Securities

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-BP Exec's Husband Cops To $1.7M Insider Trading

    The husband of a former manager at British oil and gas company BP PLC on Thursday pled guilty to securities fraud in Texas federal court and agreed to forfeit the $1.7 million he made with the help of insider trading, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

  • February 22, 2024

    SEC Won't Force BofA To Act On ESG Critic's Proxy Proposal

    A division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it wouldn't recommend enforcement action against Bank of America for excluding a climate-related shareholder request from its upcoming proxy statement, while the division rejected Pfizer's request to exclude a shareholder proposal on human rights from its proxy statement.

  • February 22, 2024

    Penny Stock Co. CEO Must Pay $473K Over Fraud Claims

    A Connecticut federal judge granted in part the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's motion for final judgment in a securities fraud suit against the CEO of a penny stock company, finding that a less severe punishment than requested is appropriate due to the CEO's financial situation.

  • February 22, 2024

    Chancery Defers Settlement To Ponder Control Challenges

    Hopes for a quick end to litigation between a Texas-based insurance provider and a stockholder who sued over disproportionate insider control slipped away at a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, Thursday after the presiding judge demanded to know how related Chancery Court litigation might affect a proposed settlement.

  • February 22, 2024

    Exxon Wants To Press Forward With Activist Investor Case

    ExxonMobil Corp. says it should be allowed to move forward with a lawsuit against a pair of activist investors who proposed that the company speed up the pace of its greenhouse gas emission reductions, arguing that the investors' decision to withdraw the proposal will not prevent a similar one from being filed in the future.

  • February 22, 2024

    Latham, Davis Polk Rep As Reddit Files For IPO

    Social media platform Reddit on Thursday formally outlined its plans to go public with a long-rumored initial public offering that's being guided by Latham & Watkins LLP and underwriters' counsel Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

  • February 22, 2024

    Study Aid Biz Chegg Tries To Sink 'Cheating' Suit In Del.

    Attorneys for online book and study aid giant Chegg Inc. told a Delaware vice chancellor on Thursday that stockholders have failed to assemble defensible claims in a suit accusing the company of operating as a cheating service for students, saying they are trying to circumvent a stay for litigation in California federal court.

  • February 22, 2024

    Opioid Drug Co. Sued In Del. For Promotion-Tied Stock Drop

    Stockholders of opioid drug producer Talphera Inc. have sued the company's top officers and directors in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking derivative damages for harm to the business purportedly caused by the dangerous promotion of a flagship opioid.

  • February 22, 2024

    Comerica Brass Sued Over Benefit Cards Contract Oversight

    Executives and directors of financial services company Comerica were hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging they failed to disclose the company was mismanaging a lucrative government benefits card program by allowing sensitive data to be handled at an international vendor's office.

  • February 22, 2024

    Sorrento Says US Trustee's Protest Of Texas Venue Off Base

    Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. told a Texas bankruptcy court the company's choice to bring a Chapter 11 in the Lone Star State was sound, so the court should ignore a call from the U.S. Trustee's Office to trash or relocate the case.

  • February 22, 2024

    FTX Can Cash Out $500M Investment In AI Biz To Fund Ch. 11

    Insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. received a Delaware bankruptcy judge's approval Thursday to sell off its equity stake in an artificial intelligence technology company launched by former members of OpenAI that FTX purchased for $500 million in 2021.

  • February 22, 2024

    AI Software Co. Hasn't Actually Developed AI, Suit Says

    Software and data engineering company Innodata Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging its stock price dropped more than 30% after a financial research firm published a report saying its promised artificial intelligence technology is "smoke and mirrors" and that its marketing claims are like "putting lipstick on a pig."

  • February 22, 2024

    Brazilian Heiress' Daughter Can't Escape Colo. Collection Suit

    The daughter of a Brazilian heiress must face claims that she stashed money for her mom to avoid a nearly $20 million court judgment, after a Colorado state judge said a creditor has alleged enough signs of fraud for the allegations to proceed.

  • February 22, 2024

    Healthcare Biz Founder Seeks Legal Costs For Fraud Fight

    The founder and former CEO of a healthcare business that provides medical device monitoring services has sued the company in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking to have it pay her legal costs in defense of fraud claims lodged against her.

  • February 22, 2024

    Alcoa Stockholder Challenges Board Nominee Rules In Del.

    Alcoa Corp. was hit with a proposed class action in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday by a shareholder seeking to invalidate a "highly problematic" and "coercive" company bylaw that allegedly serves to deter stockholder nominations.

  • February 22, 2024

    B. Riley Stands By Franchise Group Deal After Internal Review

    B. Riley Financial reaffirmed its commitment to the $2.6 billion take-private deal for Franchise Group Inc. despite the misconduct of former Franchise Group CEO Brian Kahn, saying on Thursday that its audit committee determined through a nine-week internal review that B. Riley had no knowledge of or involvement in the misconduct.

  • February 22, 2024

    Scammer Who Did Time In Google Fraud Admits To 2nd Caper

    A Dutch citizen who previously served time for a scam involving fake, early-issue Google shares copped Thursday in Manhattan federal court to a new fraud caper, after prosecutors said he tricked an investor by dangling a fake Airbnb Inc. equity stake.

  • February 22, 2024

    Alaska Pot Dispensary Owner Charged With COVID Aid Fraud

    An Alaska businesswoman has been indicted on allegations that she used misrepresentations to obtain forgivable loans meant to assist small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • February 21, 2024

    Ex-KPMG Exec, Ex-Oversight Staffer Get Convictions Vacated

    A New York federal judge has vacated the convictions and guilty pleas of an ex-KPMG executive and a former member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in a scheme to use stolen confidential information to help the auditing firm get better results on audits conducted by the regulatory board.

  • February 21, 2024

    Texas Crypto Firm Sues SEC To Avoid 'Unlawful' Enforcement

    A Texas-based crypto firm has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a bid to convince a Texas federal court to find that digital assets traded on public exchanges are not securities and protect it from potential registration enforcement cases.

  • February 21, 2024

    Crypto Law Firm Invokes Coinbase Petition In SEC Challenge

    Crypto-focused law firm Hodl Law PLLC told the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday that its standing to sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its crypto policy is undeniable now that the agency has decided not to take up a rulemaking petition from crypto exchange Coinbase.

  • February 21, 2024

    NY Judges Question Lehman's Bid To Undo CDS Trial Loss

    A panel of New York appeals court judges on Wednesday appeared reluctant to undo a bench trial loss Lehman Bros.' bankrupt European unit suffered last year in a suit attempting to clawback nearly half a billion dollars from Assured Guaranty over alleged losses on credit default swaps tied to the 2008 financial crisis.

  • February 21, 2024

    Judge Rejects $5.2M Atty Fee Bid In Poultry Farm Loan Suit

    A New York federal judge rebuffed attorneys' attempt to collect a nearly $5.2 million fee for representing an affiliate of two billionaire brothers that accused an investment adviser of fraudulently inducing the affiliate to provide a loan for a Russian poultry operation, saying the adviser wasn't improperly defending himself.

  • February 21, 2024

    Del. Suit Accuses Healthcare Data Co. Exec Of Insider Trading

    A stockholder launched a derivative lawsuit late Wednesday in Delaware's Court of Chancery, alleging the founder of a behavioral healthcare data firm traded company shares using insider information and that nearly a dozen current and former directors and officers provided false and misleading disclosures about the business.

  • February 21, 2024

    Restaurant Software Co.'s $9M Investor Deal Gets 1st OK

    Shareholders in restaurant digital commerce software company Olo Inc. have received an initial green light for a $9 million deal to settle class action claims the company touted a soon-to-end partnership with fast-food chain Subway as an example of its success.

Expert Analysis

  • How Life Sciences Cos. Can Prevent Securities Class Actions

    Author Photo

    Though the overall volume of securities fraud class actions has dipped in the last couple of years, life sciences companies remain a particularly popular target for these filings and should employ best practices to minimize risk, say Joni Jacobsen and Angela Liu at Dechert.

  • How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies

    Author Photo

    Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.

  • Series

    Mass. Banking Brief: The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

    Author Photo

    Among the most significant developments in the financial services space in the third quarter of the year, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed down a stunning endorsement of the state's fiduciary duty rule, and banking regulators continued their multiyear crackdown on unregistered entities, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Leveraging Municipal Bonds For Green Energy Finance

    Author Photo

    The U.S.'s transition to renewable energy will require collaboration between public and private capital sources — and that means that lawyers used to working in corporate finance must understand how the municipal bond market functions differently, due to its grounding in the U.S. Constitution, says Ann Fillingham at Dykema.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

    Author Photo

    Among the most significant developments in banking and financial services from last quarter, New York financial regulators implemented new commercial lending disclosure rules, issued revisions to cybersecurity regulations and published updated guidance on virtual currency listings, says Melissa Hall at Loeb & Loeb.

  • Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial

    Author Photo

    Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Protect Consumer Fraud Whistleblowers

    Author Photo

    Congress' proposed bill to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau whistleblower program is crucial for the public's protection against insurance fraud, credit fraud, investment fraud, identity theft, mortgage fraud and other consumer fraud schemes, which all too often go unchecked, says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • Opinion

    The Prohibition On Insider Trading Is Misleading

    Author Photo

    Officials regularly describe the prohibition on insider trading as safeguarding shareholders’ property rights and protecting the investing public, but the law is misleading: It’s really an unjust ban on consensual trading, says Kevin Douglas at Michigan State University.

  • Why All Cos. Should Take Note Of Calif. GHG Disclosure Laws

    Author Photo

    Two recent California laws involving the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's upcoming final rule, focus on financial services firms' so-called financed emissions, meaning vastly more companies than those directly subject to today's reporting mandates will be required to supply climate-related risk disclosures, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Cos. Must Show Discretion In Public Statements When Sued

    Author Photo

    A recent securities class action ruling in Massachusetts federal court against software company Pegasystems shows that a boilerplate public denial of a lawsuit's merits can form the basis for a claim that the statement was false or misleading, underscoring the need to use discretion when responding to pending claims, say Brian Kearney and Stephen Kastenberg at Ballard Spahr.

  • Feds' Long-Term Debt Proposal Could Be Costly For US Banks

    Author Photo

    Federal banking regulators recently released a proposal for long-term debt requirements for certain U.S. banking organizations, which would significantly increase the cost of capital for most covered organizations, and the burden would be exacerbated by other factors in the current lending environment, say Matthew Bisanz and Anna Pinedo at Mayer Brown.

  • Calif. Climate Disclosure Bills Promise Challenges For Cos.

    Author Photo

    Two novel climate disclosure bills recently passed by the California Legislature will pose challenges for many businesses — especially private companies that are less familiar with climate-related reporting obligations — and will require investments of significant time and effort in processes, procedures and personnel, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.

  • Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times

    Author Photo

    As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Fintech Cos. Should Consider Asset-Based Financing For RE

    Author Photo

    Fintech companies that own or plan to acquire real property may be able to utilize asset-based financings to access more efficient and cost-effective forms of capital beyond traditional venture capital sources, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • SEC Risk Alert Provides Helpful Info For Adviser Exam Prep

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent risk alert makes clear that as the registered investment adviser population continues to grow in size and complexity, the Division of Examinations will keep pace by examining a significant number of advisers each year through its sophisticated and coordinated program, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Securities archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!