Securities

  • May 30, 2023

    Chinese Exile Denies Flight Risk In $1B Fraud Case

    Counsel for exiled Chinese businessperson Ho Wan Kwok told the Second Circuit Tuesday that fear of persecution by the Chinese government is sufficient to keep him in the United States while he awaits trial on charges he defrauded investors of $1 billion.

  • May 30, 2023

    Gartner To Pay SEC $2.5M Over Alleged FCPA Violations

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settled with technology and consulting company Gartner Inc. for approximately $2.5 million to resolve charges that the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act through a scheme to retain business from a South African government entity.

  • May 30, 2023

    Chancery Objections, Defections Roil $120M AMC Stock Deal

    Plaintiff defections and deal objections are roiling a proposed $120 million settlement of an AMC Entertainment stockholder challenge to a proposed reverse stock split, with the case emerging from Memorial Day weekend as anything but settled.

  • May 30, 2023

    Fannie, Freddie Investors Ask 8th Circ. To Revive FHFA Suit

    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors have asked the Eighth Circuit to reverse a lower court's dismissal of their suit alleging the Federal Housing Finance Agency's leadership and financial deals violated the U.S. Constitution, arguing they have properly pleaded their claims and alleged harm.

  • May 30, 2023

    Baker Donelson Brings On Ex-Akerman White Collar Pro

    A former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor and Akerman LLP partner has joined Baker Donelson to work virtually in its Houston and Washington, D.C., offices, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • May 30, 2023

    Bankman-Fried Charges Backed By Ample Evidence, Feds Say

    Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal judge Monday that there's no basis for tossing the indictment against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, saying cooperating witnesses and other evidence at trial will trace how the crypto mogul's theft of customer funds drilled a "multi-billion-dollar hole in FTX's balance sheet."

  • May 30, 2023

    Justices Pass On Ex-Shkreli Attorney's Restitution Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up the appeal of a former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP attorney and co-conspirator of "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli challenging a restitution order.

  • May 30, 2023

    NextEra Hit With Stock Suit Over Unit's Alleged Misconduct

    Florida-based energy company NextEra faces a proposed class action seeking to hold it liable for the drop in share prices after political interference allegations emerged against its subsidiary Florida Power and Light Co.

  • May 30, 2023

    Stratasys Board Rejects Nano Dimension's Hostile Bid

    Stratasys Ltd. said Tuesday that its board is unanimously recommending that shareholders reject an unsolicited tender offer from Nano Dimension Ltd., as the 3D printer questioned the "legality" of Nano's efforts and instead highlighted the merits of Stratasys' planned $1.8 billion merger with Desktop Metal.

  • May 30, 2023

    Supreme Court Skips Whistleblowing Atty's SEC Award Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday passed on reviewing whether an attorney who blew the whistle on a foreign bribery scheme should have been rewarded for the tip despite having pled guilty to bribery charges himself.

  • May 26, 2023

    Investors Can't Force Policy Proposals On Cos., 5th Circ. Told

    The National Association of Manufacturers is pushing to stop shareholders from forcing corporations to speak out about issues like abortion and climate change, arguing in a Fifth Circuit dust-up between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and conservative stockholders of The Kroger Co. that shareholders shouldn't be allowed to write policy proposals to be included in companies proxy materials.

  • May 26, 2023

    Ex-Trader Pleads Guilty To SPAC Insider Trading Scheme

    A former trader at a Canadian asset management firm has pled guilty to insider trading in connection with claims he passed secrets about merger talks involving special purpose acquisition companies to a broker friend who allegedly made $3.4 million off the information, federal prosecutors in New Jersey announced Friday.

  • May 26, 2023

    Jane Doe Urges Class Cert. In Epstein Suit Against JPMorgan

    A woman who claims JPMorgan Chase & Co. facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking operation asked a New York federal judge on Friday to certify a class of young women and girls in the case against the bank, saying their claims all line up.

  • May 26, 2023

    'Ricky Bobby' Cops To Role In $100M Discord Securities Fraud

    A social media figure known online as "Ricky Bobby" has pled guilty to participating in a $114 million pump-and-dump scheme alongside a group of individuals accused of deceiving followers of their popular Discord channel into buying stock at artificially high prices.

  • May 26, 2023

    DLA Piper Beats Chinese Co.'s 'Untimely' Malpractice Suit

    A Chinese tech company that accused DLA Piper of dropping it like a "hot potato" in the midst of an investor suit brought its claims too late, a New York federal judge ruled Friday, throwing out the legal malpractice case against the BigLaw firm and one of its partners.

  • May 26, 2023

    Feds Seek 6-Month Stay Of Fat Brands Looting Suit In Del.

    Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor Nathan A. Cook is slated to hold a hearing Wednesday to consider a U.S. government bid to intervene in a derivative suit by shareholders involving Fat Brands Inc., which he restarted after learning that the company's chairman purged the board of all its members.

  • May 26, 2023

    CBS Class Attys Seek 27.5% Fee In $167.5M Del. Settlement

    Attorneys for former CBS Corp. stockholders are seeking more than $45 million in fees for their work on a $167.5 million settlement to end class litigation over alleged damages arising from the company's $30 billion merger in 2019 with Viacom Inc., the attorneys told the Delaware Chancery Court in a stipulation filed Friday.

  • May 26, 2023

    Restaurant Software Co. Brass Face Suit Over Sunken Deal

    A stockholder of restaurant software company Olo Inc. has sued several of the company's current and former board members and executives in Delaware Chancery Court alleging they breached their fiduciary duties by failing to disclose that a partnership with Subway would be ending, which allegedly led to a stock price decline.

  • May 26, 2023

    Exelon, ComEd Ink $173M Deal To End Fraud Suit Over Bribery

    Exelon, subsidiary Commonwealth Edison and several former executives will pay $173 million to end securities fraud litigation claiming they unlawfully misled investors about federal bribery accusations against ComEd, according to settlement documents filed Friday in Illinois federal court.

  • May 26, 2023

    Investor Activist Campaigns Heat Up Just In Time For Summer

    Shareholder activism campaigns seem to come in bunches, and there's been more than a bunch this month, with companies including Yelp, Goodyear, Illumina and Freshpet among those under attack. Here, Law360 breaks down some of May's key activist investor drives, most of which have been filled with tension and are still ongoing.

  • May 26, 2023

    Raytheon Beats Shareholder Suit Over Accounting Controls

    An Arizona federal judge tossed a proposed class action accusing Raytheon of misleading shareholders about its accounting and financing controls, saying the shareholders failed to connect a federal criminal subpoena into the defense company to any of its alleged misconduct.

  • May 26, 2023

    Oath Pizza CEO Accused By Investor Of Self-Dealing

    Oath Pizza's CEO engaged in self-dealing to acquire the assets of the Massachusetts-based chain and leave behind its financial obligations, an investor says in a new shareholder derivative lawsuit.

  • May 26, 2023

    Suit Over Deutsche's SunEdison Disclosures Moves To Trial

    A California state court judge has found a suit alleging a Deutsche Bank unit hid renewable energy company SunEdison's financial woes from prospective lenders in the months before its bankruptcy should go to a jury.

  • May 26, 2023

    Flooring Co. Inks $7.5M Deal In Investor Suit Over SEC Probe

    Investors in carpet tile maker Interface Inc. have asked a Brooklyn federal judge to give an initial nod to a proposed $7.5 million deal to end claims the company improperly calculated its earnings per share, hurting shareholders after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined the company $5 million over the inaccurate accounting.

  • May 26, 2023

    Lottery.com Stockholders Sue In Chancery After SPAC Plunge

    Attorneys for two Lottery.com stockholders have launched a proposed class suit in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking damages from 11 individuals and three businesses for hundreds of millions in losses on the special purpose acquisition company's go-public deal in 2021.

Expert Analysis

  • Echoes Of '80s Thrift Crisis Are Present In Today's Bank Woes

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    The current distress in the banking industry bears an uncanny resemblance to the thrift industry crisis of the 1980s, and while that collapse was a worst-case scenario, it provides lessons for understanding the fundamental economic forces at work today, says Alan Frankel at Coherent Economics.

  • Treasury DeFi Report Offers Insight Into BSA Compliance

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    In light of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's recent risk report on decentralized finance, companies operating in the space will need to consider how regulation of the Bank Secrecy Act may apply and how it may be possible to implement controls to meet requirements in spite of delivering services through new technologies, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Navigating The New ESG Whistleblower Landscape

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    Companies and funds have recently been under increased scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and its ESG task force for their treatment of whistleblowers, so they should take steps to encourage a culture of internal disclosure and ensure they aren't impeding those coming forward to report wrongdoing, say Josh Margolin and Liam Murphy at Selendy Gay.

  • 7 Constructive Ways Attorneys Can Spend The Deal Slowdown

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    Transactional lawyers can stay productive despite the currently sluggish market for M&A and financing deals by investing nonbillable hours into a range of projects that will strengthen firms, build professional relationships and lay a strong foundation for future work, says Brian Kerwin at Duane Morris.

  • Opinion

    Attorneys Should Have An Ethical Duty To Advance DEI

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    National and state bar associations are encouraging attorneys to apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the legal profession and beyond, and these associations should take it one step further by formally recognizing ethical duties for attorneys to promote DEI, which could better the legal profession and society, says Elena Mitchell at Moore & Van Allen.

  • SVB Collapse Reinvigorates Bank Accounting Debate

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    Silicon Valley Bank's sudden collapse revives questions over whether fair value or amortized cost accounting is the most appropriate for banks' financial reporting — a controversy that's crucial for understanding what information could have helped market participants better understand SVB's financial condition, say consultants at Analysis Group.

  • Data-Driven Insights Are Key To Attracting Today's Clients

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    As law firm growth slows and competition for clients increases, modern firms must rely on robust data analytics to develop the sector-based expertise and industry insights that clients increasingly prioritize in relationships with counsel, says Lavinia Calvert at Intapp.

  • 5 Issues For Execs To Consider In SEC Cyber Rule Proposals

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently proposed cybersecurity rules are an attempt to harmonize requirements across all the entities the agency regulates, but the one-size-fits-all approach could leave funds, broker-dealers and other market participants in a perilous place, says Rick Borden at Frankfurt Kurnit.

  • Planning For A Potential Dodd-Frank Revamp Post-SVB

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    An overhaul of the previous rollback of Dodd-Frank may occur in the near future, meaning banks that could be bumped up to a more restrictive category under the act's enhanced prudential standards should prepare for more frequent supervisory stress tests and stringent liquidity requirements, says Eric Yoon at K&L Gates.

  • Takeaways From SEC Staff's Latest Reg BI Expansion

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent staff bulletin reiterating the standard of conduct for broker-dealers is as substantive as Regulation Best Interest itself, and when combined with existing requirements, the standards begin to look more onerous than the fiduciary duty owed by investment advisers, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Ghosting In BigLaw: Why Better Feedback Habits Are Needed

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    Not giving assignments or constructive criticism to junior associates can significantly affect their performance and hours, potentially leading them to leave the firm, but partners can prevent this by asking the right questions and creating a culture of feedback, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.

  • Why Social Media Shouldn't Count As 'Investment Of Money'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent complaint against a crypto entrepreneur and his companies includes claims that social media contests for the entities' tokens are considered investments of money, but it's hard to see how incentivizing behaviors in exchange for a chance to receive tokens could qualify as investments based on case law, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Tips For Negotiating With A Swap Dealer In Distress

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    The rights of a party to terminate a qualified financial contract with a collapsing bank can be complicated, but ensuring possession of an executed guarantee and having relationships with more than one swap dealer can absorb some of the economic and operational fallout of dealing with a swap counterparty in distress, says Elanit Snow at Proskauer.

  • High Court Decision Casts Doubt On FTC, SEC Proceedings

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision that a private party sued by the Federal Trade Commission or U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could sidestep agency proceedings by suing in federal district court calls into question the constitutionality of enforcement actions brought before an administrative law judge, say Douglas Paul and Ildefonso Mas at Akerman.

  • Get Ready For IRS Criminal Crackdown On Crypto

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    Recent developments at the IRS, from a new operating plan to the announcement of a centralized data center, signal that the agency is ramping up criminal enforcement against those using digital assets to evade tax liabilities — and given its high conviction rate, companies and individuals must prioritize compliance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

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