Securities

  • October 23, 2024

    Billionaire Sued For $25M Over Renewable Fuel Project Costs

    Air Products and Chemicals Inc. has slapped Canadian billionaire John Carter Risley with a suit in Delaware federal court seeking to enforce a $25 million personal guarantee after renewable fuels company World Energy, a company Risley has invested in, defaulted on more than $26 million in payments.

  • October 23, 2024

    Feds Say Conn. Oil Trader's Ailing Brother Deserves Prison Time

    A Connecticut businessman who worked with his brother and others to run an oil industry bribery scheme in Brazil should go to prison despite his bladder cancer diagnosis, the government said, arguing incarceration is necessary "to reflect the seriousness of the offense, and to afford adequate deterrence."

  • October 23, 2024

    Colo. Justices Leery of Tossing Fraudster's Sentence

    Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared doubtful Wednesday that a convicted fraudster could avoid his sentence of 20 years probation after he served four years in prison, suggesting that while there was practically little difference from a previous sentence they threw out, it no longer violated state law.

  • October 23, 2024

    How FINRA Filings Led To A $29M Defamation Verdict In Pa.

    Two firms that specialize in injury, employment and fraud matters teamed up for an unusual case that posed a tricky task: boiling down the technicalities of securities law in order to convince a Pennsylvania state jury that regulatory filings were misused for defamation.

  • October 23, 2024

    Securities Claim Cut From Fraud Suit Against Calif. Developer

    A California federal judge trimmed a securities claim from a Sonoma resident's suit against a real estate company embroiled in a fraud scandal and recommended that the rest of the claims be brought in state court.

  • October 23, 2024

    Ex-SEC Atty, Fintech GC Joins Stradling's Securities Team

    Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC has added a former fintech general counsel and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission attorney, reinforcing the firm's offerings for companies facing enforcement investigations or grappling with other compliance issues. 

  • October 23, 2024

    Kirkland Adds Freshfields Atty To Boost Private Credit Bench

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP has welcomed an expert in leveraged finance from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, saying Wednesday that his diverse practice will strengthen the firm's liability management and opportunistic credit practices and support its position in the growing private credit sector.

  • October 23, 2024

    Ga. Firm Owner Denies SEC Ponzi Scheme Allegations

    The owner of an Atlanta-area firm accused of running a multimillion-dollar "classic Ponzi scheme" has denied all wrongdoing, telling a Georgia federal judge he merely acted in reasonable reliance on others' advice and experience.

  • October 23, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Early Wells Fargo Win In $100M RMBS Case

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday approved an early win for Wells Fargo in a lawsuit brought by Commerzbank AG alleging it lost $100 million investing in residential mortgage-backed securities, saying the German lender didn't have standing to sue.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Robert J. Giuffra Jr.

    Robert Giuffra Jr. of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP helped shepherd Goldman Sachs through 13 years of investor litigation that ended in a victory for his client last year when the Second Circuit applied a new U.S. Supreme Court standard for the first time, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Securities MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    Blink Investor Deal Gets Final OK, Attys Score $1.25M Fee

    A Florida federal judge has granted final approval to a $3.75 million settlement between electric-vehicle charging station operator Blink Charging Co. and a proposed class of investors who alleged the company mischaracterized the functionality of its charging network.

  • October 22, 2024

    Big Banks Say Yearslong Libor Suit Still Lacks Evidence

    Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and more than a dozen other large banks have urged a federal judge to dismiss the remaining claims in multidistrict litigation accusing them of manipulating Libor, arguing that the plaintiffs have failed to bring sufficient evidence in the 13 years since they filed suit over the once-critical benchmark interest rate.

  • October 22, 2024

    Activist Short Seller's Associate To Pay $1.8M In SEC Fraud Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that an associate of Andrew Left, founder of popular trading advice website Citron Research, has agreed to pay more than $1.8 million to resolve allegations that he negligently took part in a scheme to defraud readers through two trading recommendations.

  • October 22, 2024

    AMC Fights Insurer Bid For Toss Of $99.3M Settlement Claim

    AMC Entertainment has asked a Delaware judge to summarily toss four insurers' refusals to approve a $99.3 million claim for losses related to the theater chain's settlement with stockholders after the company settled a battle over a preferred share conversion and reverse stock split.

  • October 22, 2024

    Fintech Co. Ryvyl Investors' Accounting Fraud Suit Trimmed

    Executives of fintech company Ryvyl Inc. have shed some claims from an investor suit accusing them of concealing accounting problems, with a California federal judge ruling that the investors have not sufficiently pled that the defendants knowingly acted recklessly or committed wrongful acts.

  • October 22, 2024

    Pharma Co. Verrica Faces Derivative Suit Over FDA Inspection

    Current and former officers and directors of dermatological medication maker Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. face a shareholder derivative action alleging the company concealed a "litany of issues" with a manufacturer's facility that ultimately delayed U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a skin treatment.

  • October 22, 2024

    Hertz Board Panel Takes Control Of Shareholder Buyback Suit

    Delaware's chancellor has granted a Hertz Global Holdings Inc. board special committee's request to investigate stockholder-filed derivative claims challenging the fairness of $4 billion in stock buybacks in 2022 that vaulted a private equity-based shareholder into a controlling position, in a ruling that also sidelined related direct damage claims.

  • October 22, 2024

    Ohio Pension Funds Say Boeing Puts Profits Over Safety

    Two Ohio pension funds joined a Virginia federal lawsuit accusing Boeing executives and board members of putting profits over safety and regulatory compliance, causing a series of catastrophes and losing millions of dollars for investors, the Ohio Attorney General's Office said Tuesday.

  • October 22, 2024

    Crypto Bills Have Lame Duck Potential, Rep. Hill Says

    The chair of the U.S. House's digital asset subcommittee said Tuesday he is "still optimistic" a market structure bill for crypto and a framework for so-called stablecoins might move forward in some way during the upcoming lame duck session of Congress.

  • October 22, 2024

    Liquidators Of Cayman Investment Firm Seek Ch. 15

    The liquidators of Cayman Islands-based investment firm Canterbury Securities have filed for Chapter 15 recognition in New York bankruptcy court on Monday, following a dispute with another firm over a $20 million share sale that Canterbury allegedly appropriated.

  • October 22, 2024

    SEC Fines 4 Cos. Over SolarWinds Breach Disclosures

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday announced penalties totaling nearly $7 million against four tech companies it accused of downplaying the impact of cybersecurity breaches tied to foreign state actors that infiltrated software sold by SolarWinds Corp. 

  • October 22, 2024

    Meta Escapes Child Protection Investor Suit For Good

    A California federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit alleging Meta Platforms misled investors about its efforts to protect children from sexual predators, holding that the social media giant's so-called "half-truths" are not actionable under securities laws.

  • October 22, 2024

    Starbucks Shareholder Sues Execs Over $890M Buyback

    A Starbucks Corp. shareholder on Monday accused the coffee giant's former CEO and current and former company directors — including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — of misleading investors about future growth and revenues, resulting in a stock buyback program that was allegedly inflated by more than $227 million.

  • October 22, 2024

    Day Trader Seeks Early Win In Verifone Insider Trading Suit

    A day trader moved for an early win in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading case alleging the trader was tipped off by a former Francisco Partners consultant about the firm's $3.4 billion purchase of Verifone Systems Inc., arguing there is no evidence that he knew he received material nonpublic information, let alone traded on it.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

Expert Analysis

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

    Author Photo

    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • First-Of-Its-Kind Chancery Ruling Will Aid SPAC Defendants

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Chancery Court's first full dismissal of claims challenging a special purpose acquisition company transaction under the entire fairness doctrine in the recent Hennessy Capital Acquisition Stockholder Litigation establishes useful precedent to abate the flood of SPAC litigation, say Lisa Bugni and Benjamin Lee at King & Spalding.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

    Author Photo

    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

    Author Photo

    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

    Author Photo

    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

    Author Photo

    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

    Author Photo

    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Proposed Customer ID Rule Could Cost Investment Advisers

    Author Photo

    A rule recently proposed by FinCEN and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make financial advisers collect more customer information parallels an anti-money laundering and counterterrorism rule proposed this spring, but firms may face new compliance costs when implementing these screening programs, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • What Passage Of House Crypto Bill Could Mean For Industry

    Author Photo

    While the prospects of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which recently passed the House in a bipartisan fashion, becoming law remain murky, the manner of its passage may give crypto markets a real cause for hope, say Neel Maitra and Dale Beggs at Dechert.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

    Author Photo

    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Securities archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!