Securities

  • March 12, 2024

    Pilates Giant Xponential Hid Studio Closures, Investor Says

    Executives and directors of fitness brand franchiser Xponential were hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging the company was damaged when media reports uncovered that Xponential had concealed from investors that dozens of its fitness studios had permanently closed and most of its brands were operating at a monthly net loss.

  • March 12, 2024

    GigNet Sued In Del. For Books On Related Party Deals

    Citing company losses and alleged interested transactions involving insiders, a GigNet Inc. stockholder has sued the multinational, high-speed broadband network provider in Delaware's Court of Chancery for access to corporate records needed to probe the allegations.

  • March 12, 2024

    OCC's Hsu Says 'Operational Resilience' Regs May Be Coming

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's acting chief, Michael Hsu, said Tuesday that federal regulators are looking at pursuing new rules to bolster larger banks' ability to withstand and recover from external and internal disruptions to their critical operations.

  • March 12, 2024

    Ex-Biopharma CEO Sues For Post-Sale Share Appraisal In Del.

    The co-founder of Caraway Therapeutics Inc. sued in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday for an appraisal of his shares following the company's November merger with a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Merck, alleging that it "was an unfair cash-out transaction" and that he is owed at least a million more shares.

  • March 12, 2024

    Sorrento Ch. 11 Will Stay In Texas

    A Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday denied requests to transfer the Chapter 11 case of drug developer Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. out of the Lone Star State for having insufficient ties to the venue.

  • March 12, 2024

    Crypto Mixer Operator Found Guilty Of Money Laundering

    A Washington, D.C., jury on Tuesday found the operator of crypto mixing service Bitcoin Fog guilty of facilitating tens of millions of dollars in transactions linked to illicit activities on darknet marketplaces. 

  • March 12, 2024

    Murdochs Seek Toss of Epic Election Defamation Suit

    Fox Corp. media mogul Rupert Murdoch and other Fox empire figures have urged Delaware's Court of Chancery to toss as unwinnable a stockholder suit seeking to make them liable for billions in potential damages for defamatory statements alleging 2020 election conspiracies on network and affiliate broadcasts.

  • March 12, 2024

    SEC Says Ex-Tallgrass Director Tipped Pals To $3.5B Takeover

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday fined a former director of Tallgrass Energy LP accused of committing insider trading by tipping off friends about the then-upcoming $3.5 billion sale of the corporation to private equity giant Blackstone.

  • March 12, 2024

    UnitedHealth Can't Get Early Win In Workers' ERISA Suit

    A Minnesota federal court denied most of UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s bid for a pretrial win in a lawsuit alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, finding Tuesday that allegations the company refused to ax underperforming funds to preserve a business relationship with Wells Fargo should go to trial.

  • March 12, 2024

    Paul Weiss' Digital Tech Chair On AI's Promises And Perils

    While generative artificial intelligence promises to increase access to justice and kill the billable hour, we don't know how to prevent it from unleashing misinformation and disinformation on the electorate, says Katherine Forrest, a former Manhattan federal judge who is now chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's digital technology group.

  • March 12, 2024

    Insider Trader Cites 'Carelessness' Of BigLaw Ex-Girlfriend

    A former FBI trainee who kickstarted an insider trading scheme by looking at the confidential files of his then-girlfriend, a Covington & Burling LLP associate, has told a sentencing judge he isn't trying to downplay the seriousness of his actions by pointing to her "carelessness."

  • March 11, 2024

    Acadia Investors Get Class Cert. In Suit Over Parkinson's Drug

    A California federal judge on Monday certified a class of Acadia Pharmaceuticals investors in a lawsuit accusing the company of making false and misleading statements regarding the likelihood that its Parkinson's psychosis drug would also be approved for the broader use of dementia-related psychosis.

  • March 11, 2024

    Forex Firm Wants CFTC Sanctioned For 'Bad Faith' Behavior

    A foreign exchange firm accused by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission of defrauding customers is calling on a New Jersey federal judge to sanction the agency for a "pattern of misconduct" that includes knowingly submitting false statements to the court and attempting to intrude on attorney-client privilege.

  • March 11, 2024

    Fired Lithium Co. Co-Founder Sues To Recoup 3.25M Shares

    The former co-CEO and co-founder of a lithium fracking company sued the company in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking a court order that the company return 3.25 million shares of stock it allegedly repurchased from him after firing him in "bad faith."

  • March 11, 2024

    4 Things To Know About SEC Climate Reporting Compliance

    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission scaled back its long-awaited climate disclosure rules last week, the requirements still pose plenty of compliance challenges, not least of which is figuring out how the new rules will mesh with similar — but not identical — regimes out of California and the European Union.

  • March 11, 2024

    Illumina Brass Faces Shareholder Suit Over Grail Deal Debacle

    Current and former directors and executives of Illumina, including former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in California federal court over their role in the biotech company's failed $8 billion deal to reacquire its cancer-detection company Grail Inc.

  • March 11, 2024

    Coinbase Asks 3rd Circ. To Force SEC To Set Rules For Crypto

    Crypto exchange Coinbase asked the Third Circuit on Monday to force the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to set rules of the road for digital assets in an opening brief that argued the agency failed to provide "a reasoned explanation" for why it denied an earlier request for crypto rulemaking.

  • March 11, 2024

    FDIC's Crypto Caution Has 'Significant Downsides,' Hill Says

    Travis Hill, vice chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said Monday that the agency's cautious attitude toward cryptocurrency needs more nuance and risks sending the wrong message to banks that they shouldn't even "bother trying" to get involved with anything crypto-related.

  • March 11, 2024

    Feds Seek Over 5 Years For Ex-CEO Who Lied To Investors

    Prosecutors urged a California federal judge Friday to sentence the former CEO of Silicon Valley software startup HeadSpin, who pled guilty to falsifying documents to draw in investors, to more than five years in prison, after his counsel argued that no investor lost money and that he shouldn't get prison time.

  • March 11, 2024

    Pfizer Slams Ex-Compliance Officer's Whistleblower Claims

    Pfizer has asked a California federal court to again dismiss the bulk of a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by a former compliance officer for the pharmaceutical giant, arguing his latest suit is "largely a regurgitation of his original complaint."

  • March 11, 2024

    Prudential Investors' $35M Settlement Gets Initial OK

    Prudential Financial Inc. shareholders have gotten an initial nod from a New Jersey federal judge for their $35 million deal to settle claims that the insurer hurt investors by allegedly misrepresenting certain trends affecting its life insurance reserves.

  • March 11, 2024

    Hertz Tells Chancery To Reject $4B Buyback 'Hindsight' Suit

    Hertz directors weren't certain when they authorized $4 billion in stock buybacks that it would transfer control of the company to a private equity-backed shareholder, an attorney for Hertz told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday, urging the court to toss a shareholder's lawsuit over the buybacks.

  • March 11, 2024

    CBD Co. Says Investors' Fraudulent Intent Claims Fall Short

    Canopy Growth Corp. is urging a New York federal court to throw out claims that it misled investors about the prospects of a sports nutrition subsidiary, saying the proposed class action fails to establish a motive for the alleged fraud or that the cannabis company was aware that any statements it made were false.

  • March 11, 2024

    IRobot Misled Investors On Failed Amazon Merger, Suit Claims

    Roomba vacuum maker iRobot Corp. has been hit with a proposed class action from an investor alleging it misled shareholders about its now-canceled merger with Amazon, saying iRobot had downplayed the significant risk that the merger would not secure regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe.

  • March 11, 2024

    Ga. Panel Finds $43M Trust Not On Hook For Legal Fees

    The Georgia Court of Appeals rejected a request from beneficiaries of a $43 million furniture fortune, finding on Monday that the trust's ex-trustees should not be saddled with attorney fees and litigation costs while the trust's beneficiaries sued them for allegedly mishandling the trust and overpaying themselves.

Expert Analysis

  • SEC Regs Give Banks Chance To Step Up Cyber Safety Game

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    Just as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act forced financial institutions to undertake best practices in recordkeeping, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently effective cybersecurity regulations stand to similarly drive those same enterprises to seek out and implement best practices in cybersecurity, to everyone's benefit, says James Gerber at SimSpace.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Predicting DeFi Regulations At Home And Abroad In 2024

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    Though decentralized finance has advocates on both sides of the Atlantic in figures like U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, DeFi in 2024 seems likely to be folded into existing regulatory frameworks in the U.K. and EU, while anti-crypto scrutiny may discourage DeFi’s growth in the U.S., say Daniel Csefalvay and Eric Martin at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion

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    ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.

  • Mitigating The Risk Of Post-Closing M&A Earnout Disputes

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    Today's uncertain deal environment makes a well-crafted earnout an excellent way for parties to accomplish a desired transaction that would not otherwise occur, but transacting parties also need to take key steps to avoid the risk of post-closing disputes that earnouts can present, say Chad Barton and Claire Lydiard at Holland & Knight.

  • Understanding SEC's Focus Amid Lack Of Final AI Rules

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    Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules to govern artificial intelligence are likely far from being finalized, understanding existing regulatory provisions that could address AI risks with respect to development, disclosure, compliance and data protection could help firms anticipate and avoid pitfalls, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Preparing For DOJ's Data Analytics Push In FCPA Cases

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    After the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent announcement that it will leverage data analytics in Foreign Corrupt Practice Act investigations and prosecutions, companies will need to develop a compliance strategy that likewise implements data analytics to get ahead of enforcement risks, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 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.

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