Securities

February 11, 2025
Republican-Led SEC Pauses Climate Regulation Litigation

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signaled Tuesday that it may not move forward with a Biden-era regulation requiring public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, asking the court overseeing litigation against the climate reporting rules not to schedule the case for oral argument.
February 10, 2025
FTX Having Trouble Serving Binance With Ch. 11 Lawsuit

The estate of fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX told a Delaware bankruptcy judge late Friday that its attorneys haven't yet been able to serve Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao a lawsuit seeking to recover nearly $1.8 billion that FTX is accused of illegally transferring prior to its collapse two years ago.
February 10, 2025
Merrill Lynch Objects To New Discovery Bid In Stock Loan Suit

Merrill Lynch told a New York federal court it should deny investors' request for supplemental transaction data in their suit alleging major banks colluded to avoid modernizing the stock loan market, arguing that the discovery period has closed, and there are no legitimate reasons to grant the "burdensome" request.
February 10, 2025
Feds Nab Plea In Bitcoin-Boosting Hack Of SEC X Account

An Alabama man on Monday pled guilty to being involved with the hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account last year, admitting to a single conspiracy charge and agreeing to forfeit $50,000 he made from the scheme that briefly bumped the price of bitcoin.
February 10, 2025
Pharma Co. Misled Investors On Depression Drug, Suit Says

Brain disease drugmaker Neumora Therapeutics Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging that the company and its initial public offering underwriters failed to disclose prior to the $250 million IPO that Neumora's clinical trial for a depression treatment was very unlikely to yield promising results.
February 10, 2025
Merrill Lynch $20M Bias Deal Should Be Approved, Judge Says

A U.S. magistrate judge has recommended granting the first green light to a $20 million settlement that will resolve discrimination and retaliation claims launched against Merrill Lynch by a proposed class of nearly 1,400 Black financial advisers who claimed they received less pay and promotions compared to their white counterparts.
February 10, 2025
NY Funds Say Paramount 'Bound' To Mull $13.5B Sale Option

Five big New York public pension funds argued in a newly unsealed Delaware court filing on Monday that a Paramount special committee breached its fiduciary duties by neglecting a $13.5 billion company sale offer and called for a Court of Chancery order compelling evaluation of the deal.
February 10, 2025
EV Biz Faraday Future Wins Chancery Toss Of Go-Public Suit

Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday tossed a proposed class action challenging electric vehicle maker Faraday Future's $1 billion take-public deal, saying that a stipulation in a $7.5 million settlement reached in a related case "unambiguously" precluded stockholders' claims against the California-based startup.
February 10, 2025
Trump Stops Enforcement Of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that puts a "pause" on enforcement of the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, saying the law against U.S. companies bribing foreign officials to win business in other countries has made American companies less competitive.
February 10, 2025
Grayscale Beats Bitcoin Rival's $2M Unfair Practices Suit

A Connecticut state court judge has handed digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments LLC a summary judgment win on a smaller rival's $2 million unfair trade practices suit over a bitcoin feud, finding that the relevant state law does not apply to the dispute.
February 10, 2025
Home Generator Maker Beats Suit Over COVID Sales Bust

Power generator maker Generac Holdings Inc. and its top brass have beaten for now a proposed shareholder class action over Generac's alleged failure to keep up with a surge in business during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a Wisconsin federal judge saying, "misfortune does not necessarily equate with fraud."
February 10, 2025
SEC Grants Short-Selling Disclosure Reprieve, CAT Relief

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is providing a temporary exemption in order to allow investment managers more time to comply with new rules requiring increased disclosure on short selling, and separately said it will no longer require certain personally identifiable information to be reported to the market database known as the Consolidated Audit Trail.
February 10, 2025
Conn. Judge Flags 'Extraordinary' Error In $10.4M Fraud Suit

A Connecticut appellate judge expressed surprise Monday that for more than five years, two teams of seasoned litigators failed to notice an error on the docket of a securities fraud lawsuit before the mistake led to a judge — and not a jury — hearing the case and issuing a $10.4 million award to investment banking firm FIH LLC.
February 10, 2025
Tesla Seeks Chancery Toss Of Challenge Over Texas Move

Delaware's chancellor said Monday she would issue a "short" letter reply to calls for dismissal of a stockholder claim that Tesla Inc. failed to secure a required supermajority vote to move its charter to Texas, following arguments that the court recently approved a simple majority vote in a similar case.
February 10, 2025
Trump Buyout Plan Still On Hold As Unions Cite 'Confusion'

A Boston federal judge on Monday extended his hold on President Donald Trump's federal worker buyout program as he weighs a request from unions to block the so-called Fork Directive, which promises months of pay to government employees who resign their posts.
February 10, 2025
Ex-SEC Atty's Bias Case Not Holding, Despite Deal Talks

A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Friday to delay the upcoming trial in a lawsuit filed by a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer who sued the agency for racial and age discrimination, despite a letter to the court saying that the parties are making progress toward a settlement.
February 10, 2025
2nd Circ. Backs UBS In Retaliation Case That Justices Revived

A split Second Circuit panel sided Monday with UBS in a whistleblower case that a fired worker managed to get the U.S. Supreme Court to revive, ruling that the jury instructions that preceded the worker's trial court win were too unclear to let his victory stand.
February 10, 2025
9th Circ. Tosses Slack Investor Suit After High Court Battle

The Ninth Circuit on Monday released Slack Technologies Inc. from an investor dispute that was previously ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court, with the circuit court going a step further than the high court in ruling that none of the suing investors' claims were salvageable due to the unique way that Slack went public.
February 10, 2025
'Stand Down': CFPB's Acting Chief Pulls Employees Off Job

The Trump administration's acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought told agency staff on Monday to "stand down" from doing any work, the latest in a series of rapid-fire moves that are sidelining the agency and prompting employees to sue.
February 09, 2025
CFPB Suspends Activity, Closes HQ As New Chief Arrives

The Trump administration escalated efforts over the weekend to power down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, canceling the agency's next funding draw, suspending its examination activity and ordering a closure of its main office.
February 07, 2025
Chancery Tosses $3.4B Hertz Stock Warrant Redemption Suit

Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed a suit Friday filed by two Hertz institutional investors accusing the company of relying on an impermissible reinterpretation of a warrant agreement to reject a redemption demand purportedly triggered by the company's post-Chapter 11 recapitalization, finding the plaintiffs' interpretation of the agreement leads to "absurd results."
February 07, 2025
Maxeon Investors Push To Keep Exchange Act Suit Alive

The lead plaintiff in a proposed class action against Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd. urged a California federal judge to reject the company's bid to escape the suit as well as its "fanciful" explanations for a two-day stock plunge that harmed shareholders.
February 07, 2025
SPAC Market Hums Again Following Multiyear Downturn

Special purpose acquisition companies are once again asserting their presence in the capital markets and M&A landscape, forming new vehicles at the highest pace in three years — albeit in leaner form than in the last cycle, when many deals ended in busts.
February 07, 2025
SafeMoon CEO Says Crypto Policy Shifts Warrant Trial Delay

The crypto executive behind the alleged SafeMoon fraud is fighting to delay his trial by a month in the hopes that a new approach to cryptocurrency by the Trump administration could ax the securities fraud charge from the counts against him.
February 07, 2025
Coinbase Can't Yet Escape Class Claims Over Crypto Sales

Coinbase users can move forward with class claims that the cryptocurrency firm operated as an unregistered securities exchange after a New York federal judge ruled Friday that the Second Circuit prevented him from shuttering the case without first determining whether Coinbase was the seller of the tokens trading on its platform.

Expert Analysis

Impact Of Successful Challenges To SEC's Rulemaking Ability

In 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission faced significant legal challenges to its aggressive rulemaking agenda as several of its rules were vacated by the Fifth Circuit, which could hinder the SEC's ability to enact rules extending beyond express statutory authority in the future, say attorneys at Debevoise.
A Look At PCAOB's Record-Breaking Enforcement In 2024

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in 2024 brought more enforcement actions against auditors and imposed increasingly higher monetary penalties, showing that it was not afraid to exercise its power to fine and reprimand firms, a trend that will likely continue in 2025, say attorneys at Briglia Hundley.
2 Cases May Enlighten UK Funds' Securities Litigation Path

Following recent nine-figure settlements in securities class actions against Apple and Under Armour, U.K. pension funds may increasingly lead U.S. shareholder derivative suits, advocating for transparency, better risk management and stronger governance practices, say lawyers at Labaton Keller.
Series

Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
Takeaways From SEC's Mixed Results In '24 Crypto Litigation

Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership seems likely to create a more favorable cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it must also confront the consequences of, and lingering questions raised by, the SEC's 2024 policy of investigating and charging cryptocurrency trading platforms for operating unregistered exchanges, say attorneys at Dechert.
Predicting What's Next For SEC By Looking At Past Dissents

While Paul Atkins' nomination to be the next chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken center stage, an analysis of Republican Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda's past votes and dissents provides a preview of where enforcement may shift in the new administration, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
What 2024's Noncompete Turmoil Means For Banks In 2025

A look back at the most significant legal challenges to the enforceability of various restrictive covenants like noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements in 2024 can help financial institutions address the use of these critical tools this year, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
Opinion

3 New Year's Resolutions For Antitrust Agencies To Consider

James Fredricks at Skadden rings in 2025 with his wish list for the federal antitrust agencies, starting with a provision for a presumptive safe harbor for information sharing.
New Year, New Risks: 8 Top Cyber Issues For Finance In 2025

As financial institutions forge ahead in 2025, they must strike a delicate balance between embracing technological innovation and guarding against its darker threats, which this year could include everything from supply chain vulnerabilities to deepfakes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
FTC Focus: A Changing Of The Guard

While rigorous antitrust enforcement is unlikely to slow down at the Federal Trade Commission, the focus will undoubtedly change, including when it comes to Big Tech, as Andrew Ferguson prepares to take the reins from Chair Lina Khan, say attorneys at Proskauer.
5th Circ.'s Nasdaq Ruling Another Piece In DEI Policy Puzzle

The Fifth Circuit's recent en banc opinion vacating Nasdaq's board diversity listing rule wades into the hotly debated topic of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at a time when many public companies are navigating the attention that DEI commitments are drawing from activists and shareholders, say attorneys at Debevoise.
8 Trends And Predictions Following PE's Late 2024 Surge

Private equity will remain at the forefront of value creation in 2025, and anticipated market trends include sponsors' desire to return capital to investors and a more business-friendly tack by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, say attorneys at Weil.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
Lessons From The SEC's 2024 Crackdown On AI Washing

AI washing was the subject of increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 following a surge in the commercial adoption of generative artificial intelligence technologies in 2023, highlighting the importance of transparency, accuracy and accountability when communicating about AI, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.