Insights

 San Francisco – November 5, 2025: Crowell & Moring represented Farcast, a San Francisco-based startup pioneering advanced satellite User Terminals, in connection with an expanded commercial relationship and a $5 million equity investment from Telesat (Nasdaq and TSX: TSAT), one of the world’s largest and most innovative satellite operators. Under the agreement, Telesat will also appoint a member of the Farcast board of directors to support the company’s alignment with the strategic goals of the Telesat Lightspeed program.

Washington – June 10, 2025: Crowell & Moring partners Paul Haskel and Paul Muscutt, senior counsel Scott Lessne, and counsel John Laird authored a chapter entitled “An Overview of Litigation Funding” for the International Comparative Legal Guide – Lending & Secured Finance 2025 edition.

San Francisco – October 20, 2022: A cross-practice Crowell & Moring team represented Astra, a leading provider of advanced bank-to-bank transfer technology for financial institutions, fintech startups, and enterprises, in closing a $10 million Series A financing and securing a $30 million line of credit. The financing will support the growth of Astra’s team — with a particular focus on engineering and compliance resources — to further enable faster payments from all sources to any destination.

On September 11, 2026, the OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, and NCUA proposed to replace the 2023 Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships with a shorter, principles-based document.1 Two companion releases complete the package: a final interagency statement on the supervision of the use of core service providers by community banks, effective on issuance,2 and a proposed Federal Reserve guide for traditional community banks (the Community Bank Guide).3 Comments are due November 16, 2026.4

Over the past 18 months, the federal banking agencies have clarified supervisory expectations for banks’ crypto-asset activities, and several of the largest U.S. banks have announced programs accepting Bitcoin and Ether as loan collateral. Separately, on June 3, 2026, New York’s enactment of the 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code took effect, changing the rules governing the perfection of a security interest in digital asset collateral in New York, the jurisdiction whose law governs most institutional credit documentation. Together, these developments may create significant opportunities for lenders navigating the complexities to comply with the newly enacted statutes. This alert surveys the current landscape, from regulatory permissibility and perfection through custody, structuring, and compliance, for institutions active in this market or considering entering it.

There are few things as daunting to a vendor or supplier as its counterparty’s bankruptcy. The likelihood of a significantly discounted recovery for goods and services provided and potential loss of a customer may have long-lasted impacts on profitability.  Even worse, however, is the prospect that payments received in good faith prior to a debtor’s bankruptcy filing may be at risk of recoupment. In this alert, we address the risk that such payments are voidable as preferential transfers. Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code codifies the power of the debtor to recover payments that were made within the 90 days preceding the filing. Very generally, a debtor (or trustee) may recover any transfer that is (i) made to or for the benefit of a creditor (e.g., a payment or grant of lien), (ii) on account of antecedent debt (i.e., a debt already incurred), (iii) made while the debtor was insolvent, (iv) within the 90 days prior to the petition date (or one year for insiders), and (v) that enables the creditor to receive more that it would have in a liquidation. The parties’ respective intent is irrelevant.

College member Scott Lessne and Andrew Knight will be participating in this annual seminar sponsored by the College. The topic, "Distributed Ledger Technology and the UCC", will feature a working session and discussion lead by Professors Charles W. "Chuck" Mooney, Jr., University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Carla L. Reyes, Michigan State University College of Law.

This program will explore legal, business and practical similarities and differences in cross-border asset-based lending transactions with a focus on Canada, England and the United States.

Separate and apart from the financial assistance being provided to small businesses through the Small Business Administration, Congress has set aside $500,000,000,000 for wide ranging financial assistance to selected industries and mid-sized businesses characterized as having between 500 and 10,000 employees. The Secretary of the Treasury has been granted sweeping authority, through use of a variety of financial institutions, to structure the form, the terms, the underwriting, and the application process for this financial assistance. With more detailed regulations still several days away, this webinar will provide an outline of the major points of the legislation, including a discussion of the wide latitude being afforded the Secretary of the Treasury to assure that taxpayer funds are appropriately used and protected.

Join a Crowell & Moring team of former Capitol Hill staff and lawyers who have scoured and digested the COVID-19 Stimulus Law and will provide both a big picture summary of the law, including the top ten things you need to know about it. Prepare yourself for internal meetings this week on what it means for your company, your employees and you. Learn what questions you should be asking next, as well as how to prepare to apply for any possible benefits.

Crowell & Moring panelists will discuss antitrust compliance issues for both US and European syndicated loan transactions. The session is particularly timely as the European Commission is currently reviewing potential antitrust concerns raised by syndicated lending arrangements with plans to issue a report by year end. When the Commission launched this review, it noted that syndicated lending “exhibits close cooperation between market participants in opaque or in transparent settings, such as over-the-counter (OTC) activities, which are particularly vulnerable to anti-competitive conduct.” Experienced antitrust and lending experts will: 

In our client alert of September 30, 2026,1 we provided an executive summary of federal banking regulators’ Proposed Third-Party Risk Management Guidance (the “Proposal”), a related joint statement on community banks’ engagement with core service providers, and a proposed Federal Reserve guide for traditional community banks (the “Community Bank Guide”).2 This blog post covers what these agency pronouncements mean for fintechs and the banks that sponsor their programs.