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Securities
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May 06, 2024
Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: McKool Smith's Courtney Statfeld
Courtney Statfeld's dad always tells her, "they never see you coming." The McKool Smith principal is one of few female litigators practicing in the male-dominated field of complex financial products, and she has made a conscious decision over the years to be herself — and to let her work speak for itself.
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May 06, 2024
Trump Media Hires Auditor To Replace Firm Accused Of Fraud
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has hired a new auditor, replacing its predecessor firm, which was permanently suspended by securities regulators Friday for alleged "massive fraud" regarding its work with hundreds of clients, according to a filing Monday.
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May 06, 2024
SEC Targets Robinhood's Crypto Unit For Possible Lawsuit
Robinhood Markets Inc. notified investors Monday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to sue its crypto arm for allegedly failing to register as a securities brokerage firm and clearing agency, saying the agency could go as far as demanding that the platform be shut down.
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May 06, 2024
British National Admits To Coworking Business Ponzi Scheme
A British citizen pled guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court to participating in a scheme to solicit investments using fraudulent misrepresentations about a coworking company where he was a principal.
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May 04, 2024
IRS Seeks More Info On Purpose Test In Buyback Tax Regs
The IRS is seeking more information on fine-tuning a test in proposed rules on the stock buyback tax meant to assess whether the principal purpose of a U.S. subsidiary's funding purchase of its foreign parent's stock is to avoid the tax, an agency attorney said Saturday.
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May 03, 2024
Hagens Berman To Spearhead Litigation Over Skin Tech Woes
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP was appointed lead counsel in securities litigation claiming Beauty Health Co. hid the news of a defective skin care device, beating competing bids from Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP and Pomerantz LLP, according to an order in Delaware federal court.
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May 03, 2024
Binance Founder's Sentence Shaped By Plea And Apology
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao's willingness to cooperate with law enforcement and accept responsibility in court for the crypto exchange's anti-money laundering violations helped the former CEO land a deal with prosecutors that got him a relatively short prison sentence to close out a yearslong investigation.
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May 03, 2024
9th Circ. Orders 2nd Look At Stay In PG&E Wildfire Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday told a lower court to reconsider its order staying claims PG&E investors brought against officers, directors and others over wildfire liability, saying more factors should have been considered before the stay was granted.
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May 03, 2024
'Bud And Breakfast' Cannabis Scammer Gets 2 Years In Prison
An Alaska man who pled guilty to conspiracy stemming from a scam bilking investors out of $722,000 to fund a failed "Bud and Breakfast" tourist lodge and on-site marijuana grow was sentenced to two years in prison in Alaska federal court on Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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May 03, 2024
Goldman Settles Decade-Old Metal-Rigging Class Action
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has settled a decade-old putative class action claiming the investment bank and others conspired to manipulate platinum and palladium market values, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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May 03, 2024
Nikola Ends Board Takeover Suit As Ex-CEO's Noms Withdraw
An Arizona federal judge on Thursday agreed to toss Nikola Corp.'s complaint against its former CEO and convicted felon Trevor Milton and several others accusing them of an illegal board takeover by pushing unqualified candidates, after the defendants withdrew their board nominees and the parties amicably resolved the dispute.
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May 03, 2024
Chancery OKs Extra Digging Into Trump Media Share Dispute
The sponsor of a special-purpose acquisition company that took Donald Trump's social media venture public earlier this year won Delaware Court of Chancery approval Friday to briefly dig deeper into disputed share-exchange terms for the deal, with more than $58 million on the line.
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May 03, 2024
Hess-Chevron Merger Hit With Class Disclosure Suit In Del.
A Hess stockholder sued the energy company in Delaware's Court of Chancery over alleged deal disclosure failures in the proposed $53 billion Chevron-Hess merger, adding to a list of complications that include claims by other energy giants to Hess interests.
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May 03, 2024
Sentencing Delayed For Ex-Fintech Exec In Crypto Case
Sentencing for the CEO of fintech company Hydrogen Technology Corp. was delayed Friday after a dispute over how to calculate the amount of money lost in the conspiracy to manipulate the market for Hydrogen's digital assets.
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May 03, 2024
3rd Circ. Clarifies Review Standard For Derivative Suits
In a precedential ruling Friday declining to revive Cognizant Technology investors' derivative claims over a bribery scandal, the full Third Circuit held that the best way to review such cases on appeal was from the beginning, not giving deference to the lower court's decision or considering whether there was an abuse of discretion.
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May 03, 2024
SoFi Unit To Pay FINRA $1.1M To Settle Customer ID Claims
SoFi Securities has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that it lacked a suitable user verification process for the firm's cash management brokerage business, allowing the opening of 800 accounts used by third parties to illegally transfer $8.6 million from other financial institution accounts.
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May 03, 2024
Chancery OKs Record-Breaking $100M Pattern Energy Deal
A $100 million settlement ending state and federal court litigation over Pattern Energy Group Inc.'s $6.1 billion go-private sale in 2020 got the nod from Delaware's Court of Chancery on Friday, along with a requested $26 million fee award and two $25,000 incentive awards for the lead shareholder plaintiffs.
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May 03, 2024
Tech Security Firm Founder Sues Buyer For Legal Fees In Del.
The founder of security and information technology service venture Counter Threat Solutions sued the company that acquired it for legal fee advancement in Delaware's Court of Chancery, after accusing the buyer in a Delaware Superior Court suit of fabricating post-closing indemnity claims and refusing to honor payment terms.
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May 03, 2024
Brothers Accuse Cos. Of Mishandling $1.1M EB-5 Investments
Two brothers from India sued companies behind a combination residential-resort project they invested in under the EB-5 investor visa program, telling a Florida federal court that their green card petitions were denied because the companies mishandled their $1.1 million investment.
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May 03, 2024
No Retrial Coming After $20M Cannabis Investor Verdict
A Los Angeles judge has denied a bid by CADM Inc. for a retrial following a $20 million verdict against it and its affiliates on claims that they defrauded investors with a real estate scheme, finding that the motion was not served to the proper attorneys on time, and even if it had been, the judgment would stand.
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May 03, 2024
Kwok's Ex-Chief Of Staff Pleads Out Before $1B Fraud Trial
The former chief of staff to exiled Chinese billionaire Ho Wan Kwok pled guilty in Manhattan federal court on Friday to participating in a $1 billion investor fraud, less than three weeks before she was scheduled to go to trial alongside her erstwhile boss.
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May 03, 2024
SEC Fines Trump Media's Audit Firm For 'Massive Fraud'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday that it has fined and permanently suspended the public accounting firm of former President Donald Trump's social media company for allegedly running a "sham auditing mill" by failing to meet industry standards in reviewing the financial statements of hundreds of clients.
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May 02, 2024
Whistleblower Claims Would 'Destroy' Autonomy, GC Was Told
Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in the criminal fraud trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that the company's chief operating officer didn't want a whistleblower's claims to get into court, telling him that while the "law" was on their side, "the facts look bad" and would "destroy Autonomy."
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May 02, 2024
SEC Lands $25M Judgment In TikToker-Wannabe Ponzi Suit
A South Carolina man and his companies must pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $24.9 million to settle claims that he misappropriated investors' money to make Ponzi payments to earlier investors and to pay for luxury cars and over $1 million to TikTok creators, according to judgments issued in Georgia federal court.
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May 02, 2024
Ex-JPM Trader Slams DOJ's 'Rank Opportunism' In Doc Suit
A former JPMorgan Chase & Co. foreign exchange trader is pressing a D.C. federal court to order the release of investigative material from the government's failed market manipulation criminal case against him, saying the U.S. Department of Justice's arguments against disclosure amount to "rank opportunism."
Expert Analysis
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Bribery Settlement Gives Insight On DOJ Policies
Chemical company Albemarle’s recent $218 million settlement with the government to resolve foreign bribery claims provides valuable data points for companies on the U.S. Department of Justice’s voluntary self-disclosure policy and its clawback pilot program, say Michael DeBernardis and Tiauna Mathieu at Hughes Hubbard.
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SEC Case May Expand Scope Of Insider Trading Liability
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first-of-its-kind enforcement action against an individual in a case involving "shadow trading" demarcates an expansion of insider trading liability to circumstances in which there is a market connection between the source of information and the issuer of the securities traded, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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Securities Question Stands After Contradicting Crypto Rulings
The debate about the regulation of crypto-assets came to a head in 2023 when two New York federal judges came to opposite conclusions about whether crypto-assets were securities by using the Howey test, highlighting the uncertainty facing the crypto industry as it seeks to resolve definitional questions, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like
As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News
Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
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Compliance Risk After SEC Warning Against 'AI Washing'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has begun looking into the way public companies disclose how they use artificial intelligence to investors and it is likely to become an enforcement priority, meaning companies and their compliance programs should take steps now to avoid regulatory sanctions and shareholder lawsuits, say attorneys at Bracewell.
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Cybersecurity Issues For Financial Industry To Track In 2024
In 2024 financial institutions will confront new federal, state and industry regulations around cybersecurity that require additional procedures, enhanced proactive security measures, and timely disclosure of security incidents, say Alex Koskey and Matt White at Baker Donelson.
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4 Ways The DOJ Is Changing Its Approach To Insider Trading
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent increased focus on insider trading cases and the manner in which the DOJ is pursuing prosecutions reflect a break from historical practices and signal that the DOJ is branching into new areas to pursue perceived illicit trading activities, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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5 Recent Developments Family Offices Are Watching In 2024
Although family offices have long been exempt from many of the more onerous regulations and reporting requirements governing U.S. investment advisers and asset managers, recent amendments to federal rules will have an impact on how family offices invest and operate in 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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How State AGs Process And Prioritize Consumer Complaints
Recent state attorneys general actions illustrate how their offices triage, monitor and respond to consumer complaints — and why businesses need to be proactive in addressing these issues as they arise, say Meghan Stoppel and Hannah Cornett Land at Cozen O'Connor.
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Charting The Course For Digital Assets In 2024
Although 2023 was a tough year for the digital asset industry, upcoming court decisions, legislation and regulatory action will bring clarity, allowing the industry to expand and evolve, and the government will decide what innovation it will allow without challenge, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.
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10 Issues To Watch As ESG Remains Alive And Well In 2024
Practitioners and stakeholders should watch a number of key environmental, social and corporate governance issues in the new year, including court rulings and comprehensive research, as the data shows ESG is here to stay, says Heidi Friedman at Thompson Hine.
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Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends
Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
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The Most-Read Securities Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023
Securities guest article topics that piqued reader interest this year include how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission utilized seldom-used rules to go after bad actors, and how Delaware courts increased scrutiny on boards of directors — sometimes in surprising ways.
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023
A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.