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Capital Markets
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May 16, 2024
White & Case Helps Italy Unload 2.8% Eni Stake For €1.4B
Italy's government said on Thursday that it has sold approximately 2.8% of its stake in energy company Eni SpA in a move to raise €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) to aid the country's finances.
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May 15, 2024
SolarWinds Says SEC's Cyber Breach Suit Goes Too Far
SolarWinds Corp. on Wednesday asked a Manhattan federal judge to throw out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit accusing the enterprise software company of deceiving investors about its lax cybersecurity, which left it open to a Russian hacking campaign.
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May 15, 2024
3 Things To Know About CFTC's Election Betting Proposal
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed to ban the trading of event contracts tied to things like election outcomes, sporting events and the Academy Awards. Here are three things to know about a proposal that is likely to be closely watched by industry insiders, some of whom are already wrapped up in litigation with the agency over this very issue.
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May 15, 2024
Water Co. To Pay $8.5M Criminal Fine Over Accounting Claims
Wastewater treatment company Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. has reached an $8.5 million agreement with federal prosecutors allowing the company to avoid criminal charges for allegedly inflating the company's revenue by $36 million.
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May 15, 2024
'Pissed Off,' 'You Need To Go': Reps Rip FDIC's Gruenberg
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg took withering, bipartisan criticism over his agency's workplace misconduct scandal at a House hearing on Wednesday, although no new Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in directly calling for his resignation.
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May 15, 2024
Two Firms To Lead GrafTech Suit Over Environmental Issues
An Ohio federal judge on Wednesday appointed Abraham Fruchter & Twersky LLP and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP to lead a shareholder class action against GrafTech International, accusing the electrode-maker of covering up its environmental contamination in Monterrey, Mexico, in the run-up to its initial public offering.
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May 15, 2024
Bolt Financial Cancels $37M In Shares To End CEO Loan Suit
Bolt Financial Inc. will cancel over $37 million in shares to settle a derivative suit against the company's board of directors that accuses its former CEO of purposely defaulting on a $30 million loan, according to a filing in Delaware's Court of Chancery.
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May 15, 2024
Chancery Nixes BuzzFeed Worker Arbitration Bid
Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed from an arbitration access dispute on Wednesday 85 BuzzFeed Media Enterprises employees who sued for arbitration of a stock conversion right, rejecting claims that company employment agreements require Delaware courts to handle the issue.
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May 15, 2024
'Uber Files' Scandal Can't Prop Up Investor Suit, Judge Says
Uber Technologies has beaten back a proposed class action alleging that a trove of leaked internal records harmed shareholders by revealing corporate misconduct, with a California federal judge saying plaintiffs failed to prove that any of Uber's statements about the leak were false.
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May 15, 2024
UnitedHealth Concealed DOJ Merger Investigation, Suit Says
UnitedHealth Group has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that it failed to disclose that the U.S. Department of Justice had reopened an antitrust investigation into the health insurance giant following its acquisition of a healthcare data company, and that top executives had sold more than $120 million of shares knowing about the investigation before a news report revealed it to the public.
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May 15, 2024
Arizona Judge Revives Opendoor Investors' Securities Suit
An Arizona federal judge has revived a consolidated securities class action accusing real estate company Opendoor Technologies Inc. of misleading investors about the benefits of its pricing algorithm software in order to go public in a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.
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May 15, 2024
Startup Consultant Hits Hemp Co. With $2.1M Fee Suit
A consulting firm focused on helping startup companies raise capital is taking an industrial hemp firm, its owners and a guest lecturer at the University of Michigan's business school to Ohio federal court over $2.1 million in consulting fees it says it never got to collect.
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May 15, 2024
Colo. Says Lending Law Challenge Aims To Strip Federal Right
The state of Colorado has urged a federal judge to dismiss a suit seeking to block a new state law to rein in high-cost online lending by out-of-state banks, saying federal law "expressly permits" states to opt out of the relevant statute, so their interest rate laws will not be preempted by state-chartered banks.
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May 15, 2024
Tesla Fires Back At Claims It Bullied Retired Law Professor
Tesla has pushed back against allegations that it tried to bully a retired law professor out of weighing in on an investor suit over CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, according to new filings in Delaware.
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May 15, 2024
Chancery Orders $199M Penalty In TransCanada Deal Suit
Citing "non-cumulative" damages award offsets, a Delaware vice chancellor on Wednesday ordered the former TransCanada Corp. to pay $199 million of a potential $283 million judgment issued in a post-trial ruling last year on amounts owed to former Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. shareholders shorted in a 2016 merger.
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May 15, 2024
Chinese Art Marketplace, EV Co. Ink SPAC Deals Worth $834M
Two Chinese companies, art marketplace Tyfon Culture Holdings and electric-vehicle maker Aiways Europe have announced plans to go public in the U.S. via mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies in deals that are together valued at around $834 million.
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May 15, 2024
Ex-FTX Exec Seeks Leniency, Saying He Was Kept In The Dark
A former top FTX official has asked a Manhattan federal judge for a lenient 18-month sentence, saying he was not part of company co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle and was as shocked as everyone else to learn that the crypto exchange was operating a fraud that siphoned billions in customer funds.
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May 15, 2024
Archegos Ex-Accountant Tells Jury Of 'Vendetta' Inside Fund
A key cooperating witness had a "personal vendetta" against a former Archegos executive charged in the government's $36 billion market distortion case, according to testimony Wednesday by an ex-accountant at the fallen fund.
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May 15, 2024
Linklaters Helps Computer Biz Raspberry Pi's Planned UK IPO
Raspberry Pi, which makes card-sized computers, said on Wednesday that it is planning to float on the London Stock Exchange, providing a rare boost for a U.K. capital market which has struggled to attract new listings.
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May 14, 2024
Musk Can't Avoid Another Deposition In SEC Twitter Dispute
A California federal judge on Tuesday ordered Elon Musk to testify once again in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit over his $44 billion acquisition of X, formerly known as Twitter, finding that the SEC's subpoena "reasonably seeks" information relevant to the agency's investigation.
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May 14, 2024
In Hot Seat, FDIC's Gruenberg Pledges 'Fundamental Change'
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg will tell House lawmakers Wednesday that he is taking "full responsibility" for his agency's workplace misconduct scandal and eyeing "fundamental" structural reforms, striking a humbled but determined tone as he faces the first of two hearings that could be make-or-break for his job.
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May 14, 2024
Asset Manager Cops To $1.2B Venezuelan Oil Co. Fraud
An asset manager pled guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in a $1.2 billion scheme to embezzle money from Venezuela's state-owned oil company and launder it through false investment schemes in the U.S. and abroad.
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May 14, 2024
Apache Investors Get First OK On $65M Deal In Drilling Suit
A U.S. magistrate judge has given the first green light to a $65 million settlement resolving a lawsuit against oil and gas company Apache Corp. filed by investors alleging they were deceived by promises of a potentially lucrative drilling project that ultimately led to a $3 billion write-down when it went bust.
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May 14, 2024
5th Circ. Expresses Doubt On Nasdaq Board Diversity Rules
Lawyers for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq Stock Market LLC faced a barrage of questions from the full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday, with judges wondering whether rules requiring corporations to disclose board diversity information would open the door to investor questions on religious practices, political beliefs or Taylor Swift fandom.
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May 14, 2024
Mich. Biz Attys Back State's Securities Fraud Enforcement Bid
Members of Michigan's state bar association have urged the state's highest court to adopt a U.S. Supreme Court test for determining whether promissory notes are securities, in support of an effort by the state securities regulator to bring an enforcement action against a condominium developer accused of failing to pay back investors.
Expert Analysis
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What The 2023 Bank Failures Taught Us, And What's To Come
As 2023 draws to a close, it's apparent that the bank failures this past spring sparked a seismic shift in the regulatory and supervisory landscape for banking organizations, and the consequences are still continuing to be felt throughout the financial sector as we head into 2024, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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How SEC And NY Cyber Reporting Rules Affect Key Industries
The new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and New York State Department of Financial Services cybersecurity disclosure requirements, and their competing obligations, reveal the increasing complexity for organizations evaluating and reacting to cybersecurity incidents — particularly those in the healthcare and financial services industries, say attorneys at Manatt.
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Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities
Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
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A Difficult Year For CRE, But Future May Be Brighter
2023 was a challenging year for the commercial real estate industry, marked by significant uncertainty, but market pressure and signs of rising interest rates provide some reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the year ahead as pandemic headwinds and gridlock fade away, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023
Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
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Volume-Based Transaction Pricing Proposal Raises Questions
A rule recently proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which would prohibit securities exchanges from offering volume-based transaction pricing for agency or riskless principal orders in certain stocks, is meant to address competitive concerns — but there are reasons to question the logic behind this proposal, say attorneys at Sidley.
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What WeWork's Ch. 11 Filing Means For Landlords
WeWork’s recent Chapter 11 filing in New Jersey has the potential to be one of the most consequential cases in the real estate industry in many years, and presents a number of issues for landlords, including unexpired leases, assumption, assignment and more, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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SEC, NY Cybersecurity Rules Create Complexity For Insurers
Two separate cybersecurity rules recently adopted by the New York Department of Financial Services and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pose distinct challenges for insurance industry participants, with important interactions, and potential tensions, for those required to comply with both frameworks, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2023
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal and state courts made 2023 another groundbreaking year for whistleblower litigation and retaliation developments, including the SEC’s massive whistleblower awards, which are likely to continue into 2024 and further incentivize individuals to submit tips, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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Understanding Advance Notice Bylaws Is Key For All Parties
Recent developments in Delaware case law show that advance notice bylaws will be strictly construed and that Delaware courts will generally uphold clear, unambiguous bylaws adopted and applied reasonably, a lesson for both companies and stockholders alike as the number of companies rejecting director nominations by dissident stockholders has increased, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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A Review Of 2023's Most Notable Securities Litigation
There is much to be learned from the most prominent private securities cases of 2023, specifically the Tesla trial, the U.S. Supreme Court's Slack decision and the resolution of Goldman Sachs litigation, but one lesson running through all of them is that there can be rewards at the end of the line for defendants willing to go the distance, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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ESG Investing Caught In Culture War Crosshairs In 2023
As 2023 draws to a close, ESG investing remains a raging battleground in the U.S. culture wars, as illustrated by the array of legislative efforts across the country aimed variously at restricting or promoting the use of ESG investing — but it remains to be seen what practical impact, if any, these laws will have, say Amy Roy and Robert Skinner at Ropes & Gray.
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4 Key Ways CFIUS Affected Private Equity In 2023
Sponsors and investment professionals should note how escalated enforcement by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in 2023 affected private equity deal making and evaluate their CFIUS-related procedures in preparation for the regulator's reach to expand further next year, say attorneys at Kirkland.