Securities

  • April 25, 2024

    Crypto Co. Sues 'Crusading' Gensler Over SEC's Ether Stance

    Cryptocurrency software company Consensys Software Inc. sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday in Texas federal court over the agency's treatment of the Ethereum network's ether token as a security after the company received a so-called Wells notice that agency staff intends to recommend an enforcement action over its products.

  • April 25, 2024

    Real Estate Exec Can't Escape Shareholder's Self-Dealing Suit

    A California federal judge ruled that a derivative shareholder suit accusing the president of a real estate management and investment firm of misusing nearly $35 million of company revenue now passes the so-called Zuckerberg test since the plaintiff sufficiently pled that demand on the company's board members would be futile.

  • April 25, 2024

    Outlets Ask Fla. Court To Toss Trump's $1.5B Truth Social Suit

    Several news outlets that were sued by Donald Trump's social media company over reports that it lost $73 million following a merger have urged a Florida state court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying defamation wasn't sufficiently alleged and the articles were substantially true.

  • April 25, 2024

    Zendesk Beats Shareholders' Suit Over $10B PE Takeover

    Zendesk Inc. has defeated a securities class action in California federal court accusing the customer service software company of undervaluing itself to get a $10.2 billion go-private merger with private equity firms approved by Zendesk shareholders.

  • April 25, 2024

    PHX Minerals Stockholders Sue In Del. To Change Bylaws

    A proposed class of PHX Minerals Inc. stockholders has sued the natural gas and oil mineral company and its board in Delaware state court, arguing that the company's bylaws must be changed to bring them into compliance with the Delaware General Corporation Law.

  • April 25, 2024

    SEC Says Texas Crypto Mining Co. Execs Ran $5.6M Fraud

    A crypto asset mining and hosting company and two of its principals face U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims they defrauded about 64 investors with an unregistered securities offering that raised $5.6 million, spending investor funds lavishly on themselves while neglecting to set up, or in some cases even buy, the mining equipment they had said they would get.

  • April 25, 2024

    7th Circ. OKs Pausing Nail Polish IP Suit For Ownership Fight

    A company registered in New Jersey that sells nail polish has failed to persuade a federal appeals court to let it move ahead with its trade secrets case in a Chicago federal court against its former business partners in China until first resolving an ownership dispute "lurking just beneath the surface."

  • April 25, 2024

    Chancery Seeks More Info About Bond In Truth Social Case

    A Delaware vice chancellor said Thursday she needs more information from the sponsor of the blank-check company that took Donald Trump's Truth Social public about a bond it requested during litigation with some of the company's stockholders.

  • April 25, 2024

    Autodesk Faces Investor Suit Over Internal Controls

    Software company Autodesk has been hit with a proposed class action alleging the company's stock price dropped after investors learned it lacked proper internal controls due to issues with its free cash flow and operating margin practices.

  • April 25, 2024

    4 Takeaways From DOL's Final ERISA Investment Advice Regs

    The U.S. Department of Labor’s finalized regulations broadening who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act will bring more investment advisers under the purview of federal benefits law, but the final version contains some important differences from what the DOL initially proposed. Here are four key takeaways.

  • April 25, 2024

    3rd Circ. Lets Mallinckrodt Off Sanofi's Royalty Hook

    A Third Circuit panel said Thursday that Mallinckrodt PLC's Chapter 11 bankruptcy could sever its obligation to pay Sanofi-Aventis US LLC royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, finding that Sanofi's contract to sell Mallinckrodt the rights to the drug created a claim ripe to be extinguished.

  • April 25, 2024

    SEC, Trade Group Ask DC Circ. To Revive Proxy Advisory Rule

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a leading trade group called on the D.C. Circuit Thursday to revive a rule imposing heightened disclosure requirements on proxy advisory firms, appealing a lower court decision that threw out the requirements.

  • April 25, 2024

    Former Fuel Co. GC, CEO Must Pay $750K In SEC Fraud Suit

    The former general counsel and CEO of an Arizona fuel company accused of conspiring to defraud investors out of $30 million have reached consent orders with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and agreed to pay nearly $750,000 in fines, disgorgement and restitution.

  • April 25, 2024

    WWE Shareholders Combine Chancery TKO Merger Suits

    Delaware's Court of Chancery will decide this summer whether teams led by Block & Leviton, Bernstein Litowitz or Robbins Geller will represent World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. stockholders in a consolidated class suit against founder Vincent McMahon and others over the company's $21 billion merger with the Endeavor Group.

  • April 25, 2024

    Ga. Fund Manager Stole Millions And Fled Country, SEC Says

    An Atlanta financier was hit with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil suit Wednesday alleging he ripped off investors in his nearly $10 million hedge fund, stealing millions to enrich himself while falsifying records of the fund's purported success.

  • April 24, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy GC Tells Jurors He Wanted To Be 'Helpful' To HP

    Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel conceded Wednesday in the criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that he told an HP lawyer he wanted to be as "helpful" as possible to the company as it was investigating Autonomy-related issues that popped up after the Silicon Valley giant purchased the British company, and that he was told he could face liability for his work at Autonomy.

  • April 24, 2024

    Bid To Sanction DOJ Denied In Novel Insider Trading Case

    A California federal judge on Tuesday refused to grant an indicted former healthcare CEO's bid to sanction the government in a case accusing him of a novel form of insider trading, saying the CEO failed to show that he was prejudiced by the government interviewing a potential witness without counsel present. 

  • April 24, 2024

    Kwok Jurors To Be Anonymous Amid Harassment Concerns

    Jurors who will decide the criminal fraud and racketeering case against exiled Chinese billionaire Ho Wan Kwok will be anonymous and partially sequestered, a New York federal judge said on Wednesday, ruing that if their identities are revealed they could face the same harassment that befell Kwok's bankruptcy trustee.

  • April 24, 2024

    Hedge Fund Says Credit Suisse Misled On Bonds' Health

    U.S.-based hedge fund Appaloosa LP is accusing the former Credit Suisse in New Jersey federal court of misleading investors about its financial health before $17 billion of its bonds were wiped out in a merger with its Swiss competitor UBS.

  • April 24, 2024

    Crypto Mixer Execs Arrested Over $2B In Illicit Transactions

    New York federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that they have arrested the co-founders of crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet over their operation of a crypto service that authorities say executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions.

  • April 24, 2024

    Instagram Star Gets 7 Years For Multiple Fraud Schemes

    A Brooklyn federal judge on Wednesday imposed a seven-year prison term on a former Instagram influencer who admitted to defrauding members of his Muslim community and others out of over $8 million via a bogus investment fund and Bitcoin theft, saying the crime probably should be featured on the television show "American Greed."

  • April 24, 2024

    Texas Appeals Panel Partially Reverses Atty's Fee Victory

    An Austin, Texas, trial lawyer who defeated a breach of fiduciary duty claim brought after he represented one half of a business partnership that went sour has had part of his victory overturned, with a Texas appellate court Wednesday determining that the trial court overstepped when also throwing out a fee claim against the attorney.

  • April 24, 2024

    NGM Biopharma Investor Seeks Stock Appraisal In Del.

    An NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc. stockholder has sued for court appraisal of his stock in Delaware's Court of Chancery after the company closed on a $1.55 per share cash tender offer with an affiliate of venture fund The Column Group on Feb. 25.

  • April 24, 2024

    Trump Media Exec Urges GOP To Probe Stock 'Manipulation'

    Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media Technology & Group Corp., is urging key House Republicans to investigate "anomalous trading" involving shares of the company that owns former President Donald Trump's social media platform, marking Nunes' latest effort to call attention to alleged signs of manipulation, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.

  • April 24, 2024

    Chancery Lets $344M Carlyle Tax-Payout Suit Move Ahead

    A vice chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery on Wednesday refused to toss most claims in a stockholder suit led by a Pittsburgh pension fund targeting a $344 million tax-asset buyout at The Carlyle Group Inc., though she did trim the suit by a single count.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Canada

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    In Canada, multiple statutes, regulations, common law and industry guidance address environmental, social and governance considerations, with debate over ESG in the business realm potentially growing on the horizon, say attorneys at Blakes.

  • Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga

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    Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • How US Companies Can Wield The New Foreign Bribery Law

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    U.S. companies operating in high-risk markets can use the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act that passed last month to their advantage both in preventing bribe demands and in negotiating with the Justice Department to prevent prosecution or to receive cooperation credit, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • What To Expect From High Court In Corp. Disclosure Case

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    Oral argument in Macquarie v. Moab Partners — a case with the potential to significantly alter corporate disclosures and private securities litigation liability — suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court is focused on answering the narrow question presented, say Elizabeth Gingold Clark and Madeleine Juszynski Davidson at Alston & Bird.

  • New Tech, Old Tricks: How GCs Can Fight White Collar Crime

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    As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency provide bad actors with new avenues to commit classic crimes, general counsel should develop a strategy to future-proof their organizations against such threats and prepare for regulatory scrutiny, say directors at FTI Consulting.

  • Unpacking PCAOB's Sanctions Against China-Based Auditors

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    Following the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's first major enforcement actions against audit firms located in China and Hong Kong for violating quality control standards, China-based U.S. issuers should be prepared for more rigorous audits in the upcoming cycle, and for continuing strict scrutiny from the regulator, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • FERC Actions Signal Concern Over Investors' Utility Stakes

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    Two recent orders and a notice of inquiry from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the subject of whether large investors are asserting control of public utilities signal increasing regulatory scrutiny of the investment community's influence over the electric power industry, say attorneys at Day Pitney.

  • 10 Global Antitrust Trends To Anticipate In 2024

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    Proactive navigation of the antitrust enforcement environment remains crucial this year as legal policy and tools evolve to meet intensifying global economic complexity, including geopolitical tensions, trade realignment, market volatility and inflation, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • NY CRE Lenders Need Clarity On Foreclosure Standing

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    Recent contradictory New York case law regarding issues of standing in commercial real estate litigation creates confusion for borrowers and lenders alike, and should be addressed by courts in advance of the anticipated onslaught of commercial mortgage-backed securities foreclosures, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Rosenberg & Estis.

  • ERISA Litigation Faces New Frontiers In 2024

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    As plaintiffs firms explore novel theories for recovery and the Department of Labor attempts to broaden the definition of an investment advice fiduciary, 2024 could see new types of Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation after just 100 class actions were filed last year, say attorneys at Groom Law.

  • Del. Ruling Guides On Advance Notice Bylaw Amendments

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    The Delaware Chancery's Court's recent denial of investment fund Paragon Technologies' injunction motion against Ocean Power Technologies underscores the importance of carefully crafting and enforcing corporate advance notice bylaw amendments, especially in light of universal proxy rules, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Series

    Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.

  • Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?

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    Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    New York's banking and financial sector saw a number of notable regulatory and legislative changes in the final quarter of 2023, including guidance on climate risks and heightened cybersecurity protocols issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as final revisions to virtual currency listings in the state, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 4 Questions On Groundbreaking New Foreign Bribery Law

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    The recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act will significantly alter the anti-corruption landscape under U.S. law by allowing prosecutors to pursue foreign officials for soliciting or accepting bribes, but it’s not yet clear how the statute will be used and by whom, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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