Is Stablecoin Really Stable?

On June 22nd, ten-year-old Yuna was reported missing by her teachers. Just one week later, the police discovered a sedan in the southernmost coast of South Korea, two hours away from Yuna’s home. The three bodies recovered belonged to Yuna and her parents, both in their thirties. The police suspected suicide. Among the parent’s last online searches included “LUNA,” “sleeping pills,” and “how to commit suicide.” Evidence further suggested that Yuna’s parents were unemployed, invested their lives savings into the cryptocurrency market, and struggled from financial debt of $100,000.

Madigan-ComEd Bribery Scandal Prompts an Overhaul of Illinois Utility Regulation

Daniel Bourgault Senior Editor Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, JD 2022 In 2020, Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office as to a federal investigation into the utility company for bribing a high-level elected official. In the agreement, ComEd agreed to pay a fine of $200 …
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Therano-no: Key CLIA Compliance Issues

Janaki Padmakumar Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2023 In one of the greatest fraud cases of the last decade, Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, was convicted of four federal fraud charges on January 4, 2022. Theranos was a private healthcare startup that claimed have invented a novel blood testing …
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Online Daily Fantasy Sports – Gambling or Derivatives Trading?

Patrick Gilsenan Senior Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Weekend JD Dec. 2022 The question of why it’d be legal to gamble in the stock market but not the Super Bowl has been made moot in recent years.  In the wake of recent Supreme Court decisions and state legalization, sports betting is widespread and …
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Fan Tokens: What to Know About the Emerging Blockchain Technology

While a new category of digital assets has become mainstream in Europe, regulatory concerns in the U.S. have largely kept American sports enthusiasts out of the market for now. These new digital assets are referred to as “fan tokens”, a blockchain-based technology that allows teams to enhance their fan engagement.

Congress Should Revisit the Federal Vacancies Reform Act

In 1998, Congress passed legislation to address vacancies created when a high-ranking official of an executive branch agency leaves their position. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) establishes a time limit of 210 days from the date of a vacancy for which a person may serve in an acting capacity in a position that is otherwise nominated by the President, with advice and consent of the Senate. The FVRA allows acting officials to serve beyond that time if there is a first or second nomination pending in the Senate for the vacancy. However, certain agencies have supplemental succession plans within their enabling statues that may supersede or complicate the FVRA.

The State of the Equal Pay Act in Illinois and Across the Country

In the almost sixty years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, women and people of color are still deprived of wages equal to their male and white coworkers.  Illinois has recently made strides to level the playing field by passing amendments to their Equal Pay Act requiring large companies to disclose demographic data on their employees and sign compliance statements regarding pay discrimination.  Going forward, Chicago is considering requiring employers to post salary ranges on their job postings, while the Biden Administration has been fighting to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.  The future of equal wages in America depends on the results of these crucial legislative battles.

Musk, Twitter, and Poison Pills

Although the business world and the public at large have been fascinated by the words and actions of Elon Musk for several years, that fascination has reached new heights over the past several weeks. The business world recently learned that Musk has spent his time in recent weeks criticizing Twitter, buying a large stake in the company, accepting a seat on Twitter’s board, rejecting the seat on Twitter’s board, and then offering to buy Twitter and take the company private. Twitter responded to this offer by implementing a so-called “poison pill.”

Stablecoins III: The Stablecoin TRUST Act of 2022

On Wednesday, April 6, 2022, Senator Pat Toomey of Virginia released a discussion draft of the Stablecoin Transparency of Reserves and Uniform Safe Transactions Act of 2022, also known as the Stablecoin TRUST Act (“the TRUST Act”). This new legislation, introduced in the United States Senate, aims to create a three-pronged regulatory framework for the issuers of stablecoins in the United States. Like similar bills on the topic of stablecoin, such as the Stablecoin Innovation and Protection Act of 2022, the bill is short at only fourteen pages long. Where the bills differ is immediately noted in the more robust definitions section of the TRUST Act which lays out a six-part definition of “payment stablecoins” that covers the design intent of a stablecoin, who can issue a stablecoin, whether the holder can inherently earn interest, and where the stablecoin transactions are recorded.