Securities

  • April 23, 2024

    Feds Seek To Bar Fox Rothschild Atty From Fraud Retrial

    The government is seeking to bar a Fox Rothschild LLP partner from testifying as an expert witness for the defense in the retrial of a federal securities fraud case that ended in a dramatic mistrial after a lone juror told the judge that he disagreed with the guilty verdict the forewoman had delivered to the court.

  • April 23, 2024

    Bike Parts Co. Investor Wants Scott + Scott For Class Counsel

    An investor suing a Georgia bicycle parts maker has asked a federal district court to appoint Scott + Scott Attorneys At Law LLP and the Schall Law Firm lead counsel in litigation alleging the company hid from shareholders slumping sales and demand.

  • April 23, 2024

    DC Circ. Backs Georgetown's Defeat Of ERISA Suit

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld Georgetown University's win in a suit claiming the school packed its employee retirement plans with costly and poorly performing investment options, finding a lower court was correct in ruling that the workers failed to fix the faults in their case.

  • April 23, 2024

    Jury Finds Ex-Ecuadorian Official Guilty Of Money Laundering

    A Florida federal jury on Tuesday found the former comptroller of Ecuador guilty on all counts charged against him by the government, which accused him of taking millions of dollars in bribes and directing his son, a banker in Miami, to launder the money.

  • April 23, 2024

    Del. Chancery To Rethink Fast-Track Of Truth Social Suit

    The judge taking over a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit that two former "Apprentice" contestants brought against former President Donald Trump's social media company before the Truth Social platform went public will decide at the end of the month whether the suit still needs to be fast-tracked.

  • April 23, 2024

    DOL's Final Investment Advice Regs Expand ERISA's Reach

    The U.S. Department of Labor issued final regulations Tuesday broadening who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, backing off some changes included in a proposal the agency released in October.

  • April 22, 2024

    PacWest Wants Suit Over Alleged Rate Hike Exposure Axed

    PacWest Bancorp has urged a California federal judge to toss a proposed class action from an investor who alleges the California regional bank ignored warning signs posed by last year's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, saying the fact that it did not anticipate the "unprecedented turmoil in the banking industry" is not a violation of federal securities laws.

  • April 22, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Atty Aims ERISA Suit At Firm's Plan, Unum

    A Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP lawyer has lodged an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit against the firm's benefit plan, claiming the plan illegally and abruptly terminated her long-term disability benefits after seemingly applying criteria irrelevant to her work.

  • April 22, 2024

    CFTC Says Gemini Can't Pin Misstatements On 'Intermediary'

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has told a New York federal court that cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust Co. LLC is seeking to "shirk responsibility" for misleading the agency's staff about the risks of a proposed bitcoin futures contract.

  • April 22, 2024

    Real Estate Investment Cos. Owe SEC $8.4M For $17.5M Fraud

    A pair of companies allegedly used in service of a fraudulent real estate investment scheme will pay over $8.4 million to end claims they were part of the $17.5 million ploy that took in more than 150 would-be investors with claims that the securities involved were "recession-proof."

  • April 22, 2024

    Ex-Tech CEO Gets 18 Months, $1M Fine For Investor Fraud

    The former CEO of software company HeadSpin Inc. will spend 18 months in prison and pay a $1 million fine after pleading guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud for cooking the books as he pitched investors and raised over $100 million.

  • April 22, 2024

    Jury Begins Deliberating In Ex-Ecuador Official's Bribery Trial

    Jurors began deliberating Monday afternoon in Florida federal court on the fate of the former comptroller of Ecuador, who prosecutors say took millions of dollars in bribes and directed his son, a banker in Miami, to launder the money.

  • April 22, 2024

    Exec In Insider Trading Case Says Feds Denied Him Counsel

    The former CEO at the center of a novel insider trading case is asking that the California jury deciding his fate not be allowed to hear evidence obtained during a pre-indictment interrogation, arguing he was denied access to an attorney despite insisting on speaking to counsel at least a dozen times.

  • April 22, 2024

    Robinhood 'Meme Stock' Investors Lose New Class Cert. Bid

    A Florida federal judge has denied a bid from Robinhood investors to file a new motion for class certification in a suit over the trading platform's suspension of so-called meme stock purchases, saying the deadline for class certification has passed and the investors have not shown a good reason to extend it.

  • April 22, 2024

    E-Truck Maker Rivian Faces Investor Suit Over Sales Slump

    Electric-vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging it misled investors by overstating the demand for its products and downplaying the impact historically high interest rates were having on its customers' shopping habits.

  • April 22, 2024

    Palo Alto Networks Execs Face Suit Over Misleading Outlook

    Executives and directors of cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in California federal court alleging they misled investors about the success of its platform consolidation strategy, which was expected to result in lucrative government contracts.

  • April 22, 2024

    Agiliti Faces Another Chancery Suit Over $2.5B Squeeze-Out

    A shareholder of Agiliti sued the medical equipment management company Monday in Delaware's Chancery Court for more details surrounding events leading up to an impending $2.5 billion squeeze-out merger with an affiliate of Thomas H. Lee Partners, its largest and controlling stockholder, echoing a similar lawsuit filed in late March.

  • April 22, 2024

    Broker In Penny Stock Scheme Says SEC Is Forum Shopping

    A former California securities broker serving a prison term for a $150 million pump and dump scheme said Monday that a companion civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission does not belong in Massachusetts.

  • April 22, 2024

    Conn. Judge Whittles $1.4M Malpractice Request To $165K

    A Connecticut state court judge has sliced a $1.4 million malpractice bid down to less than $165,000 in a dispute over an attorney's failure to properly secure a loan, citing the client's own negligence and its recovery of most of the money at issue from other sources.

  • April 22, 2024

    Steptoe & Johnson Adds Securities Duo In Oklahoma

    Steptoe & Johnson PLLC has announced the hiring of two experienced securities attorneys from regional firm Conner & Winters LLP to its corporate and mergers and acquisitions practice in its Oklahoma City office.

  • April 22, 2024

    Walden Macht Launches Securities Group With Ex-Sidley Atty

    White collar boutique Walden Macht & Haran LLP announced Monday that it has launched a securities enforcement defense practice headed by a recent arrival from Sidley Austin LLP in New York.

  • April 22, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week, Delaware's Chancery Court news included a Tesla announcement about moving to Texas, a midcase appeal of Tripadvisor's move to Nevada, and United Airlines' escape from a stockholder suit. Disputes about board entrenchment, squeeze-out mergers, co-founder fallouts and deadly ice cream moved ahead.

  • April 22, 2024

    SEC Says Terraform, Founder Owe $5.3B After Fraud Verdict

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a Manhattan federal judge to order bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Terraform Labs and its founder to pay roughly $5.3 billion, weeks after a jury found them liable for a massive fraud.

  • April 19, 2024

    SBF Inks Deal To Help FTX Investors Go After Promoters

    Investors who launched multidistrict litigation over cryptocurrency exchange FTX's collapse asked a Florida federal judge Friday to bless their settlement with founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has agreed to assist in their case against celebrities who promoted the platform and other defendants alleged to be part of the fraud scheme.

  • April 19, 2024

    Jane Street Denied TRO In Trade Theft Suit Against Millennium

    A New York federal judge on Friday refused Jane Street Group LLC's bid for an emergency order after the trading firm accused rival Millennium Management LLC and two former employees of stealing and misappropriating a confidential trading strategy.

Expert Analysis

  • How High Court SEC Case Could Affect The ITC

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy will likely spare the U.S. International Trade Commission from major operative changes, the ITC’s ability to issue penalties for violations of its orders may change, say Gwendolyn Tawresey and Ryan Deck at Troutman Pepper.

  • Open Questions After Elastos Crypto Class Action Settlement

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    The recent settlement in Owen v. Elastos Foundation resolving a class action fight over whether Elastos was required to register an initial coin offering with U.S. regulators has raised several questions that may be of interest to lawyers litigating cryptocurrency-related cases, including whether a crypto token constitutes a security under U.S. law, says Bradley Simon at Schlam Stone.

  • Del. Segway Dismissal Suggests Execs Not Liable For Biz Risk

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    While the debate continues within the Delaware Chancery Court over whether Caremark liability applies to matters of pure business risk, the court's recent rejection of Segway’s suit against the ex-president who oversaw financial difficulties suggests the court is uninterested in undermining the deference the business judgment rule grants corporate fiduciaries, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • $32.4M Fine For Info Disclosure Is A Stark Warning For Banks

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    The New York State Department of Financial Services and the Federal Reserve's fining of a Chinese state-owned bank $32.4 million last month underscores the need for financial institutions to have policies and procedures in place to handle confidential supervisory information, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Exxon ESG Proxy Statement Suit May Chill Investor Proposals

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    Exxon Mobil’s recent use of a Texas federal lawsuit to intimidate shareholders into withdrawing a climate-friendly proxy proposal could inspire more public companies to sue to avoid adopting ESG resolutions — a power move that would chill activist investor participation and unbalance shareholder-corporate relations, say Domenico Minerva and James Fee at Labaton Keller.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • Implications For Digital Assets After SEC Settlement With DAO

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's December settlement with BarnBridge — finding that the decentralized autonomous organization's products were securities under federal law — foreshadows increased enforcement attention on digital assets, and reveals arguments the SEC may use in similar disputes with decentralized finance protocols, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Bitcoin ETF Approval Doesn't Mean SEC Approves Of Crypto

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval last month of 11 applications for spot exchange-traded funds tracking bitcoin is a landmark moment for the crypto-asset industry, investors who are hopeful that the SEC will approve similar crypto-based ETFs may be disappointed, says attorneys at Mintz.

  • A Closer Look At Novel Jury Instruction In Forex Rigging Case

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    After the recent commodities fraud conviction of a U.K.-based hedge fund executive in U.S. v. Phillips, post-trial briefing has focused on whether the New York federal court’s jury instruction incorrectly defined the requisite level of intent, which should inform defense counsel in future open market manipulation cases, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.

  • Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE

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    As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.

  • Del.'s Tesla Pay Takedown Tells Boards What Not To Do

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s ruthless dissection of the Tesla board’s extreme departures from standard corporate governance in its January opinion striking down CEO Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay package offers a blow-by-blow guide to mistakes Delaware public companies can avoid when negotiating executive compensation, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues

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    The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes

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    The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Del. Dispatch: Clarification On Fiduciary Duties Of Controllers

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s January opinion in a Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores' stockholder dispute — holding that a controlling stockholder owes the company and minority shareholders some fiduciary duties when selling shares or voting to change the status quo — suggests instances where investors opposing board decisions should tread carefully, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

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