In this year-end episode of RegFi, co-hosts Jerry Buckley, Sasha Leonhardt, Sherry Safchuk and Caroline Stapleton take stock of how momentous changes in financial regulation and technology in 2025 set the stage for more of the same in 2026. The conversation covers the uncertain future of the CFPB, the growing role of state regulators, accelerating AI regulation, implementation of the GENIUS Act, leadership changes across federal agencies and emerging themes in bank chartering and crypto oversight.

Links:

• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

In this follow-up conversation, RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Sasha Leonhardt welcome back Dan Ullman, Orrick partner and former CFTC Chief Trial Attorney, to unpack Congress's most consequential digital-asset proposal to date: the Clarity Act.

Building on last week's discussion of the CFTC's agenda, Dan breaks down how the Clarity Act would establish the first comprehensive federal regulatory structure for digital assets — shifting most oversight to the CFTC, reshaping the agency's mandate and setting in motion an extensive rulemaking effort reminiscent of the post-Dodd-Frank swaps regime.

Links:

• RegFi Episode 79: Inside the CFTC: Priorities, Leadership and What Comes Next
• Clarity Act Coming Into Focus (Orrick Insight)
• Orrick Blockchain & Digital Assets
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

In this episode, Jerry Buckley and Sasha Leonhardt sit down with Orrick partner Dan Ullman, former Associate Director and Chief Trial Attorney at the CFTC, for an insider's look at what's shaping the agency's agenda. Dan discusses how the Commission is approaching digital asset innovation, the evolving interplay between SEC and CFTC authority, ongoing litigation around sports-related prediction markets, and what a more centralized federal regulatory model could mean for market participants.

Links:

• Orrick Blockchain & Digital Assets
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

Agentic AI is moving from theory to real-world deployment in financial services, bringing both extraordinary potential and complex regulatory questions. FinRegLab Founder and CEO Melissa Koide joins Jerry Buckley and Caroline Stapleton to break down what makes agentic AI different from traditional and generative models, where the most compelling use cases are taking shape, and how the technology could reshape consumer financial health, operational risk management, and long-standing regulatory frameworks.

Links:

• FinRegLab Website
• FinRegLab Report: "The Next Wave Arrives: Agentic AI and Financial Services"
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

Sarah Schaedler, Global Chair of Orrick's Technology Transactions Group, joins RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Caroline Stapleton to discuss how companies are operationalizing AI amid rapidly evolving technology and policy landscapes. Rather than waiting to see how AI adoption will unfold, companies are moving forward with implementation. This episode offers practical guidance on how parties are allocating responsibility for both the functionality of AI systems and compliance with emerging legal and regulatory requirements.

Links:

• Orrick AI Law Center
• Orrick Technology Transactions
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

The EU's landmark Data Act took effect on Sept. 12, 2025, reshaping how customer data can be accessed, shared and monetized across the European digital economy. Orrick partners Christian Schröder and Julia Apostle join RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Sasha Leonhardt to unpack what the law means for global businesses operating in Europe. The group discusses how the Act interacts with the GDPR, new rights for users and third parties, obligations for manufacturers and cloud providers, and the compliance and revenue implications of data-sharing and switching obligations. The conversation also explores the opportunities the Act creates for innovation and competition in the data economy.

Links:

• "The EU Data Act is in Force — What Should Businesses Do?" (Orrick Insight)
• Orrick Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

Georgia State law professor Todd Phillips joins RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Caroline Stapleton to break down the newly enacted GENIUS Act framework for payment stablecoins. The conversation explores whether regulators will curb "yield-evasion," how capital and BSA/AML expectations could apply to secondary-market transfers and why tokenized deposits may offer banks a cleaner path than issuing stablecoins themselves.

Links:

• U.S. Treasury RFI on Payment Stablecoins
• Orrick Blockchain & Digital Assets
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

Orrick partner Shannon Yavorsky — head of the firm's Global Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation group and co-lead of the AI practice — joins RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Sherry Safchuk to unpack newly approved California Consumer Privacy Act regulations. The conversation offers insights into the definitions and requirements for automated decision-making technology (ADMT), risk assessments, and cybersecurity audits, as well as open questions surrounding GLBA data carve-outs for financial services, and the reasons behind California's shift from defining "AI" to regulating ADMT use cases.

Links:

• Orrick AI Law Center
• Orrick Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Justin Wiseman, George Rogers and Rachel Kelley join RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Sasha Leonhardt to discuss the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (HPPA) — a targeted FCRA amendment aimed at curbing "trigger leads" generated from mortgage credit inquiries. The conversation explores the bipartisan legislation's origin and path through Congress, how targeted exemptions balance consumer protection and competition, and what lenders, servicers, consumer reporting agencies and resellers can do to prepare ahead of the March 4, 2026, effective date.

Links:

• Mortgage Bankers Association
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com

Fraud and scams are costing Americans an estimated $400 million every day, threatening household financial security and fueling transnational crime. Kate Griffin and Nick Bourke join RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Sherry Safchuk to discuss the work of the Aspen Institute's National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention. The conversation examines the scale and sophistication of today's scams, the whole-of-ecosystem approach needed to disrupt them and the Task Force's forthcoming recommendations for government, financial institutions, tech platforms and consumers.

Links:

• Aspen Institute
• National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention
• United Against Fraud: How America Will Defeat Scams (Virtual Event, Oct. 1, 2025)
• Orrick Financial & Fintech Advisory
• RegFiPodcast.com