Capital Markets

  • February 24, 2025

    SEC Could Loosen Income Limits On Startup Investments

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's acting chairman said Monday that the agency is looking at a number of changes aimed at freeing up capital for investment, including the possibility of allowing lower- and middle-income Americans to invest in private, early-stage companies.

  • February 24, 2025

    Trump Media Seeks Shareholder Approval To Leave Delaware

    The owner of Donald Trump's social media platform plans to hold a shareholder vote in April asking investors whether it should move its legal address to Florida, potentially joining a growing number of companies reincorporating outside of Delaware.

  • February 24, 2025

    Moves To Change Del. Corporate Law Spark Pushback

    A public opposition campaign complete with website and street signs has surfaced to oppose corporation and bar-backed legislation that would overhaul Delaware stockholder litigation rights and fee awards, intensifying an already unprecedented political fight that broke out last year over corporate governance concessions.

  • February 22, 2025

    NY Judge Extends Block On DOGE's Treasury Access

    A New York federal judge on Friday barred Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing U.S. Treasury Department data, handing a win to 19 state attorneys general who claimed giving the new entity access to citizens' personal information posed a massive cybersecurity risk.

  • February 21, 2025

    Wall Street Groups Back Rescinding Biden Crypto Guidance

    Wall Street's top lobbies are backing President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency agenda and have called for the recission of Biden-era federal banking policies and guidance that it says have "hindered" banks' ability to engage in the digital asset industry.

  • February 21, 2025

    Shkreli Avoids Sanctions Over 'Frustrating' Wu-Tang Tangle

    Convicted former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli won't have to pay sanctions after purportedly dragging his feet for nearly six months on complying with court orders to hand over copies of a Wu-Tang Clan album to the crypto project that bought it from him.

  • February 21, 2025

    Crypto Mining Machine Co. Bgin Blockchain Files $50M IPO

    Cryptocurrency mining company Bgin Blockchain Ltd. filed for an initial public offering Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that is expected to raise $50 million, represented by Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC and underwriters counsel Robinson & Cole LLP.

  • February 21, 2025

    Judge Trims $40M Green Energy Co. Investor Suit

    A Tennessee federal judge won't toss a proposed class action claiming that a Chicago green energy outfit and its executives used false promises of extravagant returns to lure investors, but ruled two defendants can escape some of the suit's claims.

  • February 21, 2025

    FINRA Fines Merrill Lynch Over Early Sales Of IPO Shares

    Merrill Lynch will pay a $275,000 fine to settle the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claim that, for nearly three years, the firm accepted purchase orders for shares of newly issued stock prior to the opening of secondary market trading in those shares.

  • February 21, 2025

    Prime Core Crypto 'Hopelessly Commingled,' Plan Admin Says

    Counsel for the administrator of cryptocurrency custodian Prime Core's Chapter 11 wind-down plan on Friday defended its decision to treat the debtor's cryptocurrency as property of the estate, even when it came from customers.

  • February 21, 2025

    Va. Judge Won't Bar DOGE Access To Treasury, OPM Data

    A Virginia federal judge on Friday rejected a data privacy watchdog's bid for a preliminary injunction blocking Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing data systems housed in the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

  • February 21, 2025

    Swizz Beatz Says Suit Over 1MDB Funds Is Time-Barred

    Hip-hop artist Swizz Beatz has told a Manhattan federal judge that a suit claiming he received millions of dollars that were stolen in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fraud scandal should be tossed since it was brought after the six-year statute of limitations.

  • February 21, 2025

    Coinbase Says SEC Will Drop Suit Amid Crypto Policy Shift

    Coinbase said Friday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has committed to dropping its enforcement action against the crypto exchange, a move that would see the regulator walk away from one of its flagship crypto suits amid a wider policy shift under the Trump administration.

  • February 20, 2025

    Ex-Rio Tinto CFO Must Keep Fighting SEC Fraud Case

    A New York federal judge on Thursday refused to throw out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit accusing Rio Tinto PLC's former chief financial officer of violating accounting and auditing rules, ruling that certain claims should be decided by a jury.

  • February 20, 2025

    Citron Research Founder Ran 'Classic' Fraud Ploy, DOJ Says

    The well-known activist short-seller Andrew Left shouldn't escape U.S. Department of Justice allegations he improperly made $16 million using bait-and-switch tactics to manipulate trading prices, prosecutors have argued, saying the indictment makes it clear he's been charged with "a classic securities fraud scheme."

  • February 20, 2025

    New SEC Enforcement Unit Shows Drift From Crypto Focus

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continued its efforts to shift its approach to digital asset enforcement under the Trump administration when it announced Thursday that it replaced the unit responsible for many of its controversial crypto registration suits with a new fraud-focused iteration that will take a broader focus on "cyber and emerging technologies."

  • February 20, 2025

    FINRA Foe Asks Justices To Stay In-House Case

    A brokerage firm facing possible expulsion from the securities industry asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to press pause on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's case against it while the justices decide whether to hear a challenge to the regulator's constitutionality. 

  • February 20, 2025

    SafeMoon Exec Says He'll Cop To 2 Conspiracy Charges

    The chief technology officer behind the alleged SafeMoon LLC crypto fraud was a step closer to changing his not guilty plea Thursday on two of three counts of the indictment — a move that came after a Brooklyn federal judge declined to delay his co-defendant's trial last week.

  • February 20, 2025

    Fed's Barr Defends Long-Term Debt Mandate For Big Banks

    The Federal Reserve's chief bank regulator said Thursday that the country's financial system was "sound and resilient" but warned of increased risks if post-financial crisis reforms aren't maintained and finished, specifically arguing for the implementation of Basel III Endgame rules on liquidity standards and debt requirements.

  • February 20, 2025

    New SEC Guidance Throws A 'Bit Of Chaos' Into Proxy Season

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent effort to loosen its guidance around what companies can exclude from their proxy statements isn't surprising given the change in administration, but the timing of its release has thrown a monkey wrench into a proxy season that is already underway, attorneys said.

  • February 20, 2025

    Another Ex-Allianz Exec Gets No Time For $7B Investor Fraud

    A former managing director for Allianz SE's U.S. unit on Thursday avoided a term of imprisonment for his role in a ploy to con investors about the riskiness of a group of private funds that lost over $7 billion when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

  • February 20, 2025

    Select SPAC Targets Are Soaring Ahead Of The Pack

    A select breed of companies that went public through mergers with special purpose acquisition companies are performing well lately — hailing mostly from a few specific industries — in stark contrast to the vast majority of SPAC merger targets that have flopped over the past few years, according to data released on Thursday.

  • February 20, 2025

    Lottery.com Exec Indicted Over Allegedly Bogus SPAC Filings

    New York federal prosecutors unveiled criminal charges Thursday against Trident Acquisitions Corp.'s former CEO, accusing the executive of duping investors about the profitability of a 2021 take-public deal involving Lottery.com Inc. before cashing out and lying under oath while privately telling alleged co-conspirators he's in "deep, deep, deep, deep water."

  • February 20, 2025

    Trump Executive Order Could Hinder Crypto Rules, SEC Suits

    A new executive order giving the White House more power over independent agencies could slow rulemaking and enforcement activity at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and even put a damper on its ability to write rules governing the cryptocurrency industry, legal experts told Law360. 

  • February 20, 2025

    Schwab Antitrust Settlement With Investors Gets Initial OK

    A Texas federal judge has granted the first green light to a settlement calling for Charles Schwab Corp. to implement an antitrust compliance program designed by an independent consultant, resolving a class of retail investors' claims they had to pay increased transaction costs for trades following the Schwab-TD Ameritrade merger in 2020.

Expert Analysis

  • Crypto.com's Suit Against SEC Could Hold Major Implications

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    Crypto.com's recent lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could affect the operation and regulation of crypto markets in the U.S., potentially raising more questions about the SEC's authority to regulate the industry when it's unclear whether another agency is ready to assume it, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Don't Phone A Friend: Disclosing Friendships With Executives

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement against a former Church & Dwight chairman for violating proxy disclosure rules by neglecting to disclose his friendship with an executive officer amid a CEO search illustrates the perils of relying solely on responses to questionnaires circulated to boards, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • The Ups And Downs Of SEC's Now-Dissolved ESG Task Force

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force, which was quietly disbanded sometime over the summer, was marked by three years of resistance from some stakeholders to ESG regulation, a mixed record in the courts and several successful enforcement actions, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • SEC Fine Shows Risks Of Nonpublic Info In X, LinkedIn Posts

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a settlement with DraftKings over charges arising from posting material nonpublic information on the CEO's social media accounts, highlighting that information posted to company websites and social media sites does not automatically qualify as "publicly disclosed" for purposes of Regulation FD, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Anticipating Jarkesy's Effect On Bank Agency Enforcement

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, federal courts may eventually issue decisions on banking law principles and processes that could fundamentally alter the agencies' enforcement action framework, and the relationship between banks and examiners, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.

  • CFTC Anti-Fraud Blitz Is A Warning To Carbon Credit Sellers

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    With its recent enforcement actions against a carbon offset project developer and its senior executives for reporting false information about the energy savings of the company's projects, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is staking out its position as a primary regulator in the voluntary carbon credit market, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Unpacking State AG Approaches To Digital Asset Enforcement

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    Attorneys at Cozen O'Connor survey recent digital asset enforcement by attorneys general nationwide driven by concerns over regulatory gaps where technological developments and market changes have outpaced legislation.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • Peeling Back The Layers Of SEC's Equity Trading Reforms

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted amendments lowering the tick sizes for stock trading and reducing access fee caps will benefit investors and necessitate broad systems changes — if they can first survive judicial challenges, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Opinion

    FDIC's Foray Into Index Fund Rules Risks Regulatory Chaos

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    A proposed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule concerning control over passive index fund investments in banks is outside the agency's remit, clashes with an existing Federal Reserve process and would inhibit competition in the index fund sector, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

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