NYAG Enforcement Outlook – What to Expect in 2025

The New York Attorney General (NYAG) is expected to increase enforcement actions in 2025, especially with the enactment of several new laws designed to strengthen consumer protection and employment. At the federal level, the new administration has promised to be more business-friendly, particularly in sectors such as antitrust and environmental regulation, as well as cryptocurrency and AI. Accordingly, we can expect the NYAG to be active in those areas, as well, as that office seeks to fill any actual or perceived enforcement gap.

Environmental

New York has already indicated that it will attempt to resist efforts by the new administration to roll back certain climate and energy policies by enforcing state environmental laws. The NYAG appears to be focused on enforcing and defending New York’s climate laws. The NYAG also will continue to focus on environmental enforcement actions, including using their consumer protection laws to investigate companies for alleged environmental issues.

One such new environmental law in New York is the Climate Change Superfund Act (“The Act”), which was enacted on December 26, 2024, and creates a “Climate Superfund” to support New York-based projects that relate to climate change, such as flooding and extreme heat. The Act, enforced by the New York State Department of Tax and Finance and the NYAG, authorizes the state to levy billions of dollars in penalties on parties “engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil” and deemed to account for more than one billion metric tons of certain greenhouse gas emissions. The Act imposes penalties for activities lawfully authorized under federal law, which is expected to create tension between federal agencies and the NYAG in enforcement actions. The law has already been challenged by a 22-state coalition, which claims that the law is unconstitutional on various grounds.

Greenwashing—alleged misrepresentations by a company about the environmental benefits of products or services—also will continue to be a focus for the NYAG. In 2024, the NYAG filed suit against a subsidiary of a large beef producer for allegedly violating New York’s consumer protection laws though “fraudulent and illegal environmental marketing practices.” The NYAG appears to be pursuing theories that such practices fail to comply with state consumer protection laws. The NYAG’s application of consumer protection laws in environmental actions suggest increased scrutiny of corporate marketing and disclosure practices.

Companies should anticipate increased regulatory scrutiny by the NYAG and other State Attorneys General (State AGs) and evaluate their internal controls to ensure that accurate information about environmental practices are disclosed to the market.

Technology

With major social media platforms facing increased scrutiny, enforcement against social media and online protection of minors will be a top agenda item for the NYAG. In September 2024, the NYAG co-led a coalition of 42 State AGs in a letter to Congress supporting the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendation for warnings on social media platforms. Additionally, in October 2024, the NYAG joined 14 other State AGs in filing lawsuits against TikTok for allegedly misleading the public about the safety of its platform.

The lawsuit against TikTok followed the enactment of legislation, advanced by the NYAG, focused on protecting young people online. Both the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and New York Child Data Protection Act place various restrictions on social media platforms aimed at minimizing the alleged harm on young people caused by social media usage. The NYAG had released two Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemaking for both pieces of legislation, which were enacted on June 20, 2024.

These recent laws that place restrictions on social media increase the tools for the NYAG to pursue investigations of social media platforms that it believes have failed to comply with regulations that prohibit the collection of data of minors and use algorithms in certain ways. Consumers and businesses should expect more aggressive enforcement related to minors’ online activity and take special precautions to comply with these new state regulations.

Securities and Financial Fraud

The NYAG is expected to bring an increasing number of financial fraud actions to meet any decrease in enforcement activity by its federal counterparts. As the state attorney general overseeing the financial capital of the world, the NYAG has broad power and discretion under the Martin Act, known as New York’s “blue sky” law, to initiate complex investigations that are national in scope. Recently, the NYAG has brought sophisticated investor-protection actions in a wide array of industries, including actions for alleged misrepresentations in the sale of asset‑backed securities, alleged fraud in the offering of real estate securities, and other actions alleging fraud against the elderly. The NYAG increasingly is mining whistleblower allegations and investor tips to develop a pipeline of investigations, which are expected to yield an array of investor protection actions in 2025.

One area of increased state regulation is cryptocurrency. The NYAG has been active in bringing enforcement actions against cryptocurrency platforms and broker-dealers who allegedly violate state laws and regulations. In the absence of federal regulations, the NYAG is expected to continue to use the Martin Act and other state statutes to regulate the cryptocurrency space. For example, as stablecoins are becoming more popular with consumers, the NYAG has expressed its intent to enforce the application of state financial regulations to stablecoins.

The NYAG already has brought a number of enforcement actions against major cryptocurrency platforms and broker-dealers for alleged unregistered offerings of securities and fraud. Though in the past, the NYAG has worked with federal agencies such as the SEC on cryptocurrency matters, the NYAG may take the position that state consumer protection and securities laws provide sufficient basis for the NYAG to pursue cryptocurrency enforcement actions on its own.

Accordingly, in 2025, the NYAG will likely increase its scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry.

Privacy and Cybersecurity

With federal enforcement potentially slowing, State AGs are expected to intensify their privacy and cybersecurity enforcement efforts. In the absence of an omnibus state privacy act, the NYAG will likely continue to use New York’s consumer protection laws to regulate businesses’ privacy-related, data security, and incident response practices by continuing to seek high penalties, often jointly with other State AGs, especially in the wake of data breaches or when privacy-related concerns are raised regarding data collection and use practices. Such potential enforcement will focus on data related to minors, new technologies, and social media, as noted above.

The NYAG issued advisory warnings to businesses and consumers that claimed certain website tracking technology may violate the state’s consumer protection laws. According to the NYAG’s Guide for Website Privacy Controls, the NYAG found that websites allegedly containing broken privacy controls and misleading disclosures were in violation of New York law. The NYAG is expected to continue leveraging existing New York broad consumer protection laws to regulate privacy practices.

In sum, the NYAG is expected to play a more prominent role in privacy and cybersecurity oversight, including by utilizing state consumer protection laws and coordinating with other State AGs.

Antitrust

Traditionally, federal and state enforcement of antitrust laws has been complementary, yet changes in policy under the new administration may shift the balance in favor of state enforcement.

The Antitrust Bureau of the NYAG is responsible for enforcing the antitrust laws to prevent anticompetitive practices and promote competition throughout New York. The bureau enforces New York’s antitrust laws through the Donnelly Act, the primary state antitrust law, which mirrors federal law in that it prohibits any contract, agreement, arrangement, or combination that creates or maintains a monopoly or restrains competition. Last year, the NYAG focused on blocking mergers and pursuing antitrust cases in the healthcare space, including suing to stop a merger in senior care and securing a settlement from drug companies regarding illegal coordination to inflate prices.

The NYAG will likely increase its enforcement actions against companies for alleged antitrust violations, including scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions. Accordingly, should federal antitrust enforcement decrease in the new administration, businesses should expect a corresponding increase in NYAG enforcement.