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    Jul. 15, 2026

Managing Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

The explosive rise of prediction markets in the last two years has led to a host of legal questions, not the least of which is whether and how they will be subject to insider trading enforcement. Regulatory scrutiny may shift risk profiles for companies and require readjustments to training and compliance programs. In this guest article, Boies partner Blake Goebel, with the assistance of summer law clerk Will Randolph, examines court cases that shed light on how prediction market insider trading can and might be prosecuted under the wire fraud and Commodity Exchange Act statutes and the legal issues facing government enforcers. He also unpacks how such insider trading might create exposure for companies and suggests ways in which compliance programs can be adjusted to mitigate that risk. See “Takeaways From the CFTC’s First Whistleblower Interference Case” (Aug. 28, 2024).

The Importance of Human Intelligence in Mexico to Combat FTO Risk

One of the primary strategies in the current administration’s war against cartels and transnational criminal organizations has been to designate them as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) so they, and anyone who works with them, are subject to more stringent laws and regulations. Those designations have created a need for companies operating in Mexico to better understand their local connections and potential FTO risk. José Cortina, who recently joined Alvarez & Marsal as a managing director, is helping companies fill those information gaps. In an exclusive interview with the Anti-Corruption Report, he discusses his specialty in intelligence gathering, how the FTO designations landed in Mexico, what companies should be doing to protect themselves and the surprising M&A shift in mindset that has resulted. See “How the U.S. Focus on Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations Impacts Multinationals in Mexico” (Jul. 2, 2025).

FTI Consulting Settles OFAC Allegations

FTI Consulting (FTI), a Washington, D.C.-based international consulting and advisory firm, has reached a settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged violations of sanctions targeting VTB Bank OAO (VTB), a Russian state-owned bank. Even though it had contracted with an unnamed law firm – not directly with VTB – for legal support work, FTI still wound up in hot water with OFAC, underscoring the principle that a company cannot do indirectly what is prohibited directly. This article discusses the settlement and its compliance implications, with insights from experts at Berliner Corcoran & Rowe, Lowenstein Sandler and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. See our three-part sanctions 101 series: “How Sanctions Regimes Work” (Aug. 3, 2022), “Their Impact on Private Fund Investors and Investments” (Aug. 17, 2022) and “How to Comply With Them” (Sep. 14, 2022).

ACA Study Finds Widespread, but Limited, Implementation of AI

Although it may seem that AI is being deployed and embedded across the entire economy, uptake by financial services firms has been modest. “While most firms have begun to engage with AI, relatively few have translated that engagement into structured, scalable deployment,” according to ACA Group’s recent State of AI in Compliance and Operations report. This article synthesizes the key findings from the report and the insights from a related presentation by ACA Group on navigating agentic AI use, AI-related risks and a framework for developing robust AI governance. See “Benchmarking Fund Managers’ Adoption and Governance of Generative AI” (Feb. 11, 2026).

Colorado and Connecticut AI Laws: Preparing to Comply

New AI laws in Colorado and Connecticut have added to the patchwork of decision-making tool regulations across the U.S. Covered companies need to prepare now to adjust their compliance programs and procedures to address the laws’ requirements, which impact operators of certain automated decision-making technology and AI decision-making tools, AI companions, frontier developers and producers of synthetic content. This second article in a two-part series, with insights from Ballard Spahr, DLA Piper, Fisher Phillips, Holland & Knight and the senator who sponsored the Connecticut law, provides compliance tips for companies seeking to prepare for the new laws and examines what anticipated enforcement may look like. Part one distilled and analyzed the laws’ key provisions. See “State AG Representatives Disclose AI Regulatory and Enforcement Outlook” (Nov. 5, 2025).

Former OFAC Official Rejoins Akin in D.C.

Akin has announced that Dallas Woodrum has rejoined the firm as a partner in Washington, D.C., after spending more than four years at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control. For insights from Akin, see “White Deer Sanctions Settlement Underscores the Importance of Post-Acquisition Cleanup” (Jul. 30, 2025).

Friedman Kaplan Welcomes Former Federal Prosecutor and CCO

Former federal prosecutor Michael Koenig has joined Friedman Kaplan as a white-collar defense and litigation partner, with a focus on helping clients navigate and resolve legal, regulatory and reputational challenges. He arrives from Fortune Global 500 company JBS Foods, where he served as global chief ethics and compliance officer. For commentary from Koenig, see “Managing Conflicts of Interest With Consistency and a Can-Do Attitude” (Feb. 12, 2025).

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