Past Issues

In a flurry of pre-recess activity, Congress recently made headway on two pieces of legislation with significant impacts for the digital asset industry, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (the “GENIUS Act”), which passed both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by the President on July 18, 2025, and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (the “CLARITY Act”), which has thus far only passed the House but builds upon components of earlier legislative efforts in both the House and Senate. Alongside, the House also passed the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, part of the President’s directives in Executive Order 14067. Separately, the federal banking regulators released joint guidance to their respective federally chartered institutions on how to engage in safekeeping of crypto assets.

These developments include codification of many industry best practices and signals the intention of this Congress and administration to establish legal predictability and comfort for crypto and digital asset industry participants as well as their closely adjacent traditional banking and financial services partners.

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (“OBBB”) into law. Under the OBBB, there is still a window of opportunity for solar and wind projects to receive tax credits under Sections 45Y and 48E and for projects to avoid complex provisions relating to restricted foreign entities.

Below is a summary of OBBB’s impact on these and certain other tax credits. Beginning construction as soon as possible for these projects may be critical for receipt of the tax credit.

On June 27, 2025, the three federal banking agencies released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) that would “reduce the calibration” of the minimum enhanced supplementary leverage ratio (eSLR) requirement that applies to US GSIBs and their bank (insured depository institution) subsidiaries. The NPR is available here.

The licensing regime in Nevada for consumer lenders and in particular for internet-based programs has been complicated and confusing. The situation is being clarified by recent legislation.

On May 28, 2025, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 437 (“SB 437”), which makes key changes for qualifying “Internet consumer lenders” under the Nevada Installment Loan and Finance Act.

On May 28, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 21/Senate Bill 867 into law (the “Act”), which amends Chapter 394 of the Texas Local Government Code, the Texas Housing Finance Corporations Act (the “HFC Statute”). The Act is effective immediately, although specific provisions provide additional time for compliance. 

Key provisions of the Act are summarized below. Chapman will issue further alerts detailing certain provisions and will continue to work with our industry colleagues to provide additional guidance and training materials.

On April 24, 2025, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) withdrew its previously issued supervisory guidance for banks related to certain crypto-asset activities. This development marks the latest in a series of coordinated regulatory shifts by federal banking agencies toward a more innovation-supportive framework for digital asset activities, building on the recent action of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) in Interpretive Letter 1183.

On March 19, 2025, the staff of the Division of Investment Management (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) updated its Marketing Compliance Frequently Asked Questions (“March 2025 FAQs”) to provide no-action relief with respect to the presentation of extracted performance, as well as clarity on whether certain portfolio or investment characteristics constitute “performance” for purposes of Rule 206(4)-1 (the “Marketing Rule”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”).   

On April 4, 2025, the Division of Corporation Finance (“Corp Fin”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued a statement (“Statement”) that the offer and sale of “Covered Stablecoins,” as defined by Corp Fin, does not involve the offer and sale of securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) or Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). Accordingly, Corp Fin stated that “persons involved in the process of ‘minting’ (or creating) and redeeming Covered Stablecoins do not need to register those transactions with the SEC under the Securities Act or fall within one of the Securities Act’s exemption from registration.”

In this article, authors Michael Friedman, Chapman's Israel practice head and practice leader for the firm's Special Situations and Restructuring Group, and associate Helena Honig, provide perspective on distressed investments in real estate in the United States and unique opportunities for investors willing to accept increased levels of risk to generate value and higher returns.

Chapman and Cutler LLP mourns the loss of retired partner, colleague, and friend, Craig Fishman.

Changes are coming for health care organizations that are borrowers with respect to municipal securities. New data standards required under the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 (FDTA) could take effect as early as 2027. In the March/April 2025 issue of AHLA’s Health Law Connections, Chapman partners Mary Kimura and Hillary Phelps provide a summary of the FDTA and the joint standards proposed in August 2024, including reactions from municipal securities industry participants and a look ahead at the next stages of the rulemaking process. They also explore potential impacts of the new data standards on health care organizations and systems.

On March 7, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued Interpretive Letter 1183, which confirms that national banks may engage in certain crypto-assets activities and reverses the previous requirement that they first obtain a supervisory non-objection letter before engaging in such activities.