FSOC's largely unfettered authority to designate institutions for regulation is one of the worst provisions of Dodd-Frank. (See,  with commentary.)

If there are institutions that should be subject to additional regulation, FSOC should go to Congress and specify the activities and the scale of activities that require regulation and the parameters of that regulation. The notion that the regulators can simply use their judgement as to the types of entities that should be regulated…

The SEC's attempted proposal to expand the definition of the term "dealer" is, in large part, outside its authority under the Exchange Act. Should the SEC go forward with the proposal, plaintiffs - as in the case the Commissioner cited - would have a very strong argument.

As to off-channel communications, the issue is not really the lack of clarity in business communications. The real problem, which the Commissioner notes, is the unjustifiable amount of the fines for the violations.…

The Appeals Court language criticizing the SEC's regulatory process is harsh. The Court describes the SEC's justifications for its rulemaking process as being "demonstrably false" (page 18) and "internally contradictory" (page 23). (See also, a case in which the Court described the SEC's conduct as "arbitrary and capricious.)

Although the SEC was ordered to correct significant rulemaking defects, the SEC did not lose on every argument. Perhaps most signficantly, the Court rejected the…

The President's Executive Order on AI reads very much like his Order on. And it elicits the same reaction: "Given the sheer number of agencies to be involved, the complete diversity of interests to be considered, and the absence of any prioritization of those interests, the Executive Order does not actually provide much in the way of direction."