Blogs

On February 25, 2026, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), published draft regulations for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. The proposed rules focus on stablecoin activities of entities that the OCC will supervise under the GENIUS Act, including stablecoin issuers that are owned or chartered as national banks, as well as certain federally licensed nonbanks and foreign stablecoin issuers operating in the US.

In the rarely litigated space of cyber insurance, the Northern District of Texas issued a win for cyber policyholders this week, offering a clear reminder to insurers that if they want to restrict coverage, they must draft the policy to clearly do so.

M&A activity was strong in 2025, marking the second-best year on record for both global and North American markets. Technology, industrials, finance, and healthcare remained at the forefront, with retail and consumer products sectors also seeing a lot of movement. On a full-year basis, total deal value in retail, consumer products, and hospitality reached its highest level since the pandemic-era peak in 2021.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a new Policy Statement encouraging the adoption of robust age‑verification technologies by pledging not to bring enforcement actions under the COPPA Rule against operators of general‑ or mixed‑audience sites that collect, use or disclose personal information solely to determine users’ ages, so long as long as they follow strict safeguards.

On February 24, 2026, the UK ICO announced that it had fined Reddit, Inc. £14.47 million following an investigation into the company’s handling of children’s personal information.