One of the newest industries to gain a foothold in the United States and abroad is the cannabis industry—which has shifted from a cartel-run black market to a legal industry in 15 states (and Washington, D.C.), and decriminalized in 16 more states. (DISA, Map of Marijuana Legality by State). The market for legal marijuana is growing so fast that one study estimates it could be worth over $70 billion by 2027. (Grand View Research, Legal Marijuana Market Size Worth $73.6 Billion By 2027). Yet despite its potential for growth, the marijuana industry still faces a lack of access to capital and banking that might prove essential to its ability to thrive.

One of the more recent investing trends that has gained a foothold in financial markets is Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) investing. The trend represents a shift in the investment community, focusing on how investments can help increase environmental, social, and corporate governance goals rather than unchecked profitability. While ESG investing has seen increased participation in the last few years, the trend is not without objection, both from industry peers and regulatory bodies alike.

One of the year’s most anticipated IPOs was that of Casper Sleep, Inc., the direct-to-consumer mattress company that officially went public in February 2020. (Claire Roth, Bloomberg). Casper entered the market at $12 per share and closed its first day with shares trading at $13.50, not exactly the hottest start for one of Wall Street’s newest additions. (Id.) Since then, the mattress retailer now faces a lawsuit from its shareholders claiming that, among other things, Casper misled investors by claiming in its initial registration statement that its gross profit margins were improving. (Complaint, Lematta v. Casper Sleep, Inc., Docket No. 1:20-cv-02744 (E.D.N.Y. June 19, 2020)). In reality, as its first quarter filing states, the newly public company was subject to decreasing profit margins and a near 100% increase in net losses year over year. (Casper Sleep, Form 10-Q). The suit against one of Wall Street’s newest IPOs is set to continue its proceedings this fall.

On August 26, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) officially updated the definition of “accredited investors” under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”). (Press Release, SEC Modernizes the Accredited Investor Definition). The amendments greatly expand the threshold of determining whether an investor is accredited in Rule 215 and Rule 501(a) of the Securities Act, signaling a significant overhaul of the growing market for exempt offerings.

Off the heels of the 2008 Financial Crisis, in which the world's largest banks all played a part, the United States’ poster child for good banking behavior, Wells Fargo, was found out to be near rotten to the core. (Ben Protess, et al., New York Times). After over 1.5 million fraudulent bank accounts and half a million unauthorized applications for credit cards later, regulators decided that unprecedented fraud might best be sanctioned with an unprecedented penalty. (Press Release, Federal Reserve).

“Contact Tracing” is a term used by the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) that means tracking the spread of COVID-19 in order to interrupt the virus’s transmission. (CDC, Contact Tracing – CDC’s Role and Approach). The upside of allowing big tech firms; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, to track our location data is clear: when a person tests positive for COVID-19, those who have been in recent proximity to that person can be notified that they, too, should get tested. Such tracking would thus allow for swifter tracking of COVID-19 as it spreads person-to-person and disrupt its transmission. But it may also be important for consumers to wonder whether they can trust big tech to handle their location data with care.