Insights

A Katten Real Estate team led by Partner and Affordable Housing and Community Development Co-Chair Louise Carroll, including Partner Eddy Park and Associates Taylor Fisher and Charlie Metzger, was retained by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) for their work on 100 Gold Street. Our team represented NYCEDC in negotiating the disposition of the city-owned site with multiple respondents to the Request for Proposals (RFP).

While many Americans think of January 1 as the day upon which to make and hopefully begin keeping New Year’s resolutions, copyright nerds celebrate it as Public Domain Day. This is the date on which the copyright protection for an entire year’s worth of works expires, and those works enter the public domain. Once in the public domain, these works can be duplicated in their entirety, used as the basis for new derivative works, or exploited for almost any purpose without permission.

A Katten team represented IMS Legal Strategies in its acquisition of the business of First Court, Inc. IMS Legal Strategies is a wholly owned subsidiary of firm client Expert Holdings, LLC.

Katten partner and global co-chair of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity practice, David Washburn, was featured in a recent Law360 article analyzing how private equity dealmakers adapted throughout 2025 as shifting tariff policies and broader macroeconomic volatility tempered deal flow and challenged conventional approaches to execution.

On 16 December 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a comprehensive set of proposals to formally regulate the cryptoasset market. The FCA’s proposals, detailed in three consultation papers (CP25/40, CP25/41, and CP25/42), were released a day after HM Treasury announced that it had laid the draft ‘Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025’ (the Cryptoasset Regulations) before Parliament. Together, the Cryptoasset Regulations and respective FCA consultations establish the framework for the UK’s new cryptoasset regulatory regime.

On Friday, December 19, the Staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Markets Participant Division published a new no-action letter – CFTC Staff Letter 25-50 – which creates an exemption from commodity pool operator (CPO) registration for operators of privately-offered pools owned solely by "qualified eligible persons" (QEPs), as defined in CFTC rules.  In particular, this exemption is available to CPOs who are registered as investment advisers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with respect to qualifying commodity pools that are reported in the adviser’s Form PF filings to the SEC. 

Carl Kennedy, partner and co-chair of Katten's Financial Markets and Regulation practice, was quoted in a Forbes article examining how prediction markets are rapidly moving from niche applications to embedded components of financial infrastructure. The article traced an extraordinary rise in market activity over the last two years and the regulatory clarity that has enabled broader institutional use.

Crain's Chicago Business named Katten Chairman Gil Soffer to its 2026 'Who's Who in Chicago Business' list. The list is described as a "guide to the most influential figures shaping Chicago," including the city's leaders across business, government, philanthropy and more. Although nearly 500 leaders appear on Crain's list, Gil stands out as one of only 26 honorees in the highly selective Law category.

As featured by Law360, a Chicago Katten team led by Real Estate Partner Brian Spangler, including Associates Sarah Megan Erb and Julia Schenk, represented Morgan Stanley in its $211 million acquisition of a last‑mile distribution facility near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Morgan Stanley's acquisition was financed by a $116.2 million securitized loan made by Goldman Sachs, wherein Morgan Stanley was represented by the Chicago Katten team led by Real Estate Senior Counsel Mark Simon, including Associate Gabriela Sampaio as well as Sarah.

National Real Estate Department Chair Tim Little has been recognized among City & State New York's 2025 Responsible 100, a list that awards New Yorkers with a shared commitment to making the world a better place. As noted in City & State’s announcement, the honorees "exemplify what it means to be socially responsible — through community engagement and volunteerism, ethics and transparency, philanthropy and charity."

Katten is pleased to announce that a cross-discipline deal team was honored with the USA Energy Services Deal award at the 7th Annual USA and Global M&A Atlas Awards ceremony, held on December 9, 2025, at the Metropolitan Club of New York.

As disclosed by recent comments during Congressional hearings, publication of proposed regulations by the federal financial regulators (including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the National Credit Union Administration) implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act) is expected before December 31, 2025.