Todd Phillips

Banking and administrative law. Klaros. Fmr @RobinsonCollege @amprog @fdic @acusgov.

[Gambling is Not Investing @EndBackdoorBets]

Is gambling on Love Island a financial decision?

[Punchbowl News @PunchbowlNews]

A growing number of Senate Republicans say they have unresolved concerns with a landmark crypto bill, further dimming the Clarity Act’s odds of passage in this session of Congress.

More from @BrendanPedersen:
https://t.co/Weeyzw7zw1

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

The CFTC proposes continued vertical integration of regulated entities.

As a reminder, the SEC under both parties has banned vertical integration on the grounds that it creates impermissible conflicts of interest that harm markets.

The CFTC is going in the wrong direction.

[CFTC @CFTC]

.@CFTC Seeks Public Comment on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Concerning Affiliations Among Certain CFTC-Regulated Entities: https://t.co/1Hm5wCkDDl

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

Listening to Kalshi oral args. Judge pushes back against Kalshi's claim that states can still regulate off-exchange transactions (i.e., swaps with sportsbooks). First judge I've heard do this effectively.

[Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias]

What’s the ratio of articles imploring Democrats to learn from a guy who won a mayoral election in New York City to learning from a guy who’s winning yet again in North Carolina?

Fifty to one? Five hundred?

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

@RogueCfpb @regintel2000 No disagreement from me!

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

@regintel2000 @RogueCfpb We've been discussing internally at Klaros, and our conclusion is that there were three principal faults with Wise's application:
1) The BSA/AML stuff noted
2) The application relied on getting a Fed master account, when no NTB has ever obtained one
3) No chief trust officer

[Daniel Wallach @WALLACHLEGAL]

BREAKING: CFTC loses BIG in Wisconsin, as federal court denies its motion for preliminary injunction and holds that sports-event contracts are not "swaps," and, that even if they satisfied definition, CFTC is unlikely to prevail on its argument that the CEA preempts state law.

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

Notably, the proposed language strikes out anything related to criminal prosecution.

If the WH and Treasury are disclaiming any involvement in this proposal, it's difficult to see how the sides get to Yes. Either BRCA prevents criminal prosecution or it doesn't.

[Eleanor Terrett @EleanorTerrett]

The latest BRCA front appears to be with prosecutors, not police.

Perhaps notably, the National Sheriffs Association (@NationalSheriff), which has publicly opposed the Clarity Act in recent weeks, did not sign onto the proposed changes.

Meanwhile, the White House and Treasury are pushing back on Senator @CortezMasto’s claim that the proposal reflects their input. Crypto Council Executive Director @patrickjwitt says it’s “not even close” to the administration’s position, while Treasury says the language is the product of Washington lobbyists.

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

@AlexH_Johnson Omid's claims also involve calling MTLs narrow banks, when that's just not true. Pure narrow banking means parking all funds at the Fed. That's not what these companies do.

[Brendan Pedersen @BrendanPedersen]

Some comments to press from Majority Leader THUNE on the Clarity Act:

- Acknowledged bank lobbying impact. “There’s a lot of swirl around it, on yield, some of the things that the banks care deeply about”

- Thune expects a “fairly robust amendment process” …if we get cloture

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

As the Election Assistance Comm'n currently shows, presidential removal can prevent agencies from functioning by removing anyone with power to execute the law.

Nick and I argue that the Take Care Clause can't support this conclusion, and encourage courts to enjoin such removals.

[Nicholas Bednar @NicholasBednar]

Over at @ssrn, @tphillips and I have a new essay called "A Faithful Execution Exception to Slaughter," examining whether courts should enjoin removals when they break quorums in multimember commissions.

https://t.co/qTf2MYmTBN

[Nicholas Bednar @NicholasBednar]

Over at @ssrn, @tphillips and I have a new essay called "A Faithful Execution Exception to Slaughter," examining whether courts should enjoin removals when they break quorums in multimember commissions.

https://t.co/qTf2MYmTBN

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

@AdviserCounsel @PunchbowlNews Read the letter. There a couple of mechanisms.

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

From @PunchbowlNews: 50+ academics from across the ideological spectrum signed a letter urging Congress to restore agency independence following Trump v. Slaughter.

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

Letter here: https://t.co/nESdLnN1ns

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

Moreover, one reason the Senate isn't voting on the bill right now is because Thune doesn't want to put the bill on the floor without GOP unanimity. But they don't have that! There are GOP defections!

If this bill fails, it'll be on Republicans alone. 3/3

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

Democrats have made clear *from the beginning* that there needs to be strong ethics language in any final bill.

The GOP first raised this issue with the White House *last week,* and what the White House has offered is *toothless.*

Democrats cannot accept it. 1/

[Jake Chervinsky @jchervinsky]

There are no serious objections left on the substance of the Clarity Act. It's a product of compromise; as good as it will ever be, for both sides.

Put the bill on the floor. Put every Senator who claims to be pro-crypto to a vote. This is politics now. Let's see where it lands.

[Todd Phillips @tphillips]

To be clear, the GOP can put the bill on the Senate floor and pass it with only GOP votes. Same with the House floor. And the GOP President can sign it. It'd just mean abolishing the filibuster.

If the GOP refuses to do that, the bill's failure is on them. 2/

[Brendan Pedersen @BrendanPedersen]

👀 Majority Leader THUNE told reporters the Clarity Act likely won't pass the Senate before August. Asked about Clarity and NIL before recess, Thune said:

"I don’t think we’ll be able to get them done. I would like to at least get Clarity started. We’ll see where the votes are."