Securities

  • February 24, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Social Media Laws & Bump Stocks

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments related to three big-ticket cases this week in a pair of First Amendment challenges to Florida and Texas laws prohibiting social media platforms from removing content or users based on their viewpoints and a dispute over the federal government's authority to ban bump stocks.

  • February 23, 2024

    SEC Upholds Bar On Ex-RBC Rep Who Cashed Out $1M Error

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday upheld a disciplinary action against a former RBC Capital Markets LLC representative who was accused of violating his industry's code of conduct when he converted $1 million that his firm accidentally deposited in his personal brokerage account.

  • February 23, 2024

    Judge Trims Bulk Of Investor Suit Against Oil, AI Companies

    A California federal judge retained only a small part of an investor suit against artificial intelligence company C3.ai and oil company Baker Hughes, cutting Baker Hughes entirely, and finding only some claims accusing C3.ai and its executives of misleading investors about its financial performance and partnership with the oil company could survive dismissal.

  • February 23, 2024

    Barclays Must Face Trimmed Suit Over $17.6B Over-Issuance

    Barclays PLC and a number of its top executives must face a trimmed version of a proposed class action over a financial reporting error that led to Barclays selling more than $17.6 billion in securities over its maximum registered amount, a New York federal judge ruled Friday.

  • February 23, 2024

    CFTC Commissioner Dings Agency's Dodd-Frank 'Rollback'

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Christy Goldsmith Romero has criticized agency staff over a recent decision to give swap dealers a pass on complying with a certain Dodd-Frank-era regulation related to interest rate swap disclosures, saying the move threatens to undermine an important protection against conflicts of interest.

  • February 23, 2024

    Chancery Scuttles Moelis Pact Ceding Control To Founder

    All but three provisions of a stockholder agreement that gives Moelis & Co. founder Kenneth Moelis board-trumping power over the global investment bank's business are "facially invalid" under Delaware law, a Court of Chancery vice chancellor said Friday in a decision that might have implications for similar stockholder agreements at other companies.

  • February 23, 2024

    Momentive Shareholders Battle In Del. Over $19M Settlement

    Hedge funds with shares of Momentive Performance Materials Inc. that withdrew from a consolidated class lawsuit over the silicone maker's $3.1 billion sale in 2019 urged Delaware's Court of Chancery on Friday to carve them out of a proposed $19 million class settlement, accusing their former co-lead counsel of grabbing their "cake."

  • February 23, 2024

    Fla. Judge Orders 'Front' Company To Pay Back Investors

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a company that it says was a secret "front" for a convicted fraudster reached a deal Friday in Florida federal court with the parties agreeing that investors would have the opportunity to get more than $4 million of their money back.

  • February 23, 2024

    Ex-Citrix Chief Hit With Class Action Over $16.5B Sale

    A proposed class of former Citrix Systems Inc. stockholders accused the company's former CEO and chairman Robert M. Calderoni of failing to get enough for stockholders for the $16.5 billion sale of the cloud software company to Vista Equity Partners Management LLC and Elliott Investment Management LP affiliate Evergreen Coast Capital Corp.

  • February 23, 2024

    Kraken Wants SEC Suit Tossed, Says Tokens Aren't Securities

    Crypto exchange Kraken on Friday urged a California federal judge to permanently toss claims it failed to register its platform with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since the regulator has not shown that the tokens on its platform are investment contracts.

  • February 23, 2024

    Co. Saddled Retirement Plan With Mediocre Funds, Suit Says

    SAS Institute Inc. cost workers millions in savings by failing to trim underperforming investment funds from its $3.6 billion retirement plan, according to a proposed class action filed against the software analytics giant in North Carolina federal court.

  • February 23, 2024

    Walgreens Investors Near Deal In Suit Over Opioid Epidemic

    An Illinois federal judge agreed Friday to maintain a stay in a stockholder derivative suit accusing Walgreens and its leadership of failing to limit retail pharmacies from dispensing unreasonable amounts of opioids, a day after the parties announced an agreement in principle to resolve their dispute.

  • February 23, 2024

    FTX Settles $324M Ch. 11 Suit Over European Deal For $33M

    Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. has asked a Delaware court to approve a plan to resolve a $323.5 million clawback action aimed at the co-founders of its European unit by selling the subsidiary back to the executives for $32.7 million.

  • February 23, 2024

    Binance Judge Says Greed Overtook Ethics, OKs $4.3B Plea

    A Washington federal judge signed off Friday on Binance's $4.3 billion plea deal on money laundering and bank fraud charges, saying from the bench that the cryptocurrency exchange's ethics violations could not be explained away by mere ignorance. 

  • February 23, 2024

    4 Trends Executive Compensation Attorneys Are Watching

    A Delaware Chancery judge's rejection of Elon Musk's $55 billion Tesla pay package shows how a court historically viewed as corporate-friendly may be shifting, one of several trends executive compensation experts told Law360 they're seeing. Here are four issues executive pay lawyers should have on their radar.

  • February 23, 2024

    Del. SPAC Rulings Said To Weigh Against Super Group Case

    Attorneys for investors seeking damages after a special purpose acquisition company took Super Group Ltd., an online international gambling venture, public in a $4.75 billion deal in 2022 repeatedly pointed a Delaware vice chancellor on Friday to the Chancery Court's growing SPAC case law as reasons to keep their lawsuit alive.

  • February 23, 2024

    Feds' Crypto Focus Is No Longer On 'Whack-A-Mole' Cases

    The U.S. Department of Justice is no longer playing "whack-a-mole" in its crypto cases, and instead is taking on large-scale actors in the hopes of encouraging industrywide compliance, veteran crypto-focused prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office said Friday.

  • February 23, 2024

    Insurance M&A Partner From Sidley Joins Kirkland

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP has added a corporate partner in its insurance transactions and regulatory and financial institutions practice groups, bringing on a former Sidley Austin LLP attorney who said he "couldn't be more excited" to join the firm's Chicago office.

  • February 23, 2024

    Judge Bars Convicted Hemp Co. Exec From Securities Trade

    A Manhattan federal judge has barred a hemp company executive from participating in securities trade, after the executive was convicted of fraud and as a suit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleging he schemed to misappropriate $1.8 million in investor funds remains pending.

  • February 23, 2024

    US Hits Russia With Largest Sanctions Since Ukraine Invasion

    The U.S. announced over 500 new sanctions on Russia Friday following the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, marking the largest number of sanctions since Moscow invaded Ukraine two years ago.

  • February 22, 2024

    Bike Parts Co. Faces Shareholder Claim It Hid Sales Problems

    Executives at a Georgia bicycle parts manufacturer allegedly spent years misleading investors about booming sales and demand, triggering a stock crash when overstocked inventory and slumping sales were revealed, according to a proposed class action filed in Peach State federal court.

  • February 22, 2024

    Crypto Co. DGC Blasts NY AG Settlement With Genesis Global

    The parent company of Genesis Global Holdco slammed a proposed settlement between the bankrupt lender and the New York attorney general on Wednesday, calling the agreement an attempt to "rig" the Chapter 11 plan confirmation to include larger payouts for certain creditors.

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-Capital One Analyst Faces 2 Years For Insider Trading

    A former Capital One data analyst was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to his role in a complex $3.1 million scheme to use his employer's credit card transaction data to guess revenue numbers public companies were poised to announce.

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-BP Exec's Husband Cops To $1.7M Insider Trading

    The husband of a former manager at British oil and gas company BP PLC on Thursday pled guilty to securities fraud in Texas federal court and agreed to forfeit the $1.7 million he made with the help of insider trading, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

  • February 22, 2024

    SEC Won't Force BofA To Act On ESG Critic's Proxy Proposal

    A division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has said it wouldn't recommend enforcement action against Bank of America for excluding a climate-related shareholder request from its upcoming proxy statement, while the division rejected Pfizer's request to exclude a shareholder proposal on human rights from its proxy statement.

Expert Analysis

  • ESG Accountability: From Reactive To Proactive

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    As more standards bodies and regulators develop and release their rules for sustainability and climate disclosures, organizations have an opportunity to establish leadership and unlock opportunities by making proactive commitments to tracking and reporting on environmental, social and governance issues, says Anthony Campanelli at Deloitte.

  • How Life Sciences Cos. Can Prevent Securities Class Actions

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    Though the overall volume of securities fraud class actions has dipped in the last couple of years, life sciences companies remain a particularly popular target for these filings and should employ best practices to minimize risk, say Joni Jacobsen and Angela Liu at Dechert.

  • How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies

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    Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.

  • Series

    Mass. Banking Brief: The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

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    Among the most significant developments in the financial services space in the third quarter of the year, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed down a stunning endorsement of the state's fiduciary duty rule, and banking regulators continued their multiyear crackdown on unregistered entities, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Leveraging Municipal Bonds For Green Energy Finance

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    The U.S.'s transition to renewable energy will require collaboration between public and private capital sources — and that means that lawyers used to working in corporate finance must understand how the municipal bond market functions differently, due to its grounding in the U.S. Constitution, says Ann Fillingham at Dykema.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

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    Among the most significant developments in banking and financial services from last quarter, New York financial regulators implemented new commercial lending disclosure rules, issued revisions to cybersecurity regulations and published updated guidance on virtual currency listings, says Melissa Hall at Loeb & Loeb.

  • Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial

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    Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Protect Consumer Fraud Whistleblowers

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    Congress' proposed bill to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau whistleblower program is crucial for the public's protection against insurance fraud, credit fraud, investment fraud, identity theft, mortgage fraud and other consumer fraud schemes, which all too often go unchecked, says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • Opinion

    The Prohibition On Insider Trading Is Misleading

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    Officials regularly describe the prohibition on insider trading as safeguarding shareholders’ property rights and protecting the investing public, but the law is misleading: It’s really an unjust ban on consensual trading, says Kevin Douglas at Michigan State University.

  • Why All Cos. Should Take Note Of Calif. GHG Disclosure Laws

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    Two recent California laws involving the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's upcoming final rule, focus on financial services firms' so-called financed emissions, meaning vastly more companies than those directly subject to today's reporting mandates will be required to supply climate-related risk disclosures, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Cos. Must Show Discretion In Public Statements When Sued

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    A recent securities class action ruling in Massachusetts federal court against software company Pegasystems shows that a boilerplate public denial of a lawsuit's merits can form the basis for a claim that the statement was false or misleading, underscoring the need to use discretion when responding to pending claims, say Brian Kearney and Stephen Kastenberg at Ballard Spahr.

  • Feds' Long-Term Debt Proposal Could Be Costly For US Banks

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    Federal banking regulators recently released a proposal for long-term debt requirements for certain U.S. banking organizations, which would significantly increase the cost of capital for most covered organizations, and the burden would be exacerbated by other factors in the current lending environment, say Matthew Bisanz and Anna Pinedo at Mayer Brown.

  • Calif. Climate Disclosure Bills Promise Challenges For Cos.

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    Two novel climate disclosure bills recently passed by the California Legislature will pose challenges for many businesses — especially private companies that are less familiar with climate-related reporting obligations — and will require investments of significant time and effort in processes, procedures and personnel, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.

  • Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times

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    As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • Fintech Cos. Should Consider Asset-Based Financing For RE

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    Fintech companies that own or plan to acquire real property may be able to utilize asset-based financings to access more efficient and cost-effective forms of capital beyond traditional venture capital sources, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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