Securities

  • March 25, 2024

    SEC Kicks Off 'Shadow Trading' Case Against Drug Exec

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said at the start of a California federal "shadow trading" trial that a former Medivation executive made $120,000 by buying stock in a rival after learning his company would be acquired by Pfizer, while the defense said he didn't believe the trades violated securities law.

  • March 25, 2024

    Crypto Group, Apparel Co. Sue Over SEC Crypto Policy

    A Texas-based apparel company on Monday teamed up with a crypto industry group to sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over an alleged pattern of enforcement against crypto firms, which the brand said threatens its business since it distributed its own digital token.

  • March 25, 2024

    SEC Says Cannabis Investment Fund Was $500K Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit in Arizona federal court against a would-be venture capitalist, accusing him of fraudulently raising more than $500,000 from two investors for the cannabis startup where he worked.

  • March 25, 2024

    SolarWinds Makes Renewed Bid To Toss SEC Cyber Suit

    SolarWinds Corp. has asked a New York federal court to dismiss an amended suit it is facing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, saying the agency cites documents that contradict its claims against the government contractor.

  • March 25, 2024

    COVID 'Cure' Claims Can't Sustain Fraud Suit, 9th Circ. Rules

    A biopharmaceutical company's "enthusiastic" statements to Fox News and others about a potential COVID-19 cure do not amount to fraud and cannot sustain a shareholder lawsuit accusing the company and its top executives of deceiving the market by pretending that a breakthrough was much more consequential than it actually was, the Ninth Circuit ruled on Monday.

  • March 25, 2024

    Rivian's Brass Sued In Del. Over Vehicle Pricing Whiplash

    A shareholder of California-headquartered electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc. has filed a derivative suit against the company's top brass in Delaware's Court of Chancery, alleging they made false and misleading statements concerning Rivian's financial model, including about production costs and pricing for its EV pickup truck and SUV.

  • March 25, 2024

    Ex-Lordstown CEO Settles SEC's 'Pre-Sale' Fraud Claims

    The former CEO of the electric pickup truck company once known as Lordstown Motors Corp. has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud claims over the alleged misrepresentation of its pre-sale demand for vehicles.

  • March 25, 2024

    SEC Says Justices Should Skip Musk's Gag-Order Grievance

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to pass on Elon Musk's complaint that an agency-imposed gag order violates his free speech rights, arguing the Tesla CEO entered the agreement willingly and has presented no legal justification for backing out.

  • March 25, 2024

    Solar Co. Downplayed Exposed Wire Issue, Investors Claim

    Energy company Shoals Technologies Group Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging it downplayed the cost of repairing exposed wires for customers and that investors were blindsided when the company finally revealed it would need to spend at least $60 million to fix the issue.

  • March 25, 2024

    Texas Hotel REIT Says Blackwells Wants Illegal Proxy Contest

    A Texas hotel real estate investment trust asked a Texas federal court Sunday to stop a shareholder vote "from being infected with deception and misinformation," saying a New York-based hedge fund wants to run an illegal proxy contest to take control of the company's board of directors while hiding plans to buy it.

  • March 25, 2024

    Del. Justices Undo Toss Of Brookfield-TerraForm Merger Suit

    Delaware's Supreme Court on Monday reversed the dismissal of a suit from former shareholders of TerraForm Power Inc. who challenged a squeeze-out merger by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., concluding a proxy statement failed to fully disclose alleged conflicts of interest involving special advisers Morgan Stanley & Co LLC and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

  • March 25, 2024

    FTX Reaches Deals For $884M In Ch. 11 AI Biz Stock Sales

    Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. informed a Delaware court that it has reached agreements with two dozen purchasers for sales of the debtor's holdings in artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC worth $884.1 million.

  • March 25, 2024

    Atty Can Drop Alleged Schemer Who Didn't Pay For 2 Years

    A man accused of being the mastermind behind a $2 million cannabis crowdfunding scheme must find a new lawyer after stiffing his previous counsel for nearly two years, a Michigan federal judge said Monday.

  • March 25, 2024

    Ripple's Legal Chief Says SEC Wants $2B In Remedies

    The CEO and legal head of blockchain firm Ripple Labs said Monday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to seek $2 billion in fines and penalties over the firm's failure to register institutional sales of its XRP token, but the firm plans to strike back at the high dollar amount.

  • March 25, 2024

    TreeHouse Shareholders Get New Chance To Sue Execs

    An Illinois appellate panel reversed a Cook County judge Friday and revived a derivative lawsuit demanding that TreeHouse Foods sue three individual executives the shareholders claim materially misled them by falsely stating that two newly acquired companies were being successfully integrated into the food company's operations.

  • March 25, 2024

    Pilot For UK Billionaire Says Stock Tips Case Is Too Vague

    A pilot charged with trading on insider stock tips from U.K. billionaire Joe Lewis told a New York federal judge Friday that prosecutors had failed to identify a piece of information that he knew was non-public, urging the court to toss the case.

  • March 25, 2024

    Terraform Failure In Crypto Crash Wasn't Fraud, Jury Told

    Counsel for Terraform Labs creator Do Kwon told a Manhattan federal jury Monday that Kwon believed in his technology and told the truth, pushing back against claims that he lied about the stability and business prospects of his bankrupt cryptocurrency startup.

  • March 25, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, litigants battled as Truth Social went public, Carl Icahn and Tripadvisor hit a roadblock, and more shareholders wailed about "invasive" bylaws. Oil drilling and pharmaceutical mergers sparked new lawsuits, and a sewing machine trademark owner sued to end a contract.

  • March 25, 2024

    Lazard Beats Fired Indian Exec's Bias, Retaliation Suit

    Lazard Asset Management defeated a former senior vice president's suit alleging he was fired because of his Indian and Hindu background while on parental leave, with a New York federal judge ruling he failed to show that his negative performance evaluations stemmed from discrimination.

  • March 25, 2024

    NC Justices Deadlock On Reviving Investors' $9M Fraud Suit

    The North Carolina Supreme Court has deadlocked on deciding whether to revive negligence claims against a hedge fund administrator for failing to flag what turned out to be a $9 million Ponzi scheme, meaning a lower court ruling favoring the administrator will stand.

  • March 25, 2024

    DLA Piper Taps New Co-Chair of US-Africa Practice In DC

    DLA Piper has hired a new co-leader of its U.S.-Africa practice, whose experience includes 27 years working at the African Development Bank, where he helped create an African investment banking system with $3 billion in capital, the firm announced last week.

  • March 25, 2024

    FTX Clawbacks Unlikely To Help Bankman-Fried At Sentencing

    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried probably won't find much success in arguing for a shorter prison term based on the billions of dollars recovered by the shuttered crypto exchange's bankruptcy estate, experts told Law360 ahead of this week's much-anticipated sentencing hearing.

  • March 22, 2024

    Expert's Sanctions Off Limits In SEC's 'Shadow Trading' Trial

    A California federal judge overseeing a "shadow trading" trial starting Monday against a pharmaceutical executive ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can't introduce banking sanctions evidence against the defendant's mergers and acquisitions expert as long as he doesn't give opinions on securities law.

  • March 22, 2024

    Pharma Co. Brass Overhyped ALS Drug Efficacy, Suit Says

    Executives and directors of neurodegenerative disease drugmaker Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics have been hit with a proposed class action alleging they damaged the company by overstating the effectiveness of its Lou Gehrig's disease drug even after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its license application.

  • March 22, 2024

    Judge Spares No Ink In Opinion Over Investors' $2.7M Deal

    A New Jersey federal judge in his first year on the federal bench has issued an exhaustive order accounting why he will "likely" approve a $2.7 million settlement between investors and executives of an electric vehicle company and grant certification to the proposed class.

Expert Analysis

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

    Author Photo

    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Liability Theories

    Author Photo

    The greater frequency and scale of wildfires in the last several years have created operational and fiscal challenges for electric utility companies, including new theories of liability and unique operational and risk management considerations — all of which must be carefully considered by utility investors, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.

  • Under The Hood Of The SEC Securitization Conflict Rule

    Author Photo

    Elanit Snow and Julia Vitter of Proskauer consider the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently finalized rule that prohibits conflicts of interest in certain securitization transactions, uncovering what the new regulation does and doesn’t entail, why it was adopted, and how commenters' remarks affected the process.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer

    Author Photo

    A case pending in the Southern District of New York will examine whether decentralized crypto co-op MakerDAO is a partnership with the capacity to be sued in federal court, and the decision could shape how legal frameworks will adapt to accommodate blockchain technologies moving forward, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Tips For Counsel Seeking Balance In The ESG Political Divide

    Author Photo

    Corporate counsel tasked with navigating environmental, social and governance factors in the current polarized political environment should not lose sight of best practices, including sticking to what the law requires and always telling the truth, say Jennifer Rubin at Mintz and Mike Rider at ResMed.

  • Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia

    Author Photo

    After the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia – the largest to date since the Ukraine war began – companies will need to continue to strengthen due diligence and compliance measures to navigate the related complexities, say James Min and Chelsea Ellis at Rimon.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

    Author Photo

    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet

    Author Photo

    After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • How Advance Notice Bylaws Are Faring In Del. Courts

    Author Photo

    Recent decisions make it clear that the Delaware Chancery Court is carefully reviewing public companies' amended advance notice bylaws in order to balance the competing interests of boards and shareholders, and will likely strike down bylaws that improperly interfere with stockholder franchises, say attorneys at Olshan Frome.

  • Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle

    Author Photo

    Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks

    Author Photo

    Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • Strategies For Single-Member Special Litigation Committees

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent order in the Baker Hughes derivative litigation allowing testimony from a single-member special litigation committee highlights the fact that, while single-member SLCs are subject to heightened scrutiny, they can also provide unique opportunities, says Josh Bloom at MoloLamken.

  • Lessons For D&O Policyholders From Pharma Co. Ruling

    Author Photo

    A California federal court's recent decision in AmTrust v. 180 Life Sciences, requiring insurers to advance defense costs for a potentially covered claim, provides a valuable road map for directors and officers insurance policyholders, rebutting the common presumption that a D&O insurer's duty to advance costs is more limited than under other policies, say attorneys at Pasich.

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!