainslie had a rough start in his pursuit of a third straight regatta victory, going 8-10-6 to settle into ninth in the 10-boat fleet. Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesThe Aussies came into the regatta with a six-point lead over Ainslie and Botin in the season standings despite not having won yet this season. "Although we have been consistent and sailed well, we haven’t managed to get a win this season. She was the first woman to win a SailGP regatta when the Aussies were victorious in Cádiz in 2021.

Persons: Tom Slingsby, Cádiz, Slingsby, Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL, Spain's Diego Botin, Botin, Sir Ben Ainslie, Peter Burling, Jimmy Spithill's, Taylor Canfield, Hans Henken, it’s, Ainslie, Larry Ellison's, “ It’s, ” Slingsby, haven’t, I’ve, Nina Curtis, “, ”, Curtis, Dylan, Burling, Bernie Wilson Organizations: Team Australia, Team New Zealand, USA, America's, Program, Aussie, Kiwis, Saint, Twitter Locations: Spain, Nicolai Sehested’s ROCKWOOL Denmark, Los Angeles, Botin, San Francisco, Cádiz, Australia, Taranto, Italy

Kevin Hodges, a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, was the first member of Amazon's defense team identified in a court document in the case. Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky, a 24-year veteran of the company's legal department, can turn to a stable of top outside law firms that already represent it. Thomas Barnett, co-chair of the firm’s antitrust practice and a former senior Justice Department official, was involved in the effort. A Covington spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the firm is defending Amazon in the FTC antitrust case. Amazon has also turned to U.S. law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to navigate government scrutiny.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Kevin Hodges, Williams, Connolly, Hodges, John Schmidtlein, David Zapolsky, Lina Khan, Thomas Barnett, Covington, Paul, Weiss, Garrison, Paul Weiss, Andrew Goudsward, Mike Scarcella, David Bario, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Amazon Logistics, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Trade, Amazon.com, Amazon, Williams, U.S . Justice, Microsoft, BP, Big Tech, Alphabet's, Google, FTC, Burling, Department, D.C, Covington, Thomson Locations: Chicago . Illinois, U.S, WASHINGTON, Washington, Mexico, Covington, Rifkind, Wharton

☆ US antitrust regulator names Henry Liu to head competition unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal Trade Commission seal is seen at a news conference in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Tuesday that Henry Liu, a partner at law firm Covington Burling, would be the new director of the commission's Bureau of Competition. "I'm excited to have Henry at the helm of the Bureau of Competition," Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. At Covington & Burling, where he worked for 14 years, Liu rose to be a partner in litigation and antitrust practices, according to the statement. Liu went to Yale Law School, graduating in 2007, according to his LinkedIn page.

Persons: Yuri Gripas, Henry Liu, Covington, Liu, Henry, Lina Khan, R, Guy Cole Jr, Bill Clinton, Diane Bartz, Ismail Shakil, Rami Ayyub, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Competition, Meta's Facebook, Amazon.com, FTC, Big Tech, Justice Department, Albertsons, Covington &, Yale Law School, U.S ., Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, commission's, Covington, Covington & Burling, Washington, Ottawa

☆ Europe Is Embarking on a Mining Renaissance. Winning Over Locals Is Proving a Challenge.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +12 min

“It’s definitely a [mining] renaissance,” said Rebecca Campbell, global mining and metals lead at law firm White & Case. “We’re trying to foster a permitting landscape that is both efficient and responsible.”In Europe, the mining renaissance comes after years of nearly no new mining activity on the continent. Left: A layer of spodumene within the host rock that Savannah Resources intends to mine. Savannah Resources, which has set up two offices in the municipality, has said it would strictly avoid that and instead build reservoirs to store rain water. That view is echoed by Savannah Resources.

Persons: COVAS, Portugal —, Barroso, BEL, mina ”, ”, Nelson Gomes, Covas, Alex Gorman, “, Nelson, YUSUF KHAN, “ It’s, Rebecca Campbell, ” “, Jayni Hein, Hein, “ We’re, Peel Hunt’s Gorman, Dale Ferguson, Gomes, Jessica Polfjärd, Polfjärd, Ana Fontoura Gouveia, Fontoura, ” Fontoura, Yusuf Khan Organizations: COVAS DO BARROSO, Associação, Peel, Vulcan Energy Resources, Adriatic Metals, White, Covington, Burling, Environmental, Council, Savannah Resources, Sustainable Business, Sweden’s Moderate Party, Serra Locations: Portugal, Porto, Boticas, Covas, It’s, Europe, Germany, Sweden, Bosnia, Finland, Greece, U.S, Savannah, London, spodumene, Serbia, China, yusuf.khan

A spokesperson for Covington said the firm will "review the decision carefully and consider any next steps in consultation with our affected clients." Any final outcome could make it easier for the government to get information on law firm clients in the future, and law firms warn it could chill cooperation between the private sector and authorities investigating cyberattacks. The SEC had sought the names of all the nearly 300 companies affected, but Covington resisted identifying any clients. The agency said it needed the names to probe for securities law violations associated with the attack, arguing that Covington’s law firm status did not shield it from cooperating. Covington told the court a law firm’s clients are part of a “zone of privacy” protected by the U.S. Constitution and legal ethics rules.

Persons: Burling, Judge Amit Mehta, Covington, cyberattacks, Mehta, Andrew Goudsward, David Bario, Susan Heavey Organizations: Covington, Burling, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, SEC, Circuit U.S, of, Thomson Locations: Covington, Washington

☆ Chinese intelligence hacked State Department emails in ‘significant’ breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 5, 2023. Chinese intelligence hacked into Microsoft email accounts belonging to two dozen government agencies, including the State Department, in the United States and Western Europe in a "significant" breach, according to Microsoft and U.S. national security officials. "The Senate Intelligence Committee is closely monitoring what appears to be a significant cybersecurity breach by Chinese intelligence," Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, and chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence said Wednesday. The compromise was "mitigated" by Microsoft cybersecurity teams after it was first reported to the company in mid-June 2023, Microsoft said in a pair of blog posts about the incidents. It's also a timely example of the kind of threat that U.S. national security officials have been warning about for months and years.

Persons: Strategic Communications John Kirby, James, Brady, Sen, Mark Warner, Mandiant, Charles Carmakal, Adam Hodge, Covington Organizations: National Security, Strategic Communications, White, Microsoft, State Department, Senate Intelligence, Intelligence, U.S, Warner, of State, CNBC, National Security Council, FBI, Infrastructure Security Agency, Security, Wall Street Locations: Washington ,, United States, Western Europe, China, Burling, Guam, It's, U.S

☆ Wells Fargo promotes head of Native American banking to managing director
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo (WFC.N) promoted Dawson Her Many Horses, head of Native American Banking, to managing director, one of the first enrolled tribal members to reach that rank at a major U.S. bank, the lender said on Monday. Her Many Horses was appointed head of Native American Banking in the commercial banking division in 2021. He joined Wells Fargo in 2018. Wells Fargo has banking relationships with one out of three federally recognized tribes in the U.S. with about $3.4 billion in credit commitments and $4.1 billion in deposits. Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Wells, Dawson, Wells Fargo, Nupur Anand, Lananh Nguyen, Richard Chang Organizations: YORK, American Banking, Covington, Burling, New York Times, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wells Fargo, New York

NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) - Family-owned food giant Mars Inc on Wednesday agreed to buy Kevin's Natural Foods, which is known for its sous-vide meals, sauces, and side dishes, the companies said. McLean, Virginia-based Mars, which generates about $48 billion in annual sales, has three major businesses - Mars Petcare, Mars Snacking, and Mars Food & Nutrition. After the deal is completed, Kevin's will operate as a standalone brand under the food and nutrition unit. Mars plans to grow its food business through more potential acquisitions in the near term, said Shaid Shah, global president at Mars Food & Nutrition. McCray launched Kevin's after he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, as he wanted to build a food brand that focused on healthy diets.

Persons: Kevin's, Mars, Canin, Shaid Shah, Shah, Dan Costa, Kelsie Costa, Olson, Kevin McCray, McCray, Simpson Thacher, ArentFox Schiff, Sheppard Mullin, Anirban Sen, Abigail Summerville, Jamie Freed Organizations: YORK, Mars Inc, Mars Food, Nutrition, Mars, Heska Corp, Towerbrook Capital Partners, NewRoad Capital Partners, Unilever, Flagstone Foods, Campbell Soup, Citi, Burling, Wells, Wells Fargo Securities, Thomson Locations: McLean , Virginia, Modesto , California, North America, Bartlett, Covington, Wells Fargo, New York

☆ What to expect from work the next time faraway wildfires poison your commute
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It may have helped Google to make a decision that many other East Coast employers did not that California-based companies have more experience with hazardous air quality issues. But one thing is certain: companies and workers should expect these wildfire-related air quality issues to return. The decisions companies make on these matters have significant legal and employee satisfaction ramifications, especially given the potential for future air quality issues. Air quality is becoming a broad employee health issue Between Covid, wildfires, radon and other environmental issues, there's been an increased awareness among employers and commercial real estate firms of the importance of air quality. Broadly speaking, companies need to be asking whether the systems they have in place are "adequate to ensure protection and safe air during very bad air quality events," he said.

Persons: David Dee Delgado, didn't, Eric Adams, Sedina Banks, Greenberg, Charles Simikian, Sara H, Dickinson Wright, it's, there's, Thomas Brugato, Nathan J, Oleson, Akin Gump, James Carbone Organizations: Summit, Vanderbilt, Getty, Google, New York, Safety, Health Administration, HR Partners, OSHA, Burling, Newsday Locations: Canada, New York, California, Asia, York, East, Maryland, Los Angeles, Washington, Covington, Islandia , New York

May 10 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve its dispute with law firm Covington & Burling over the agency's demand for the names of 300 clients affected by a cyberattack on the firm. The SEC sued Covington in January to force the prominent Washington-based firm to identify public company clients whose information was accessed or stolen in the breach. Mehta told an SEC lawyer that the subpoena puts Covington in the “very awkward position” of having to identify its clients to an enforcement agency without evidence of wrongdoing. “We’re not targeting any particular party,” SEC lawyer Eugene Hansen responded. A lawyer for Covington, Theodore Boutrous, said the SEC has made Covington a “test case” for new authority to scrutinize public companies through demands on their law firms following a hack.

☆ Australia stamps authority on SailGP with third $1 million win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Alexander Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 8 (Reuters) - Tom Slingsby and his Australian crew clinched this season's SailGP Championship in San Francisco Bay on Sunday, notching up their third straight win and with it another $1 million prize. A dominant Australia held off a last-minute surge from runner-up Peter Burling's New Zealand in the three-boat final, with Ben Ainslie's Emirates Great Britain trailing in behind in what has been billed as sailing's answer to Formula One. There will be little downtime for the crews with SailGP's fourth season due to begin on June 16-17 in Chicago, the first of 12 events around the world which will culminate once again in San Francisco Bay in July next year. SailGP said that a new team, which it did not name, would be joining the others for the start in the next U.S. event. Reporting by Alexander Smith in London; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hacked Washington law firm fights SEC subpoena in effort to protect attorney-client privilege
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

People exit the headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C., May 12, 2021. Covington & Burling has more than 700 lawyers in Washington, D.C., where the international firm has built a reputation of working with regulators rather than fighting them. "The SEC's subpoena turns advocate into informant, conscripting Covington as a source for investigative leads against its own clients," the firm said in a filing. Covington remains unyielding in its opposition, and the firm is getting a hefty dose of support from its legal peers. Officials have said cooperation and support from the private sector, ranging from small businesses to top law firms, is a critical part of law enforcement's efforts to protect U.S. interests.

☆ Meet Sandra Douglass Morgan, the only Black female president in the NFL: ‘This job is much bigger than me’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Growing up in Las Vegas, Sandra Douglass Morgan never dreamed about making history — she just wanted to make herself, and her parents, proud. But Douglass Morgan didn't need to eavesdrop to understand that she and her family would be treated unfairly because of the color of their skin. Douglass Morgan, now 44, made a promise to herself: No matter what she did, she would champion equity and respect. Months later — and after the abrupt departure of two presidents — Davis approached Douglass Morgan about the job. Douglass Morgan sought the counsel of friends and family, including her husband, Don Morgan, who played four years in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals.

☆ Putin will pay a 'huge price' for the war in Ukraine, former Swedish prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailPutin will pay a 'huge price' for the war in Ukraine, former Swedish prime minister saysCarl Bildt, who served as Swedish prime minister from 1991 to 1994 and is now policy advisor at Covington & Burling LLP, says the war has been a "massive strategic failure" from the Kremlin's point of view.

Feb 14 (Reuters) - Law firm Covington & Burling fired back at a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, arguing the agency overstepped by asking it to identify clients affected by a 2020 cyberattack on the firm. Covington said an SEC subpoena for the names of nearly 300 publicly traded companies whose information was accessed or stolen during the hack threatened to expose confidential client information that the firm is required to protect. The SEC sued Covington last month to force the powerful D.C.-based firm to identify the clients as part of an investigation into potential securities law violations associated with the hack. The firm pointed to legal ethics rules that require law firms to keep the confidences of their clients and protect potentially embarrassing information. Covington said it worked with the FBI to investigate the cyberattack and notified all clients whose information was potentially compromised.

☆ ABA Passes Resolution Opposing Suspicious-Transaction Reporting Rule for Lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The association also is considering changes to its professional conduct rules around the vetting of clients. The ABA’s rules for professional conduct are typically used as a basis for the rules enforced by state courts, which serve as primary regulators of the legal trade. Under current rules, lawyers have an ethical obligation to keep confidential all information relating to the representation of their clients. Requiring lawyers to report suspicious transactions by their clients also could undermine attorney-client privilege, the group argued in their resolution. Those committees are expected to file a resolution at the annual meeting of the ABA’s policy arm later this year.

[1/4] The logo of FTX is seen at the entrance of the FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., November 12, 2022. Companies facing wide-ranging investigations often hire pool counsel for employees. The use of pool counsel suggests that federal prosecutors in Manhattan probing FTX's collapse may be interested in questioning a deep roster of employees. The use of pool counsel enables a single legal team to gain expertise in the case, making it more efficient than having each employee retain individual lawyers, Krissoff said. The arrangement does not mean Covington is representing FTX, which has turned to Sullivan & Cromwell, another law firm.

☆ SEC Seeks Names of Public Companies Affected by Email Hack on Law Firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Regulators asked a federal court to require Covington & Burling LLP to hand over information about a 2020 breach of the law firm’s email systems that could have been used to facilitate illicit trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission said in its request for a court order that Covington was hacked in November 2020 by a group known as Hafnium responsible for a number of attacks on Microsoft Corp. software. Microsoft has said that group is a state-sponsored Chinese outfit that targeted vulnerabilities in versions of Exchange Server, an email and calendar application, that run on computer systems in physical offices.

☆ Law firms that make billions fighting injuries and frauds are very hush-hush about what they pay. Here are the starting salaries at 19 firms from Altshuler to Wigdor.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Many plaintiffs' firms pay somewhere in between. Despite more law firms increasingly paying their top earners like professional athletes, many law school grads only make between $50,000 and $80,000 a year. Things do appear to be changing as more plaintiffs firms seek to compete with Big Law firm talent. But firms like Edelson that pay as much as Big Law firms are the exception. For more information on how these law firms pay, see our table below:Do you have more information on how plaintiffs' firms pay their lawyers?

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☆ Treasury Lays Groundwork for Ownership Registry, but Questions Remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Providing ExemptionsAnother key issue addressed by FinCEN’s rule relates to which companies will have to submit beneficial ownership information. Lawmakers reasoned that ownership information for such companies already would be readily available, but the large carve-outs have sparked questions from some quarters. They will be given 30 days to report beneficial ownership information. The road aheadFinCEN’s work establishing the beneficial ownership database is far from done. The beneficial ownership law requires companies to certify their reports are accurate and imposes penalties for people who willfully provide false information.

☆ Meet the 2022 Supreme Court clerks: 38 lawyers who could be tomorrow's politicians, judges, and influential strategists
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jack Newsham | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's ClerksSupreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. In the interim, Murray has had several different jobs, most recently as an associate professor at Columbia University Law School, where he focused on "constitutional law, election law, and race and the law, among other topics." Michael F. QianQian is no stranger to a SCOTUS clerkship, having worked in the chambers of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from 2019 to 2020. She previously worked at the law firm Hogan Lovells, where she was on a team that helped a Colorado prisoner with an appeal to the Supreme Court. Before clerking for Judge Jackson, Salmanowitz clerked for Judge Paul Watford on the Ninth Circuit.

☆ Wall Street's biggest investors can't shake a nightmare about the US economy. And that fear is much worse than a recession.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Aaron Weinman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Talk of a recession, rough inflation data, and the persistent increase in costs of certain staple goods has got Wall Street's biggest investors living in fear of an economic nightmare. Wall Street has been hit by a brutal market sell-off this year. Wall Street investors fear an economic nightmare. BMO Capital Markets is cutting jobs amid the broader downturn in dealmaking, according to Bloomberg. Private-equity investment firm Corsair has made an investment in Miracle Mile Advisors, a wealth advisory firm based in Los Angeles.

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