Securities

  • March 22, 2024

    Activists Press Full 5th Circ. To Nix Nasdaq Diversity Rule

    Conservative groups opposing a requirement that Nasdaq-listed companies publicly disclose board diversity data are pressing the full bench of the Fifth Circuit to declare the rule unconstitutional, arguing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's involvement in the rulemaking process transforms the requirement into an unconstitutional restraint on free speech. 

  • March 22, 2024

    Dril-Quip Investor Alleges Merger Will Entrench Board

    A shareholder of oil drilling equipment company Dril-Quip Inc. hit its directors with a proposed class action in Delaware Chancery Court, alleging they added unreasonable provisions to the terms of its merger with Innovex Downhole Solutions Inc. to disenfranchise shareholders.

  • March 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Sends OppFi Predatory Lending Suit To Arbitration

    The Ninth Circuit has sent a proposed class action accusing Opportunity Financial LLC of issuing usurious loans back to the district court, ordering it to grant the lender's bid for arbitration after finding the lower court erred in ruling that the company's arbitration clause is "substantively unconscionable."

  • March 22, 2024

    5th Circ. Lifts SEC Climate Rule Stay After 8th Circ. Lottery Win

    The Fifth Circuit on Friday lifted a temporary block on the implementation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new emissions reporting requirements, following the selection of the Eighth Circuit as the venue for consolidated proceedings of the various suits about the agency's controversial rules.

  • March 22, 2024

    Trump Media SPAC CEO Accused Of Misleading Investors

    A sponsor of the special-purpose acquisition company approved to take Donald Trump's social media website public has sued its CEO in Florida federal court, saying a "coup d'etat" was orchestrated to oust the former leader and mislead investors in an effort to assume control over the enterprise.

  • March 22, 2024

    Feds Reach Deal To Seize, Sell FTX Executive Jets

    Federal prosecutors Friday told a New York federal judge they have reached a deal to seize and sell private jets intended to take convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried and top executives of his bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to and from the company's Bahamian headquarters.

  • March 22, 2024

    US Trustee Says Fla. Healthcare Co. Can't Seal Stock Sale Bid

    The U.S. Trustee's Office has urged a Delaware bankruptcy judge to deny a Miami-based primary healthcare group's request in its Chapter 11 case to redact information in the debtor's motion to sell its shares in a healthcare claims reimbursement servicer.

  • March 22, 2024

    Minority Investor Seeks Docs As Truth Social Goes Public

    A minority stockholder of the company behind former President Donald Trump's Truth Social has demanded a New York clearing agent share whatever information it got about the company's stockholder lists before Digital World Acquisition Corp. shareholders voted to acquire the social media platform on Friday.

  • March 22, 2024

    Chancery Denies Midcase Appeal In TripAdvisor Dispute

    The Delaware judge who gave TripAdvisor Inc. the go-ahead to convert its corporate home to Nevada while upholding most of a shareholder lawsuit challenging the proposed move has refused to certify a midcase appeal of his ruling, despite what he called "disproportionate media attention" about companies fleeing Delaware.

  • March 22, 2024

    SEC Sanctions NY Atty For 'Improper Professional Conduct'

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has barred a New York-based attorney from practicing before the agency, saying she engaged in "improper professional conduct" by failing to comply with a requirement that she not do further work for a two-year period for a company she had represented in proceedings.

  • March 22, 2024

    What Patent Attys Should Know About 5th Circ. Transfer Case

    Federal Circuit practitioners should have their eye on a precedential Fifth Circuit decision from earlier this month that provided new guidance on weighing factors used to analyze whether to transfer a case, in particular factors related to court congestion and convenience for witnesses.

  • March 22, 2024

    DLA Piper Lands McMillan Hong Kong Office Leader

    DLA Piper has hired for its cross-border capital markets practice an experienced attorney who formerly led McMillan LLP's Hong Kong office and was co-chair of the firm's China practice group.

  • March 22, 2024

    5 Things To Know As SEC Takes Terraform Fraud Case To Trial

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit against collapsed cryptocurrency project Terraform and its creator Do Kwon takes center stage next week in U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff's courtroom in Manhattan, and at its heart is a question of whether the business deceived investors in the lead-up to the collapse that helped set off the so-called crypto winter.

  • March 22, 2024

    87-Year-Old Billionaire Lewis Seeks No Jail For Insider Trading

    Lawyers for British billionaire Joe Lewis have asked a Manhattan federal judge not to impose any prison time after his plea to insider trading, saying a term of probation is appropriate because the 87-year-old is "nearing the end of life in declining health."

  • March 22, 2024

    Del. Courts Examining 'Colonoscopy'-Like Bylaw Rules

    Invasive advance-notice bylaws that some observers say make shareholder board nominations as intrusive as a "colonoscopy" are reviving old questions in Delaware courts about how far boards can go to protect themselves against shareholder activism.

  • March 22, 2024

    Trump Wins Investor Approval Of Truth Social SPAC Deal

    Digital World Acquisition Corp. shareholders on Friday approved a proposal to acquire former President Donald Trump's social media platform, setting in motion long-delayed plans to take Trump's startup public despite unresolved litigation tied to the merger.

  • March 21, 2024

    SEC's 'Shadow Trading' Trial To Test Insider Info Boundaries

    If the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can convince jurors hearing its first-ever "shadow trading" case next week to find a former executive in the wrong for buying up a competitor's securities while having insider information about his own company, the floodgates could open to civil and criminal prosecution of other corporate insiders under the novel legal theory, attorneys told Law360.

  • March 21, 2024

    Silvergate Must Face Investor Suit Over FTX Ties, Judge Says

    The now-defunct Silvergate Bank and its CEO must face a proposed class action brought by customers of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, a California federal judge ruled Wednesday, finding that Silvergate owed a duty to FTX customers and that its conduct harmed them.

  • March 21, 2024

    Chemours Faces Investor Suit Over Alleged Exec Misconduct

    Chemical company The Chemours Co. and four of its current and former executives face claims they hurt investors by manipulating a certain financial metric so the executives might receive greater compensation under the company's incentive plans.

  • March 21, 2024

    Autonomy Jury Hears Of 'Handshake Deal' To Pad Revenue

    A onetime Autonomy Corp. customer took the stand Thursday in the California federal criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch, describing a "handshake" deal to pay the company $7.5 million with the understanding the funds would be returned — part of an alleged plot to fraudulently inflate Autonomy's revenues.

  • March 21, 2024

    Ill. Judge Leaves Outcome Health Execs' Convictions Intact

    An Illinois federal judge said Thursday that he wouldn't disturb three former Outcome Health executives' convictions for carrying out a massive billion-dollar fraud scheme to grow their health advertising business, saying the jury heard enough evidence to support its verdict.

  • March 21, 2024

    Sen. Warren Wants SEC To Probe Musk Control Of Tesla Board

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday to investigate whether Tesla's board of directors is independent from CEO Elon Musk, saying recent reports suggest the billionaire controls the board for his personal benefit.

  • March 21, 2024

    Chief Of Bogus PE Firm Gets 6 Years For $10M Affinity Fraud

    The Colorado-based CEO of a purported investment firm faces nearly six years in prison after pleading guilty to securities fraud in connection with a $10.4 million scheme targeting West Point grads and involving claims he planned to invest in a trio of Italian cycling companies.

  • March 21, 2024

    $114M Discord Stock Case Tossed Ahead Of Jury Trial

    A Texas federal judge has dismissed a 21-count indictment against seven men accused of operating a multimillion-dollar "pump-and-dump" stock scheme over social media platform Discord two weeks before they were set to be tried before a jury, writing that the government's case was unable to survive two recent appellate court decisions that reined in corruption prosecutions.

  • March 21, 2024

    CymaBay Investor Sues For Books On $4.3B Gilead Merger

    A shareholder of liver disease-focused biopharmaceutical company CymaBay Therapeutics Inc. sued the company in Delaware Chancery Court to extract more information over a proposed $4.3 billion merger with Gilead Sciences Inc., saying CymaBay has refused to hand over previously requested documents regarding the valuation analyses without a legitimate excuse.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Lessons For SaaS Companies After Blackbaud Data Breach

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    Looking at the enforcement actions that software-as-a-service provider Blackbaud resolved with state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the past year can help SaaS companies manage these increasingly common forms of data breaches, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Del. Ruling Stands Out In Thorny Noncompete Landscape

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    In Cantor Fitzgerald v. Ainslie, the Delaware Supreme Court last month upheld the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions in limited partnership agreements, providing a noteworthy opinion amid a time of increasing disfavor toward noncompetes and following a string of Chancery Court rulings deeming them unreasonable, say Margaret Butler and Steven Goldberg at BakerHostetler.

  • SEC Regs Give Banks Chance To Step Up Cyber Safety Game

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    Just as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act forced financial institutions to undertake best practices in recordkeeping, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently effective cybersecurity regulations stand to similarly drive those same enterprises to seek out and implement best practices in cybersecurity, to everyone's benefit, says James Gerber at SimSpace.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Predicting DeFi Regulations At Home And Abroad In 2024

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    Though decentralized finance has advocates on both sides of the Atlantic in figures like U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, DeFi in 2024 seems likely to be folded into existing regulatory frameworks in the U.K. and EU, while anti-crypto scrutiny may discourage DeFi’s growth in the U.S., say Daniel Csefalvay and Eric Martin at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion

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    ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.

  • Mitigating The Risk Of Post-Closing M&A Earnout Disputes

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    Today's uncertain deal environment makes a well-crafted earnout an excellent way for parties to accomplish a desired transaction that would not otherwise occur, but transacting parties also need to take key steps to avoid the risk of post-closing disputes that earnouts can present, say Chad Barton and Claire Lydiard at Holland & Knight.

  • Understanding SEC's Focus Amid Lack Of Final AI Rules

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    Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules to govern artificial intelligence are likely far from being finalized, understanding existing regulatory provisions that could address AI risks with respect to development, disclosure, compliance and data protection could help firms anticipate and avoid pitfalls, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Preparing For DOJ's Data Analytics Push In FCPA Cases

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    After the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent announcement that it will leverage data analytics in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act investigations and prosecutions, companies will need to develop a compliance strategy that likewise implements data analytics to get ahead of enforcement risks, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How High Court SEC Case Could Affect The ITC

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy will likely spare the U.S. International Trade Commission from major operative changes, the ITC’s ability to issue penalties for violations of its orders may change, say Gwendolyn Tawresey and Ryan Deck at Troutman Pepper.

  • Open Questions After Elastos Crypto Class Action Settlement

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    The recent settlement in Owen v. Elastos Foundation resolving a class action fight over whether Elastos was required to register an initial coin offering with U.S. regulators has raised several questions that may be of interest to lawyers litigating cryptocurrency-related cases, including whether a crypto token constitutes a security under U.S. law, says Bradley Simon at Schlam Stone.

  • Del. Segway Dismissal Suggests Execs Not Liable For Biz Risk

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    While the debate continues within the Delaware Chancery Court over whether Caremark liability applies to matters of pure business risk, the court's recent rejection of Segway’s suit against the ex-president who oversaw financial difficulties suggests the court is uninterested in undermining the deference the business judgment rule grants corporate fiduciaries, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • $32.4M Fine For Info Disclosure Is A Stark Warning For Banks

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    The New York State Department of Financial Services and the Federal Reserve's fining of a Chinese state-owned bank $32.4 million last month underscores the need for financial institutions to have policies and procedures in place to handle confidential supervisory information, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Exxon ESG Proxy Statement Suit May Chill Investor Proposals

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    Exxon Mobil’s recent use of a Texas federal lawsuit to intimidate shareholders into withdrawing a climate-friendly proxy proposal could inspire more public companies to sue to avoid adopting ESG resolutions — a power move that would chill activist investor participation and unbalance shareholder-corporate relations, say Domenico Minerva and James Fee at Labaton Keller.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

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