Securities

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-Outcome CEO Says Issues Warrant Bond Pending Appeal

    Former Outcome Health CEO Rishi Shah urged an Illinois federal judge Monday to let him remain on bond while he appeals his fraud conviction and sentence, arguing he has teed up multiple substantial issues that could lead the Seventh Circuit to order a redo.

  • September 09, 2024

    Bancor Protocol Operators Beat Investor Class Action

    A Texas federal judge has dismissed a securities class action against the operators of a cryptocurrency protocol known as the Bancor, agreeing with a magistrate judge's report and recommendation that the plaintiff's challenged transactions don't meet the requirements of a domestic transaction under the so-called Morrison standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • September 09, 2024

    Exec Denied New Trial In 'Shadow Trading' Case, Fined $321K

    A California federal judge on Monday denied a new trial request from an ex-Medivation Inc. executive found to have used the pharmaceutical company's inside information when he bought a rival's stock, and also ordered him to pay a $321,000 penalty in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's "shadow trading" case.

  • September 09, 2024

    SEC Fines 9 Advisers $1.24M Over Marketing Rule Violations

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that nine investment advisory firms have agreed to pay $1.24 million in combined penalties to settle allegations that they violated the agency's so-called marketing rule by advertising misleading endorsements and third-party ratings.

  • September 09, 2024

    Cybersecurity Co. Founders To Pay $1.6M In SEC Fraud Suit

    The co-founders of a now-bankrupt cybersecurity firm have agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to end the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claims that they used doctored financial records to convince investors to fund their company to the tune of $100 million.

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-Lender Says FDIC Can't 'Ignore' Key High Court Precedents

    A former small-business financier battling a multimillion-dollar Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. enforcement action has doubled down on his Washington, D.C., federal court challenge to the agency's use of administrative proceedings, saying the regulator must be held to U.S. Supreme Court precedents.

  • September 09, 2024

    Coinbase Notches Some Wins In SEC Discovery Battle

    A New York federal judge has granted, and tailored, the "substantial part" of the crypto exchange Coinbase's remaining discovery requests from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the firm abandoned its bid to review personal communications from the agency chair, Gary Gensler.

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-Finance Exec To Pay SEC $110K In Insider Trading Action

    A former finance director of pharmaceutical company Inhibrx Inc. has agreed to pay over $110,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he bought his employer's shares as it prepared to announce good news about its principal drug candidate.

  • September 09, 2024

    CFTC, Kalshi Duel Over Stay Of Election Betting Order

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission told a Washington, D.C., federal judge on Monday its request to stay a decision allowing KalshiEx LLC to list election contracts until the commission can weigh an appeal "is not a mere delay tactic," despite the online trading platform's protests that any further holdup to its listings would be "devastating" for business.

  • September 09, 2024

    Split SEC Adopts New Quality Control Standards For Auditors

    A divided U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new quality control standards for public company auditors Monday, updating a 30-year-old standard that predates the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by mandating increased oversight both internally and via the PCAOB.

  • September 09, 2024

    Biotech Execs Face Investor Suit Over Medicare Claims

    Executives and directors of biopharmaceutical company Ardelyx have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in Massachusetts federal court alleging the company misled investors over its intentions and ability to apply for a Medicare reimbursement program for its kidney disease treatment.

  • September 09, 2024

    SEC Fines 7 Companies $3M Over Whistleblower Violations

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced a $3 million collective settlement with seven public companies, including TransUnion and Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc., to resolve claims that those companies used employment, separation and other agreements to impede whistleblowers from reporting potential misconduct to the SEC.

  • September 09, 2024

    Norfolk Southern CEO Shaw Faces Misconduct Probe

    Norfolk Southern Corp. is investigating CEO Alan Shaw over allegations of misconduct, casting uncertainty over his future at the rail giant just months after a proxy fight with an activist investor.

  • September 09, 2024

    Sentencing Of Ex-Ecuador Official Delayed By Late Gov't Filing

    A frustrated Florida federal judge on Monday pushed back the sentencing of Ecuador's ex-comptroller — who was convicted of laundering more than $12 million in bribes — after admonishing the government for an "inexplicably and undeniably late" forfeiture motion filed at 4 p.m. Friday.

  • September 09, 2024

    Bradley Arant Adds Katten Partner In Dallas

    Bradley Arant has hired a six-and-a-half-year veteran of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP who is joining the firm's corporate and securities practice in Dallas as a partner.

  • September 09, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware's Court of Chancery made some expensive decisions last week, ranging from a $130 million stockholder award and a freeze on $450 million in equity financing to a whopping $1 billion bill for fraud and breach of contract damages. New cases aimed at Virgin Galactic, settlements pulled in Hemisphere Media Group Inc. and court hearings involving Apollo Global Management heated up. In case you missed it, here's the roundup of news from Delaware's Court of Chancery.

  • September 06, 2024

    Covington Owes $100M For Malpractice, Ex-Client Claims

    A blockchain entrepreneur and attorney is seeking at least $100 million from Covington, claiming in a legal malpractice suit filed Friday in New York state court that he could have avoided years of fighting a federal extortion case if firm partners hadn't advised against handing prosecutors "clearly exculpatory evidence."

  • September 06, 2024

    ZoomInfo Sued By Investor Over Post-Lockdown Biz Pressure

    Software company ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. has been hit with an investor proposed class action in Washington federal court alleging it hurt investors and its own reputation as it took desperate measures to maintain an early-pandemic customer boom and ultimately wrote down $33 million because of improperly recognized revenue.

  • September 06, 2024

    Earthlink Investors Accept $85M Deal To End Merger Suit

    Earthlink investors who say they were duped into approving a $1.1 billion merger with failing telecommunications company Windstream Holdings Inc. told an Arkansas federal judge Friday that they've reached an $85 million deal to end the lawsuit two months before the case was scheduled to go to trial.

  • September 06, 2024

    AstraZeneca Unit Owes $130M In Chancery Scuttled-Drug Suit

    The Delaware Chancery Court awarded $130 million to former shareholders of biopharmaceutical company Syntimmune in their breach of contract fight against AstraZeneca PLC unit Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., finding that Alexion failed to make promised payments after it acquired Syntimmune in 2018 and breached key terms of their merger agreement.

  • September 06, 2024

    SEC Wins Suit Against Trader Who Reaped 'Maker-Taker' Fees

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday won summary judgment against a stock trader it accused of illegal wash trading when he traded to profit off so-called maker-taker fees paid out by major exchanges, with a New Jersey federal judge ruling that there are no issues of material fact in the suit, among other things.

  • September 06, 2024

    Calif. Takes AI Reins With Looming Safety, Transparency Laws

    A pair of groundbreaking legislative proposals aimed at ensuring the safe and transparent deployment of artificial intelligence systems are headed to the California governor's desk, raising questions about whether lawmakers are taking the right approach to regulating the emerging technology and how the state's privacy regulator will respond. 

  • September 06, 2024

    7th Circ. Backs Bulk Of CFTC's Fraud Claim Win Against CEO

    The Seventh Circuit has largely upheld a win for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, finding that the head of a Chicago-based brokerage conducted a multimillion-dollar options fraud scheme, but remanded on two claims related to whether the company was required to register as a commodity trading adviser.

  • September 06, 2024

    Fed's Barr To Give Sneak Peek Of Revised Basel III Plan

    The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision will preview revisions to a scaled-back version of the controversial Basel III endgame plan to toughen big-bank capital requirements at a Brookings Institution event on Tuesday.

  • September 06, 2024

    11th Circ. Orders New Look At Penalty In SEC Loan Fraud Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday rejected a bid from a couple accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of a nearly half-a-billion-dollar fraud to reverse an order expanding a receivership of their merchant loan business, but it vacated $43.7 million in penalties they were ordered to pay on the grounds it was unclear who was liable for what.

Expert Analysis

  • Inside OCC's Retail Nondeposit Investment Products Refresh

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    In addition to clarifying safe and sound risk management practices generally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's revised booklet on retail nondeposit investment products updates its guidance around certain sales practices in light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of Regulation Best Interest, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Why The SEC Is Targeting Short-And-Distort Schemes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent crackdown on the illegal practice of short-and-distort trades highlights the urgent need for public companies to adopt proactive measures, including pursuing private rights of action, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • A Look At The Regulatory Scrutiny Facing Liquid Restaking

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    Recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions highlight the regulatory challenges facing emerging financial instruments like liquid restaking tokens and services, say Daniel Davis and Alexander Kim at Katten.

  • Del. Dispatch: Director Caremark Claims Need Extreme Facts

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed Caremark claims against the directors of Centene in Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania v. Brinkley, indicating a high bar for a finding of the required element of bad faith for Caremark liability, and stressing the need to resist hindsight bias, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 5 Insights Into FDIC's Final Rule On Big-Bank Resolution Plans

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    Although the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recently finalized rule expanding resolution planning requirements for large banks was generally adopted as proposed, it includes key changes related to filing deadlines, review and feedback, and incorporates lessons learned — particularly from last year's bank failures, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Jarkesy Ruling May Redefine Jury Role In Patent Fraud

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    Regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jarkesy ruling implicates the direction of inequitable conduct, which requires showing that the patentee made material statements or omissions to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the decision has created opportunities for defendants to argue more substantively for jury trials than ever before, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Don't Let Loper Lead To Bank Compliance Lull

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    Banking organizations are staring down a period of greater uncertainty over the next few years as the banking agencies and industry navigate the post-Chevron world, but banks must continue to have effective compliance programs in place even in the face of this unpredictability, say Lee Meyerson and Amanda Allexon at Simpson Thacher.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • How 3 Recent High Court Rulings Could Shape Fintech Policy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Jarkesy, Loper Bright and Corner Post provide fintech companies with new legal strategies to challenge regulatory actions, but agency reactions to these rulings and inconsistent judicial interpretations could bring compliance challenges and uncertainties, says Amy Whitsel at FS Vector.

  • 2nd Circ. Case Reinforces Need For Advance Notice Bylaws

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in Nano Dimension v. Murchinson illustrates that Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act is a square peg for a round hole, and that advance notice bylaws are far better at protecting against undisclosed coordination among activist shareholders, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Cos. Should Note In DOJ's New Whistleblower Pilot

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    After the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a new whistleblower pilot program last week — continuing its efforts to incentivize individual reporting of misconduct — companies should review the eligibility criteria, update their compliance programs and consider the risks and benefits of making their own self-disclosures, say attorneys at Skadden.

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