Securities

  • October 20, 2025

    Tax Startup CEO Swindled $13M From Investors, SEC Says

    The CEO of a defunct tax-compliance startup lied to investors as she raised $13 million for her company, overstating its revenues by almost 900 times and falsely claiming she was a certified public accountant, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday in California federal court.

  • October 20, 2025

    Del. Supreme Court Upholds Keynetics Trust Dissolution

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Monday upheld a Chancery Court order dissolving the Keynetics Shareholder Trust and sanctioning its chairman, ruling that the lower court acted within its discretion when it imposed penalties for repeated violations of stock transfer restrictions tied to the stock of Idaho tech firm Keynetics Inc.

  • October 20, 2025

    Cybersecurity Co. Sued In Del. For Merger Docs.

    A CNI Holdings Inc. stockholder sued the cybersecurity company in Delaware's Court of Chancery for company books and records on Monday, citing a need for corporate details and documents that could purportedly salvage a California suit objecting in part to a "cram down" merger in 2022.

  • October 20, 2025

    Funds Rip Boeing's 4th Circ. Bid To Decertify Max Fraud Class

    Institutional investors have told the Fourth Circuit that they've sufficiently laid out their damages theories to advance certified class claims alleging Boeing kept its stock price trading at inflated levels by repeatedly misrepresenting the safety of its 737 Max fleet after two crashes and a door-plug blowout.

  • October 20, 2025

    RELX Escapes Ex-Employee's Greenwashing, Retaliation Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge has tossed a suit accusing RELX PLC of retaliating against a former employee and committing securities fraud by making business decisions that contradicted environmentally minded pledges made to investors, ruling that the employee missed the window to file a charge related to his termination.

  • October 20, 2025

    Trump Media Aims To DQ Gunster In Fight With Investors

    Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform, is fighting with investors over whether Gunster should be allowed to represent them against the company's lawsuit over taking the business public in light of a Florida state judge's ties to the firm.

  • October 20, 2025

    Suspended Pa. Atty Admits To Crypto Scam Role With Brother

    A suspended Pennsylvania attorney pled guilty in federal court Monday to conspiracy and wire fraud, after prosecutors say he and his brother diverted funds that investors intended for cryptocurrency investment fund High Street Capital Fund USA LP into their personal accounts or another entity they controlled, Hvizdzak Capital Management.

  • October 20, 2025

    Spiro Can't Be Witness And Musk Atty, Twitter Investors Say

    Elon Musk's informed written consent does not mean that Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro can serve as both his lead counsel and witness in the trial over a class of investors' allegations that Musk tried to tank Twitter's stock, those investors told a California federal judge on Friday.

  • October 20, 2025

    Kirkland Rehires Esteemed NY Trial Lawyer From Latham

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced Monday that it has rehired a prominent trial attorney from Latham & Watkins LLP, touting his record of securing 18 complete defense verdicts and more than $1.8 billion in damages for plaintiffs since 2017.

  • October 20, 2025

    More Fed. Workers Added To TRO Blocking Shutdown Layoffs

    A California federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from laying off workers from two unions representing thousands of federal workers has expanded her temporary restraining order to include three more unions and also clarified that the order covered workers with union contracts that the administration is seeking to ditch.

  • October 20, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    This past week, the Delaware Chancery Court and Supreme Court handled a crowded corporate docket, weighing blockbuster merger appeals, shareholder settlement objections, fights over control involving an NBA franchise and a high-profile appeal from Elon Musk involving a massive payday from Tesla.

  • October 17, 2025

    Quant Trader Tells Jury Of MIT Grads' $25M Crypto Ruse Plan

    A quantitative trader and former employee of two MIT-educated crypto entrepreneurs Friday told a Manhattan federal jury of how they planned months in advance to leverage a software glitch to obtain $25 million at the expense of other crypto traders on the Ethereum blockchain.

  • October 17, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Biz Owner's Ponzi Conviction, 7-Year Sentence

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Friday upheld the wire fraud conviction and 90-month prison sentence handed to a business owner who lied to investors about the company's financial health and how it would use their money, saying there was ample evidence of the defendant's intent to defraud and misuse investor funds.

  • October 17, 2025

    BNP Must Pay $20M To 3 Sudanese Refugees, NY Jury Finds

    A New York federal jury Friday returned a landmark $20 million verdict against French bank BNP Paribas, finding the bank liable for its role enabling the genocide former Islamist dictator Omar al-Bashir committed against Black African civilians in Sudan.

  • October 17, 2025

    Chamber Urges 5th Circ. To Rehear Ex-Bank CEO's FDIC Case

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other libertarian advocacy groups urged the Fifth Circuit on Friday to reconsider a panel ruling shielding the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s in-house courts from a constitutional challenge, arguing the decision defies U.S. Supreme Court precedent and leaves bank officials "trapped in the bureaucratic machinery" of juryless agency prosecutions.

  • October 17, 2025

    Settlement Balk Jeopardizes $32M Class Deal In Chancery

    An attorney for a large Emisphere Technologies stockholder told a Delaware vice chancellor on Friday that Court of Chancery refusal to allow an opt-out from a $32 million class settlement in a suit challenging the biotech company's $1.8 billion sale price "would have to be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court."

  • October 17, 2025

    Justices Urged To Review Circ. Split Over SEC Disgorgement

    A man accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of participating in a $6 million pump-and-dump scheme is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to review a circuit split that he says has created "intolerable confusion" over when the agency can collect disgorgement.

  • October 17, 2025

    Investment Firm Founder Indicted On Alleged $500M Scheme

    The co-founder of two Florida-based investment firms has been accused by federal prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars with false representations about the firms' financial success and assets.

  • October 17, 2025

    Cornerstone, Peoples Bank To Form $3.1B Texas Lender

    Houston-based Cornerstone Capital Bancorp Inc. said Friday that it has agreed to acquire Peoples Bancorp Inc. of Lubbock, Texas, in a deal that will deepen its Texas presence and unite two community banks into a $3.1 billion-asset franchise.

  • October 17, 2025

    Acadia Investors Score Partial Win In Fraud Class Action

    A Tennessee federal judge has granted a proposed class of Acadia Healthcare Co. investors a partial early win in their suit claiming the company misled them about the strength of its United Kingdom operations, finding that the investors have presented genuine issues of material fact and that Acadia failed to properly rebut their claims.

  • October 17, 2025

    Newsmax To Build Crypto Reserve With Bitcoin, Trump Coin

    Newsmax Inc. plans to purchase up to $5 million worth of bitcoin and President Donald Trump's meme coin in the coming year, joining the ranks of public companies adding cryptocurrency to their strategic reserve.

  • October 17, 2025

    Ex-SEC Officials Support Activist Investor Before High Court

    Two former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission members are among those calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the ability of investors to sue funds over contracts that violate federal securities laws, saying that the SEC does not have the resources to go after every alleged wrongdoer.

  • October 17, 2025

    Robbins Geller To Steer REIT Investors' Suit Over $787M Deal

    Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP will lead a proposed class of investors in real estate investment trust Broadmark Realty Capital Inc. who claim they were misled by executives from the REIT ahead of a $787 million merger with Ready Capital Corp. in 2023.

  • October 17, 2025

    B. Riley Wants Out Of Lottery.com Chancery Case

    A California-based banking firm asked the Delaware Chancery Court in a brief unsealed Friday to drop it from the stockholder class action over Lottery.com's 2021 special purpose acquisition company merger, claiming it was late to the party.

  • October 17, 2025

    Sana Biotech Fights Investor Fraud Claims Over Trial Data

    Sana Biotechnology Inc. has asked a Seattle federal court to dismiss an investor suit over claims that it offered misleading statements regarding early clinical trials of a gene therapy, asserting that the company's disclosures were consistent with early-stage drug development risks.

Expert Analysis

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    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    Of note in the third quarter of the year, New York state regulators moved forward on their agendas to limit abuse of electronic banking, including via a settlement with stablecoin issuer Paxos and a lawsuit against Zelle alleging insufficient security measures, says Chris Bonner at Barclay Damon.

  • Gauging SEC Short-Sale Rules' Future After 5th Circ. Remand

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    Though the Fifth Circuit recently remanded to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission two Biden-era rules requiring disclosure of securities lending and short-sale activity in order to consider the rules' cumulative economic impact, it's possible they will get reproposed, meaning compliance timelines could change, says Scott Budlong at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Series

    Judging Figure Skating Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Judging figure skating competitions helps me hone the focus, decisiveness and ability to process complex real-time information I need in court, but more importantly, it makes me reengage with a community and my identity outside of law, which, paradoxically, always brings me back to work feeling restored, says Megan Raymond at Groombridge Wu.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    The third quarter of 2025 brought legislative changes to state money transmission certification requirements and securities law obligations, as well as high-profile accounting and anti-money laundering compliance enforcement actions by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling May Help Pharma Cos. Avert Investor Claims

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision affirming the dismissal of a securities fraud class action alleging that Talphera deceived investors by marketing a drug with a misleading slogan should give plaintiffs pause before filing similar complaints where snappy slogans are accompanied by copious clarifying information, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • What Ethics Rules Say On Atty Discipline For Online Speech

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    Though law firms are free to discipline employees for their online commentary about Charlie Kirk or other social media activity, saying crude or insensitive things on the internet generally doesn’t subject attorneys to professional discipline under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, says Stacie H. Rosenzweig at Halling & Cayo.

  • Balancing The Risks And Rewards Of Private Equity In 401(k)s

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    The recent executive order directing government agencies to consider encouraging private equity and other alternative investments in 401(k) plans does not change the fundamental fiduciary calculus or reduce risk, as success with private investments will depend on careful analysis of both participant demand and fiduciary obligations, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • 2 Rulings Highlight IRS' Uncertain Civil Fraud Penalty Powers

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    Conflicting decisions from the U.S. Tax Court and the Northern District of Texas that hinge on whether the IRS can administratively assert civil fraud penalties since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy provide both opportunities and potential pitfalls for taxpayers, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.

  • SEC Fine Signals Crackdown On Security-Based Swap Dealers

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent fine against MUFG Securities is unique because it involves a non-U.S. security-based swap dealer complying with U.S. laws based on the election of substituted compliance, but it should not be dismissed as a one-off case, says Kelly Rock, formerly at the SEC.

  • Junior Attys Must Beware Of 5 Common Legal Brief Mistakes

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Junior law firm associates must be careful to avoid five common pitfalls when drafting legal briefs — from including every possible argument to not developing a theme — to build the reputation of a sought-after litigator, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Expect DOJ To Repeat 4 Themes From 2024's FCPA Trials

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    As two upcoming Foreign Corrupt Practice Act trials approach, defense counsel should anticipate the U.S. Department of Justice to revive several of the same themes prosecutors leaned on in trials last year to motivate jurors to convict, and build counternarratives to neutralize these arguments, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • How The SEC Has Subtly Changed Its Injunction Approach

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    For decades, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has relied on the obey-the-law injunction, but judicial deference to the SEC's desired language has fractured since 2012 — with the commission itself this year utilizing a more tailored approach to injunctions, albeit inconsistently, say attorneys at Hilgers Graben.

  • Digital Asset Report Opens Doors For Banks, But Risks Linger

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    A recent report from a White House working group discussing digital asset market structure signals how banks may elect to expand into digital asset custody, trading and related services in the years ahead, but the road remains layered with challenges, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Utilizing 6th Circ.'s Expanded Internal Investigation Protection

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    A recent Sixth Circuit decision in In re: FirstEnergy demonstrates one way that businesses can use a very limited showing to protect internal investigations from discovery in commercial litigation, while those looking to force production will need to employ a carefully calibrated approach, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: How And Why Training Must Evolve

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    Empowering paralegals through new models of education that emphasize digital fluency, interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered lawyering could help solve workforce challenges and the justice gap — if firms, educators and policymakers get on board, say Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy.

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