Securities

  • March 18, 2024

    FINRA Fines Firm Over Social Media Influencers' Posts

    The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Monday that it has settled its first formal enforcement disciplinary action stemming from a firm's supervision of social media influencers, fining financial services provider M1 Finance LLC $850,000 for its influencers' misleading posts.

  • March 18, 2024

    Del. Suit Details Wrongful Takeover Of Telecom System Co.

    The founder and former CEO of a Florida-headquartered telecommunications infrastructure building company has sued the head of an investment firm and others Monday in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing them of carrying out a "fraudulent scheme" to wrest control of the business.

  • March 18, 2024

    Biotech Ardelyx Beats Shareholder Suit Over Kidney Drug

    Biotechnology company Ardelyx Inc. has for now beaten a shareholder class action alleging the company and its top brass made false and misleading statements about regulatory approval of Ardelyx's drug for patients with chronic kidney disease.

  • March 18, 2024

    2 Investment Firms To Pay SEC $400K For 'AI Washing'

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said it had reached settlements totaling $400,000 with a pair of investment advisers over claims that they made false and misleading statements about their use of artificial intelligence.

  • March 18, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Amyris Gets OK To Settle Pot Co.'s $15M Trade Secret Suit

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved biotechnology company Amyris' $15.1 million settlement with cannabinoid manufacturer Lavvan, resolving yearslong litigation and arbitration proceedings alleging the debtor misused its then-business partner's trade secrets.

  • March 18, 2024

    Ex-Holland & Knight Atty To Lead Hilgers Graben Gov't Team

    A former securities defense leader at Holland & Knight LLP has moved to Hilgers Graben PLLC's Dallas office to lead the firm's government investigations and regulatory enforcement group.

  • March 18, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Multimillion-dollar e-cigarette settlements, $4 billion in stock buybacks and a $6.1 million appraisal tweak were among the big-dollar items logged in the Delaware Court of Chancery's ledger last week. Also on the docket: a Panama port project, a news outlet's defamation case, drone disputes and a flood of mail from Tesla shareholders. In case you missed it, here's all the latest from the Chancery Court.

  • March 18, 2024

    Ex-CEO Sues Trump-Tied SPAC For Litigation, Probe Fees

    A director and former CEO of Donald Trump-tied Digital World Acquisition Corp. has sued the venture in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking legal fee advancements from DWAC for costs arising from federal probes, lawsuits in multiple states and potential fiduciary breach claims.

  • March 16, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Gov't Jawboning & Retaliatory Arrests

    The U.S. Supreme Court has a packed oral arguments calendar this week that includes disputes over the Biden administration's work with social media companies to combat misinformation, the appropriate evidence standard for bringing retaliatory arrest claims and whether the federal government can object to a consent decree entered into by three states.

  • March 15, 2024

    5th Circ. Blocks SEC Climate Reporting Regulations, For Now

    The Fifth Circuit on Friday temporarily blocked the implementation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new emissions reporting requirements, issuing an administrative stay in a challenge brought by oil and gas company Liberty Energy Inc.

  • March 15, 2024

    SolarEdge Hit With Derivative Suit Over 2023 Earnings Miss

    Current and former executives and directors of equipment maker SolarEdge Technologies Inc. face an investor's derivative suit in Manhattan federal court alleging they concealed distributor order cancelations and other developments that would ultimately result in a low quarterly revenue outcome.

  • March 15, 2024

    Texas Justices Side With Dallas In Retirement Fund Row

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday handed a win to the city of Dallas in its fight against a retirement fund, saying the fund doesn't have veto power over city lawmakers in a dispute over an ordinance that enshrined term limits for fund board members.

  • March 15, 2024

    'Cobra Venom' Painkiller Co. Inks Deal To Settle SEC Claims

    A penny stock company that previously held itself out as a maker of cobra venom-infused pain drugs has agreed to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud claims, according to court filings that note the company's two principals have also reached a settlement.

  • March 15, 2024

    Bitcoin 'Founder' Held In Contempt For Disclosure Delay

    A Florida federal judge on Friday held self-professed bitcoin inventor Craig Wright in civil contempt for delaying disclosure of financial information to the holder of a $143 million judgment against him and said a sanctions award of reasonable attorney fees and costs would be appropriate.

  • March 15, 2024

    SEC, VW Reach $48.7M Deal To End 'Clean Diesel' Fraud Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Volkswagen Group of America Finance told a California federal court on Friday that they have reached a $48.7 million settlement to end claims that the automaker defrauded U.S. investors in its scheme to cheat emissions standards in its vehicles.

  • March 15, 2024

    Didi Can't Shake Investor Class Over Regulatory Disclosures

    A New York federal judge has ruled that Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. cannot escape a class action suit claiming it misled investors about the risks of a disciplinary crackdown from the Chinese government over alleged data security violations, saying the risk disclosures Didi provided investors were insufficient.

  • March 15, 2024

    Kwok Daughter Says Ch. 11 Judge Can't Hear RICO Suit

    The daughter of Chinese exile Ho Wan Kwok has implored a Connecticut bankruptcy judge to punt to the district court the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations claims that a Chapter 11 trustee for her father leveled, contending they raise "significant issues involving non-bankruptcy federal law."

  • March 15, 2024

    Cybersecurity Co. Co-Founder Must Face SEC Fraud Claims

    A New York federal judge determined that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sufficiently alleged that the co-founder of a now-bankrupt cybersecurity company raked in over $6.2 million in ill-gotten gains by participating in a fraudulent securities scheme that defrauded investors of over $100 million.

  • March 15, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy CEO To Face Jury As HP Fraud Trial Boots Up

    Former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch's 2011 sale of the tech company he founded to HP for about $11.7 billion earned him around $804 million and acclaim in tech circles, but the British executive now faces up to 20 years in prison on federal fraud charges that he inflated revenue figures in a monthslong criminal trial slated to kick off Monday in San Francisco.

  • March 15, 2024

    Apple, Investors Cut $490M China Sales Deal Ahead Of Trial

    Apple has made a $490 million deal to resolve a shareholder class action accusing the company and its top brass of misleading investors about iPhone sales in China in a legal fight that was slated for a September jury trial, according to court documents filed Friday in California federal court.

  • March 15, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Adds 3 Perkins Coie Attys To Investment Team

    Global firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced Friday that it has hired three ex-Perkins Coie LLP attorneys, including one of its practice group co-chairs, to strengthen its investment management team.

  • March 15, 2024

    Marathon Digital Pays $87.3M For Bitcoin-Mining Data Center

    Bitcoin-mining company Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Friday announced it is buying Lowenstein Sandler LLP-led Applied Digital Corp.'s bitcoin-mining data center in Texas for a net purchase price of $87.3 million.

  • March 15, 2024

    Feds Say Bankman-Fried Deserves 40 To 50 Years In Prison

    Sam Bankman-Fried should spend 40 to 50 years in prison for engaging in a massive fraud that sank his FTX crypto exchange, Manhattan federal prosecutors argued Friday, pushing back against a request by defense counsel for a sentence of roughly six years.

  • March 15, 2024

    Onix Networking Buyer Sues Seller In Del. Alleging Deal Fraud

    A private equity firm that bought Onix Networking Corp. in 2022 has sued the company's former owners in Delaware's Court of Chancery to rescind part of the deal, alleging seller fraud and misrepresentation of annual revenues by "tens of millions of dollars."

  • March 15, 2024

    US Acquittals Don't Upend UK Libor Convictions, SFO Says

    The acquittals in the U.S. of two former bankers previously convicted of rigging Libor doesn't undermine the legal rationale — upheld on several appeals — for prosecuting traders in English courts, counsel for the Serious Fraud Office said Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Geopolitics And Sanctions

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    Major challenges are on the horizon for the U.S. maritime sector in 2024, including geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea and ever-evolving sanctions targeting Iran and Russia — which may lead to higher shipping costs and greater compliance burdens for stakeholders, says Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight.

  • New SDNY Whistleblower Program May Be A Game-Changer

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    A new pilot program in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York promises to immunize from prosecution certain individuals who blow the whistle on financial crimes and corruption, and if similar self-disclosure programs are any indication, this significant new policy may measurably increase white collar investigations, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • A Guide To New Russia Sanctions For Foreign Financial Cos.

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    Attorneys at Foley Hoag take foreign financial companies on a deep dive into the compliance advice the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control issued after President Joe Biden's December executive order widened a Russian import ban and authorized sanctions against businesses that transact with Russia's military-industrial base.

  • The Questions Around Prometheum's SEC-Compliant Strategy

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    While the rest of the crypto industry has been engaged in a long-running battle to escape the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction, a once-obscure startup called Prometheum has instead embraced the SEC's view to become the first crypto special-purpose broker-dealer, but it's unclear whether it can turn its favored status into a workable business, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • Reverse Merger Tips For Biotechs After SEC's Recent Actions

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    Several recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission developments could limit the viability of reverse mergers for biotech companies, and will require additional creativity and analysis for private companies looking to go public, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Black-Led VC Fund Case Could Hinge On Nature Of Grants

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    Organizations whose missions involve any manner of race-conscious funding should closely monitor arguments this week in American Alliance v. Fearless Fund, a case filed against a grant program that seeks to address the gap in venture capital funding for Black women-led businesses, which will examine whether grants are charitable under Civil Rights Act Section 1981 liability, say Kali Schellenberg and John Stapleton at LeVan Stapleton, and Kenneth Trujillo at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

  • Ex-OpenSea Staffer Case May Clarify When Info Is Property

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    In considering the appeal of a former OpenSea manager’s wire fraud conviction in U.S. v. Chastain, the Second Circuit may soon provide guidance about whether economic information is traditional property in certain insider trading prosecutions — a theory of fraud that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly narrowed, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Takeaways From SEC's Aggressive Cybersecurity Moves

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's intensifying policy on cybersecurity and securities violations in the wake of a data breach — like its enforcement action against SolarWinds and its security officer — has emboldened shareholders to file related suits, creating a heightened threat to public companies, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Considerations For Lawyer Witnesses After FTX Trial

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    Sam Bankman-Fried's recent trial testimony about his lawyers' involvement in FTX's business highlights the need for attorney-witnesses to understand privilege issues in order to avoid costly discovery disputes and, potentially, uncover critical evidence an adversary might seek to conceal, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

  • NY Discovery Stay Ruling Empowers Securities Defendants

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    A New York state appeals court’s recent decision in Camelot Event v. Morgan Stanley — which extends a federal securities law's discovery stay to state courts — clarifies an issue that has perplexed state courts across the country and provides the advantage of reduced discovery costs to securities defendants, say Katherine Kelly Fell and Jeremy Wertz at Milbank.

  • Del. Dispatch: Efforts Clause Trumps Contractual Right

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery's Chordia v. Lee ruling this month — that the efforts clause set forth in a stockholders' agreement overrode the acquired company's right to fire its officers and employees — highlights key considerations for parties in such agreements to avoid post-acquisition disputes, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success

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    Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: A Strong Year For MDLs

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    While the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted even fewer MDL petitions last year than in 2022, hitting a 21st-century low, a closer look at the record-setting number of total actions encompassed within current proceedings reveals that MDL practice is still quite robust, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

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