Securities

  • August 26, 2024

    SEC Fines Sound Point $1.8M Over Nonpublic Info Oversight

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that private fund adviser Sound Point Capital Management LP will pay $1.8 million to settle charges that it failed to prevent the misuse of nonpublic information in certain collateralized loan trades.

  • August 26, 2024

    Zillow Investors Gain Class Cert. In Suit Over Home-Flipping

    A Washington federal judge has certified a proposed class of investors suing Zillow, alleging they were misled about the performance of the real estate marketplace's home-flipping program, and has appointed two firms as lead and local counsel.

  • August 26, 2024

    'Jarkesy 2.0': SEC Sees New Attack On In-House Courts

    A new lawsuit calling into question the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to boot alleged lawbreakers from the securities industry follows a long line of attacks on the regulator's use of its in-house courts, including a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the SEC's ability to litigate fraud cases via administrative proceedings.

  • August 26, 2024

    BNY To Pay $5M CFTC Fine Over Swap Reporting Issues

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Bank of New York Mellon reached a $5 million deal on Monday to resolve claims that the bank repeatedly failed to correctly report millions of swap transactions to a registered swap data repository and failed to properly supervise its swap dealer business.

  • August 26, 2024

    EV Maker Contests Del. Bid To Stall Stock Drop Suit In Calif.

    Counsel for electric-vehicle manufacturer Mullen, which is now tangled in a derivative lawsuit seeking damages in Delaware's Chancery Court, have pointed the court to a proposed $7.25 million settlement in an earlier-filed derivative case in California federal court to support the company's bid to stay the Delaware action.

  • August 26, 2024

    Funds Say Norfolk Southern Can't Ditch Derailment Fraud Suit

    Pension funds have told a Georgia federal judge that they've laid out in exacting detail their allegations that Norfolk Southern eroded safety standards by embarking on risky cost-cutting moves and slashing its workforce, culminating in last year's fiery derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and ultimately backfiring on investors.

  • August 26, 2024

    US Trustee Raises Release Concerns With FTX Ch. 11 Plan

    The U.S. Trustee's Office has lodged an objection to FTX's Chapter 11 plan with 10 reasons why the proposed resolution for the mammoth crypto bankruptcy is flawed, including releases that are overbroad and don't carve out a high-profile data breach from their terms.

  • August 26, 2024

    11th Circ. Won't Revive JPMorgan Chase Whistleblower Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday refused to revive a whistleblower suit against JPMorgan Chase Bank NA for allegedly forging mortgage loan documents and submitting false reimbursement claims to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, finding the allegations had already been publicized prior to the lawsuit.

  • August 26, 2024

    SEC Claims Crypto Bros. Raised Millions With Lies

    The SEC on Monday filed suit against two brothers in Georgia federal court, claiming they ran a Ponzi scheme under the guise of a crypto asset lending pool and misspent millions of dollars of investors' money, including on vehicle purchases and a penthouse condo in Miami.

  • August 26, 2024

    Crypto Lender Abra Settles SEC's Unregistered Securities Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that it's settled with the business entity behind crypto lending platform Abra over alleged failures to register its lending product.

  • August 26, 2024

    Biotech Investor Sues In Chancery Over Alleged IP Diversions

    A private equity investor in biotech Vividion Therapeutics Inc., recently acquired by Bayer Corp. for up to $2 billion, sued the company's co-founder and others in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday, accusing them of secretly diverting to another company intellectual property worth "hundreds of millions, if not billions."

  • August 26, 2024

    Semiconductor Co. Overstated Recovery, Investors Say

    Semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics did not have the visibility it claimed to have to predict future growth in its core segments, leading it to make several false representations to shareholders, according to two investor suits filed in New York federal court.

  • August 26, 2024

    Fox Rothschild Lands Condo Team From Armstrong Teasdale

    A team of 10 real estate attorneys from Armstrong Teasdale LLP have jumped to Fox Rothschild LLP, where they'll form the core of a new practice, the firm said Monday.

  • August 26, 2024

    Shareholder Attys Get $11M For Taro Price-Fixing Deal

    Bernstein Liebhard LLP will receive approximately $11 million for securing a $36 million settlement in a shareholder suit against Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, which claims Taro lied about alleged price-fixing that led to a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust investigation and subsequent stock price drop.

  • August 26, 2024

    JPMorgan Cash Sweep 'Shortchanged' Customers, Suit Says

    JPMorgan Chase has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging its securities branch "shortchanged" customers by automatically "sweeping" their uninvested cash balances into deposit accounts at its affiliate, Chase Bank.

  • August 26, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, Boeing accused shareholders of using a new pressure tactic, Cantor Fitzgerald struck a $12 million deal, and a vice chancellor dealt with zombie companies. New cases involved displaced Pacific Islanders and an insurance customer acquisition platform. In case you missed it, here's a roundup of news from the Chancery Court.

  • August 24, 2024

    Italian Prosecutors Open Criminal Probe Into Yacht Sinking

    Italian prosecutors said Saturday that they have opened a criminal investigation into the sinking of a superyacht that claimed the lives of seven people including a partner at Clifford Chance LLP and his client, British technology mogul Mike Lynch.

  • August 23, 2024

    FDIC Says Ex-Lender Can't Have 3rd Bite At In-House Apple

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday urged a Washington, D.C., federal judge to reject a former small-business financier's bid to immediately halt an agency enforcement proceeding against him, saying a key recent U.S. Supreme Court decision doesn't apply to his case.

  • August 23, 2024

    Kraken Must Face SEC's Crypto Case Over Platform Sales

    A California federal judge on Friday denied a bid by cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to ditch a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement suit, finding the regulator plausibly alleged that "at least some" of the digital currency transactions on Kraken's online platform constitute investment contracts.

  • August 23, 2024

    SEC Awards Nearly $100M To 2 Whistleblowers

    Two whistleblowers will receive more than $98 million for providing information the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission used to carry out an enforcement action, the agency said Friday.

  • August 23, 2024

    PE Fund Says SEC Is Overstepping With 'Fishing Expedition'

    A large South Carolina private equity fund has sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly overstepping its authority by trying to regulate the business' activities through an unconstitutional "fishing expedition" investigation that threatens the building of thousands of housing units.

  • August 23, 2024

    Crypto Founder Says SEC 'Twists' Claims To Make Suit Stick

    The cryptocurrency founder accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of misappropriating $12 million in customer assets from an alleged billion dollars in unregistered crypto securities offerings told a Brooklyn federal judge that the regulator "twists its timelines" to tie his conduct to the U.S.

  • August 23, 2024

    Ex-Exec Can't Reverse Medtronic Insider Trading Conviction

    A Minnesota federal judge on Friday declined to overturn fraud convictions against a former executive of a medical robotics firm, finding the insider tips he provided to a friend ahead of Medtronic's $1.6 billion acquisition of his company were not speculative.

  • August 23, 2024

    Hong Kong Relaxes Listing Rules For Tech Startups, SPACs

    Hoping to spur more investment into emerging businesses amid a dry spell, Hong Kong's securities watchdog and stock exchange leaders on Friday unveiled relaxed listing rules for technology startups and eased requirements needed to clear mergers involving special purpose acquisition companies.

  • August 23, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Says Ponzi Schemes Don't Need Proof Of Intent

    A split Ninth Circuit panel affirmed Friday a jury's finding in a fraudulent-transfer fight that a now-bankrupt company was a Ponzi scheme, with the majority writing that jurors didn't need to find an intent to defraud, while a dissenting judge slammed the majority's reasoning as "circular."

Expert Analysis

  • What 11th Circ. Fearless Fund Ruling Means For DEI In Courts

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent backing of a freeze on the Fearless Fund's grants to women of color building new companies marks the latest major development in litigation related to diversity, equity and inclusion and may be used to question other DEI programs targeted at providing opportunities to certain classes of individuals, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Unpacking The Latest Tranche Of Sanctions Targeting Russia

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    Hundreds of new U.S. sanctions and export-control measures targeting trade with Russia, issued last week in connection with the G7 summit, illustrate the fluidity of trade-focused restrictions and the need to constantly refresh compliance analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Considerations For Cooperation Contracts In Loan Trades

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    Significant challenges to settling trades can arise when lenders of syndicated bank loans enter into defense-oriented cooperation agreements, which are growing in popularity, but working through these issues on the front end of a trade can save hours down the road, says Robert Waldner at Crowell & Moring.

  • Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation

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    Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination

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    The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.

  • Risks And Promises Of AI In The Financial Services Industry

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    Generative artificial intelligence has immense potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, but firms considering its use should first prepare to show their customers and the increasingly divided international regulatory community that they can manage the risks inherent to the new technology, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Beware Shifting Provisions In Middle-Market Loan Documents

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    In recent years, many credit facility provisions previously considered to be market standard have been negotiated, often turning in favor of borrowers, demanding renewed diligence from workout officers and restructuring counsel operating in the middle market, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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