Page 28 - Katten Kattwalk and Kattison Avenue - Winter 2026 - Issue 5

NEWS to KNOW

• Key Takeaways from Katten’s ANA Panel on Advertising Risk

In this article, Intellectual Property Associate Catherine O’Brien provides highlights from
Katten’s panel at the 2025 ANA Masters of Advertising Law Conference, where Kristin
Achterhof and Christopher Cole, joined by Michael Friedman of Whirlpool, led a discussion
on the evolving risks facing advertisers and brands. Their session, “Is There Any Safe
Campaign?,” explored how enforcement priorities, litigation trends and reputational pressures
are reshaping the false advertising landscape.

The panel noted that the Federal Trade Commission’s focus has narrowed under its current
Republican leadership, emphasizing “kitchen table” issues and clear-cut fraud rather than
close cases. Competitors and consumers have stepped into the gap, driving enforcement
through Lanham Act challenges and a growing wave of class actions, particularly those
involving alleged greenwashing and sustainability claims such as “eco-friendly,” “natural” and
“sustainable.”
Read the full article.

• Are You Using ‘Finfluencers’: Practical Guidance for CFTC-Registered Derivatives
Intermediaries and Exchanges

This article by Financial Markets and Regulation Partner and Co-Chair Carl Kennedy delves
into “finfluencers” — social media influencers who promote and market financial services
and products — and how they have emerged as powerful promoters and educators, capable
of compressing complex concepts into viral short-form content. Carl noted that their reach
into Gen Z and Millennial audiences is undeniable, but that their involvement in soliciting
retail derivatives activity introduces regulatory and supervisory complexities that traditional
frameworks did not anticipate.

Finfluencers are now embedded in how retail audiences learn about and engage with
derivatives, especially in crypto-referenced products and event markets. Intermediaries and
exchanges can harness this channel, but only within a deliberately engineered framework that
treats influencer content as regulated solicitation when the substance crosses that line.

Read the full article.

• Marketing Rule Under the Microscope: New SEC Exam Findings

In this article by Financial Markets and Funds Counsel Adam Bolter and Partners Michael
Didiuk and Richard Marshall, the authors discuss key takeaways from a Risk Alert, issued
on December 16 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Division of
Examinations’ staff, that highlighted additional observations on investment advisers’
compliance with the amended Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1) under the Investment Advisers
Act of 1940 (Advisers Act). The Risk Alert focuses on the use of testimonials, endorsements
and third-party ratings in advertisements.

Read the full article.

28 katten.com/intellectualproperty