Securities

  • 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.

  • March 14, 2024

    17 Added To SEC's $300M Suit Alleging Crypto Ponzi Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday expanded its takedown of an alleged $300 million crypto Ponzi scheme with a suit against 17 individuals for their roles in a business that allegedly targeted Latino investors.

  • March 14, 2024

    Texas Judge Boots PCAOB Constitutional Challenge To DC

    A Texas federal judge has stopped short of dismissing a lawsuit accusing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of operating unconstitutionally, instead sending the case to Washington, D.C., for further proceedings because the case has little to do with the Lone Star State.

  • March 14, 2024

    Lehman Brothers Can't Undo Trial Loss Over Crisis-Era CDS

    A New York appeals court on Thursday affirmed a bench trial loss Lehman Brothers' bankrupt European unit suffered last year in a suit attempting to claw back nearly half a billion dollars from Assured Guaranty over losses on credit default swaps tied to the 2008 financial crisis.

  • March 14, 2024

    CFTC Awards $1.3M To Whistleblower With Compliance Duties

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Thursday that it has awarded roughly $1.25 million to a whistleblower who the agency said is the first to use a safe harbor provision for whistleblowers who serve in a firm's internal compliance or audit function.

  • March 14, 2024

    Icahn Enterprises Rips Investors' 'Grab Bag' Of A Suit

    Diversified holding company Icahn Enterprises LP and some of its current and former brass have asked a Miami federal judge to toss a proposed investor class action alleging they misrepresented certain details of the company's performance and asset values, arguing that the suit is a lengthy "grab bag of different theories."

  • March 14, 2024

    Barclays Hit With Short-Seller's Suit Over $17B Overissuance

    Barclays PLC and a few members of its top brass have been hit with a proposed securities class action in New York federal court over the bank's $17 billion overissuance of securities, which included exchange-traded notes designed to track volatility index futures.

  • March 14, 2024

    Pharma Co. Misled Investors On Research Methods, Suit Says

    Pharmaceutical company Anavex has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it misled the public about research methodologies it was using in its clinical studies for neurological treatments.

  • March 14, 2024

    FTC Says Consolidation Endangering Infant-Formula Market

    The Federal Trade Commission has found the country's small number of baby formula manufacturers and the effects of a federal nutrition program contributed to shortages in 2022 and are still making the supply chain vulnerable to disruption.

  • March 14, 2024

    Tupperware Pans Investor Suit Over 'Small' Accounting Errors

    Tupperware wants to dismiss a proposed class action accusing it of damaging investors by knowingly issuing misleading financial reports, arguing the suit fails to show it acted with ill intent when releasing the allegedly inaccurate information to the public, and that its restatements did not actually hurt shareholders.

  • March 14, 2024

    Koch Can't Bring $30M Claim Against Canada Under NAFTA

    Canada prevailed in a $30 million arbitration brought by Koch Industries over the province of Ontario's decision to cancel a cap-and-trade program in 2018, securing dismissal of the claim on jurisdictional grounds.

  • March 14, 2024

    Ex-Real Estate Exec Accused Of $77M WeWork Stock Fraud

    Manhattan federal prosecutors announced Thursday that the former CEO of real estate investment firm ArciTerra was indicted, alleging he issued a bogus $77 million offer for WeWork shares in an ultimately failed attempt to cash in on call options after juicing the stock price.

  • March 14, 2024

    SEC Asks 5th Circ. To Hold Off On Climate Reg Ruling

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it was too early for the Fifth Circuit to delay the implementation of freshly adopted emissions reporting requirements given that those requirements don't go into effect for another two years, offering the first glimpse of possible defenses it could use as it attempts to fend off lawsuits challenging the rules.

  • March 14, 2024

    Ex-AutoZone CEO Sued Over $1M In 'Short-Swing' Profits

    Car parts retailer AutoZone Inc. and its former CEO face an investor suit seeking to recover "short-swing" trading profits on behalf of the company that the onetime executive should allegedly be required to hand over.

Expert Analysis

  • Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Liability Theories

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    The greater frequency and scale of wildfires in the last several years have created operational and fiscal challenges for electric utility companies, including new theories of liability and unique operational and risk management considerations — all of which must be carefully considered by utility investors, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.

  • Under The Hood Of The SEC Securitization Conflict Rule

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    Elanit Snow and Julia Vitter of Proskauer consider the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently finalized rule that prohibits conflicts of interest in certain securitization transactions, uncovering what the new regulation does and doesn’t entail, why it was adopted, and how commenters' remarks affected the process.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer

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    A case pending in the Southern District of New York will examine whether decentralized crypto co-op MakerDAO is a partnership with the capacity to be sued in federal court, and the decision could shape how legal frameworks will adapt to accommodate blockchain technologies moving forward, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Tips For Counsel Seeking Balance In The ESG Political Divide

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    Corporate counsel tasked with navigating environmental, social and governance factors in the current polarized political environment should not lose sight of best practices, including sticking to what the law requires and always telling the truth, say Jennifer Rubin at Mintz and Mike Rider at ResMed.

  • Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia

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    After the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia – the largest to date since the Ukraine war began – companies will need to continue to strengthen due diligence and compliance measures to navigate the related complexities, say James Min and Chelsea Ellis at Rimon.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

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    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet

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    After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • How Advance Notice Bylaws Are Faring In Del. Courts

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    Recent decisions make it clear that the Delaware Chancery Court is carefully reviewing public companies' amended advance notice bylaws in order to balance the competing interests of boards and shareholders, and will likely strike down bylaws that improperly interfere with stockholder franchises, say attorneys at Olshan Frome.

  • Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle

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    Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks

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    Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • Strategies For Single-Member Special Litigation Committees

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent order in the Baker Hughes derivative litigation allowing testimony from a single-member special litigation committee highlights the fact that, while single-member SLCs are subject to heightened scrutiny, they can also provide unique opportunities, says Josh Bloom at MoloLamken.

  • Lessons For D&O Policyholders From Pharma Co. Ruling

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    A California federal court's recent decision in AmTrust v. 180 Life Sciences, requiring insurers to advance defense costs for a potentially covered claim, provides a valuable road map for directors and officers insurance policyholders, rebutting the common presumption that a D&O insurer's duty to advance costs is more limited than under other policies, say attorneys at Pasich.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

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