Clarity Stalls, Deepfakes Come Down, and VTB Gets Designated Again

Joe McNamara sits in for Elliot Berman this week alongside John Byrne. Joe and John discuss the Senate vote that failed to advance the Clarity Act, the interagency proposal to rescind and replace third-party risk management guidance, and the CJEU ruling on Latvia's public shareholder disclosure law and what it signals for beneficial ownership transparency. They also cover the DOJ indictment of a Russian intelligence services network, the Manhattan DA's seizure of 12 deepfake websites and the payment infrastructure behind them, Transparency International's analysis of seven years of EU rule of law reporting, and OFAC's designation of VTB Bank under Operation Economic Outcast. They close with CSIS's look at the terrorism landscape 25 years after 9/11, the shift toward lone actor threats, and the underused potential of 314(a) and 314(b) information sharing. Resources mentioned in this episode: Senate cloture vote on the Clarity Act: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/15/senate-cloture-vote-on-clarity-act-fails-dealing-regulatory-setback-... Proposed interagency third-party risk management guidance: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/15/2026-18859/proposed-third-party-risk-management... CJEU ruling on Latvian shareholder disclosure (Case C-798/24): https://cyprus-mail.com/2026/09/13/european-court-decides-on-public-access-to-shareholder-informatio... DOJ release on the Russian intelligence services network indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/members-russian-intelligence-services-network-charged-conspiring-fina... Manhattan DA seizure of 12 deepfake websites: https://manhattanda.org/manhattan-d-a-s-office-seizes-domains-of-12-illegal-websites-selling-ai-gene... Transparency International, Anti-Corruption Gaps Are Leaving Democracy in Europe Exposed: https://www.transparency.org/en/news/anti-corruption-gaps-leaving-democracy-europe-exposed Treasury designation of VTB Bank under Operation Economic Outcast: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0629/ Riley McCabe, CSIS, Adapting to the New Terrorism Landscape 25 Years After 9/11: https://www.csis.org/analysis/adapting-new-terrorism-landscape-25-years-after-911 ProPublica reporting on the Trump Jr. wedding financing: https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-wedding-bankrolled-russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-...