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Securities
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March 29, 2024
Retirement Advisers Back Biden Admin's ESG Rule In 5th Circ.
Supporters of a Biden administration rule allowing retirement advisers to consider environmental, social and governance issues when making decisions for clients rose to defend the policy in the Fifth Circuit, arguing the move aligns with fiduciary duties to minimize risks and maximize returns for clients.
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March 29, 2024
Cannabis Co. Consultant Barred From Penny Stock Trading
A Florida federal judge has barred a self-designated consultant for a cannabis company from penny stock trading for life, finding that he knowingly put out statements claiming the company had deals to do business in countries where it was not legally allowed to sell cannabis products.
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March 29, 2024
Biotech Co. Inflated Gene Therapy Prospects, Investors Claim
Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Bluebird Bio Inc. misled investors by understating the safety concerns of a gene therapy for sickle cell, causing damages when stock prices dropped, according to a proposed class action suit filed Thursday in Massachusetts district court.
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March 28, 2024
Disney Shareholder Demands To See Books Amid Board Row
An affiliate of Walt Disney Co. shareholder Blackwells Capital on Thursday asked Delaware's Court of the Chancery to force Disney to open its books and records as the investor looks into potential wrongdoing and mismanagement stemming from the entertainment giant's dealings with ValueAct Capital.
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March 28, 2024
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Get Archegos Suits Tossed
A New York federal judge on Thursday dismissed a group of lawsuits by investors accusing Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs of illegally avoiding billions of dollars in trading losses by acting on nonpublic information about now-defunct Archegos Capital Management.
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March 28, 2024
Judge Doubts NBA NFT Licensors Belong In Meta Privacy Suit
The developer of non-fungible token marketplace NBA Top Shot must face a proposed class action claiming it violated state and federal laws aimed at protecting video consumers, with the National Basketball Players Association and NBA Properties Inc., which handles the NBA's merchandising and licensing, escaping the suit for now.
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March 28, 2024
8th Circ. Won't Revive Fannie, Freddie Investors' FHFA Suit
The Eighth Circuit on Thursday refused to revive Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors' suit alleging the Federal Housing Finance Agency's leadership and financial deals violated the U.S. Constitution, saying the investors failed to show how they were harmed by the now-upended restrictions on removing the agency's director.
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March 28, 2024
Wells Fargo Sued Over Role In Texas Atty's Carbon Tech Scam
Wells Fargo and an advisory group including an attorney and accountant from California facilitated a yearslong Ponzi scheme that deceived investors to put money into a fraudulent gas industry carbon capture technology venture, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.
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March 28, 2024
FTX Investors To Settle With Ex-Execs, Crypto Promoters
Investors who launched a multidistrict litigation over cryptocurrency exchange FTX's collapse have reached a set of settlements with the former inner circle of founder Sam Bankman-Fried as well as seven promoters who, together, have agreed to pay over $1.3 million to resolve claims that they boosted a massive fraud scheme at the company.
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March 28, 2024
Investors' Compliance Class Action Falls Short, Discover Says
Allegedly misleading statements on compliance and risk management protocols from Discover Financial Services' top brass were "aspirational" remarks about general practices, the company argued Thursday in seeking to end a proposed securities class action in Illinois federal court.
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March 28, 2024
Accused 'Shadow Trader' Can't Recall Why He Bought Stock
A California federal jury considering regulators' claims that an ex-Medivation executive engaged in "shadow trading" of a rival's stock heard video-recorded testimony Thursday from the executive, who said he couldn't recall why he purchased the securities just minutes after learning Pfizer was close to acquiring his own company.
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March 28, 2024
Feds Say Ex-OneCoin Atty Should Serve 'Substantial' Time
Manhattan federal prosecutors have requested a "substantial" amount of prison time for a Bulgarian woman who worked on the legal team at the fraudulent OneCoin cryptocurrency exchange, but said the sentence should fall below the guidelines range of 10 years.
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March 28, 2024
SEC Settles Suit For Docs Over Potential Crypto Conflicts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and government watchdog Empower Oversight have agreed to end a suit that sought to force the regulator to hand over documents the watchdog claimed may provide insight into potential conflicts of interest affecting the SEC's digital asset dealings.
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March 28, 2024
PwC Fined $3M Over Auditor Controls, Australia Probe
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board leveled a pair of fines totaling more than $3 million against PwC on Thursday, accusing the Big Four accounting firm of failing to maintain policies to ensure auditor independence and of waiting years to inform the U.S. regulator that it was being investigated in Australia.
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March 28, 2024
Calif. Looks To Sink Chamber's Climate Disclosure Challenge
The state of California says a challenge by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups to its recently enacted corporate climate disclosure laws should be tossed, arguing the groups cannot sue since enforcement of the law has not begun and the groups cannot plead an injury.
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March 28, 2024
Chancery Tosses Mixmax Derivative Suit
A stockholder who filed a derivative suit against two Mixmax Inc. directors without first notifying the company's board has failed to prove that a majority of the board was too compromised to respond to the shareholder's concerns, so the lawsuit must be dismissed, a Delaware Chancery Court judge ruled.
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March 28, 2024
Faruqi & Faruqi Beats 5 Firms To Lead NewAge Investor Suit
A Colorado district judge has selected two clients of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP to lead an investor class action accusing the executives and directors of wellness company NewAge Inc. of securities fraud, saying the plaintiff with an even bigger financial interest is unfit for appointment because he hid his "troubling" background.
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March 28, 2024
Conservative Org Takes Second Shot At PCAOB In Texas
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been hit with a second lawsuit accusing it of operating unconstitutionally by an anonymous firm staring down a regulatory investigation, with the suit filed in Texas by the same conservative legal group that had its earlier case against the board transferred out of the state.
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March 28, 2024
Film Producer, 2 Cos. To Pay SEC $3.5M In ICO Scheme
A Georgia federal judge on Thursday signed off on a $3.5 million penalty levied by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against two failed cryptocurrency ventures and the Atlanta film producer who promoted them through a pump-and-dump scheme.
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March 28, 2024
Steptoe Taps McDermott's Fintech Head To Be NY Partner
A longtime partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP who led the firm's fintech and blockchain transactions practice has joined Steptoe LLP in New York, where she will focus her practice on blockchain, crypto, derivatives and fintech.
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March 28, 2024
11th Circ. Affirms SEC Denial Of Whistleblower Award
An Eleventh Circuit panel has affirmed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's denial of a whistleblower award to John Meisel, who argued he was entitled to one after providing the commission with information used to obtain $18 million in judgments against the perpetrators of a Ponzi scheme.
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March 28, 2024
Investors Strike $42.5M Deal In Brookfield-GGP Merger Suit
Brookfield Property Partners LP has reached a tentative $42.5 million deal to bring an end to a yearslong battle with stockholders who alleged they were given misleading information about the global real estate company's 2018 acquisition of U.S. mall operator GGP Inc.
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March 28, 2024
Whataburger Accused Of Keeping Shoddy Funds In 401(k)
Whataburger breached federal benefits law by stocking its employees' $215 million retirement plan with poorly performing funds and failing to replace them with better options, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.
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March 28, 2024
Commodities Trader Trafigura To Pay $126M For Brazil Bribes
Switzerland-based Trafigura Beheer BV on Thursday agreed to pay $126 million and admitted to bribing Brazilian government officials in order to obtain business with state oil company Petrobras, becoming the latest global commodities trader to settle with U.S. prosecutors over Latin American corruption.
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March 28, 2024
Grading Garland: Attys Give AG Mixed Reviews 3 Years In
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland's name won't be on the ticket in November, but his performance three years into his tenure is a subplot in the 2024 presidential election.
Expert Analysis
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The SEC's Cooled Down But Still Spicy Private Fund Rules
Timothy Spangler and Lindsay Trapp at Dechert consider recently finalized U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, which significantly alter the scope of obligations private fund advisers must meet under the Investment Advisers Act, noting the absence of several contentious proposals and litigation that could result in implementation delays.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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High Court's Chevron Review May Be A Crypto Game-Changer
The outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the Chevron doctrine in its pending Loper v. Raimondo case will potentially usher in a paradigm shift in cryptocurrency regulation, challenging agency authority and raising hopes for a recalibrated approach that favors judicial interpretation, says Sylvia Favretto at Mysten Labs.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Opinion
Activist Short-Sellers Are The Dark Knights Of Wall Street
While so-called activist short-sellers have been subject to increased scrutiny in recent years, these investors work in the shadows like Batman to expose fraud on Wall Street, often generating leads that may move regulators to take action, say attorneys at Labaton Sucharow.
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9th Circ. Ruling May Expand Short-Swing Profit Exemption
The Ninth Circuit’s recent dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit in Roth v. Foris Ventures LLC provides boards of directors with greater latitude to approve certain securities transactions under the the Securities Exchange Act’s Section 16(b) short-swing profits rule, say John Stigi and John Mysliwiec at Sheppard Mullin.
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New Regs Will Strengthen Voluntary Carbon Offset Market
Voluntary carbon offsets are a vital tool for organizations seeking to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions — and recent efforts by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state of California and others are essential to enhancing the reliability and authenticity of carbon credits, says David Smith at Manatt.
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How FinCEN's Proposed Rule Stirs The Pot On Crypto Mixing
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s recently issued proposal aims to impose additional reporting requirements to mitigate the risks posed by convertible virtual currency mixing transactions, meaning financial institutions may need new monitoring techniques to detect CVC mixing beyond just exposure, say Jared Johnson and Jordan Yeagley at Buchanan Ingersoll.
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Series
Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.
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What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance
Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories
The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.
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Crypto, Audit Cases Dominate SEC's Enforcement Focus In '23
Attorneys at Covington examine the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2023 enforcement results, which marked the SEC's third consecutive year of increasing enforcement activity since Chair Gary Gensler took over in 2021 — this time driven by a focus on combating cryptocurrency-related scams and enforcing recordkeeping compliance.
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New York Cybersecurity Amendments Raise Regulatory Bar
Financial service providers both in and outside New York should study recent changes to the state financial regulator's cybersecurity requirements, which add governance controls, technical safeguards and incident response protocols to improve what is already becoming the national benchmark for robust cybersecurity compliance programs, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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Chancery's 'Unfair Deal, Fair Price' Ruling Part Of A Trend
The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in In re: Straight Path Communications is the latest in a line of recent post-trial rulings by the court that seem to prioritize a fair price in determining damage awards — even when a transaction has been clouded by an unfair process, say attorneys at V&E.