Securities

  • June 11, 2024

    SEC Probing Autodesk After Accounting Practices Report

    Autodesk Inc. said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the software corporation after it voluntarily contacted the regulatory body to inform it of the company's own internal investigation into its free cash flow and non-generally accepted accounting principles operating margin practices.

  • June 11, 2024

    AES Sued In Del. For 'Weaponized' Advance Notice Bylaws

    Global utility and power company The AES Corp. has "weaponized" advance notice requirements in its bylaws to make it "unreasonably difficult, if not impossible," for stockholders to nominate candidates for the company's board, a stockholder has alleged in a new Delaware Court of Chancery suit.

  • June 11, 2024

    AI Hiring Platform's Ex-CEO Charged With $27M Fraud

    The founder of hiring startup Joonko Diversity Inc. has been charged with fraud, with prosecutors saying Tuesday that she deceived investors into dumping $27 million into a platform that supposedly used artificial intelligence to help companies recruit diverse job candidates. 

  • June 11, 2024

    FINRA Fines Brokerage TradeZero Over 'Finfluencer' Promos

    The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined broker-dealer TradeZero America Inc. $250,000 for allegedly failing to properly supervise its influencer partners, who promoted the firm on their social media accounts.

  • June 11, 2024

    Mattel Wants Out Of Suit Over Forfeited 401(k) Funds

    Mattel urged a California federal court to throw out a lawsuit a former employee launched alleging the company should have used former workers' forfeited 401(k) funds to cover plan expenses, saying its decision to use that money to satisfy its own contributions is in line with federal benefits law.

  • June 11, 2024

    Retrial Begins In NJ Fraud Case Over COVID Test Kit Deal  

    The painstaking process of jury selection got underway Tuesday in the retrial of a securities fraud case that ended with a dramatic mistrial after a juror announced in open court that he disagreed with the guilty verdict that had just been delivered by the jury forewoman.

  • June 11, 2024

    Justices Urged To Review Fee Denial In DOL Stock Plan Case

    A construction design firm is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight for attorney fees after beating an enforcement case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the company and its founders mismanaged an employee stock ownership plan, with the firm arguing the Ninth Circuit erred in siding with the DOL.

  • June 11, 2024

    SEC Asks For $1.1M Insider Trading Penalty For Ex-Apple Atty

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is again urging a New Jersey federal court to levy a roughly $1.1 million civil penalty on a former Apple Inc. senior attorney who already pled guilty and was sentenced for criminal charges related to a lucrative insider trading scheme.

  • June 11, 2024

    Uniswap Taps Coinbase Atty To Be CLO As SEC Fight Looms

    The firm behind decentralized marketplace Uniswap has brought on a senior Coinbase attorney and seasoned litigator to helm its legal operations as it stares down a potential enforcement action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • June 11, 2024

    Dentons Hires Former In-House Compliance Chief In Indy

    Dentons has brought on a seasoned corporate attorney with close to two decades of in-house and government experience as of counsel in the firm's Indianapolis office, focusing on transactional matters like contracts, corporate governance and securities law.

  • June 11, 2024

    Archegos Boss Got Angry Over Bathroom Breaks, Jury Told

    A former protégé of Archegos founder Bill Hwang told the Manhattan federal jury hearing the $36 billion market distortion case against Hwang on Tuesday that his former boss was so hands-on that he would get mad when workers used the bathroom.

  • June 11, 2024

    Elon Musk Sued Anew In Del. Over $16B Tesla Stock Sale

    A Tesla shareholder has hit Elon Musk with a lawsuit over his 2021 sale of $16 billion worth of stock just before his purchase of Twitter, claiming the billionaire profited by concealing his intent to buy the social media platform and made the purchase in part to reinstate former President Donald Trump's account.

  • June 10, 2024

    Voyager Crypto Investors Get Initial OK For $2.4M Deal

    A Florida federal judge gave the first green light on Monday to a $2.4 million settlement reached between retired football star Rob Gronkowski, NBA player Victor Oladipo and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill and a class of Voyager Digital Holdings Inc. investors over claims that the men helped promote the failed cryptocurrency exchange.

  • June 10, 2024

    Gemini Says Jury Must Weigh Alleged 'Omissions,' Not Judge

    Gemini Trust Co. has told a Manhattan federal judge that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's claims that the crypto exchange omitted key information related to a proposed bitcoin futures contract isn't ripe for a pretrial decision because the claims involve "hotly disputed factual questions."

  • June 10, 2024

    Pension Fund Repays PBGC $8M In Excess Financial Aid

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that a pension provider for workers in graphic communications has paid back more than $8 million in excess funds it received through a financial assistance program administered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

  • June 10, 2024

    Fat Brands Faces Investor Suit Over $47M Loan Scheme

    Fat Brands and its executives face a proposed class action in California federal court alleging that they falsely claimed to be cooperating with governmental probes into their CEO's spending $47 million on company loans while skirting taxes, leading stock prices to plunge last month when criminal charges were announced.

  • June 10, 2024

    Chancery Retains Most Healthcare Tech Merger Suit Claims

    Nearly all the allegations of fraud, breach of contract and related claims lodged by healthcare technology venture Trifecta Multimedia Holdings Inc. against acquirer WCG Clinical Services have survived dismissal challenges and will move toward trial, a Delaware vice chancellor ruled Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Bloomberg's Utility Bond Changes Hurt Consumers, Suit Says

    Bloomberg LP was hit with a proposed class action by California and Texas electricity customers who claim the company reclassified certain bonds issued by utility companies to elevate their perceived risk and hike interest rates, a move they say benefited institutional investors but imposed increased costs on electricity customers.

  • June 10, 2024

    Exxon Says Activist Investor Could Still Target Core Business

    Exxon Mobil Corp. sought Monday to keep alive its lawsuit against Arjuna Capital LLC in Texas federal court, arguing that the activist investor could still work behind the scenes to submit climate-related shareholder proposals despite promises in court that it will not.

  • June 10, 2024

    Ill. Tool Maker Must Face Retirement Mismanagement Claims

    An Illinois tool manufacturer must answer to accusations that it mishandled billions in employee retirement savings by allowing their plan to take on unreasonable recordkeeping fees and retaining underperforming funds, a federal judge said Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    2nd Circ. Remands Malpractice Suit Against DLA Piper

    The Second Circuit on Monday sent back to state court a Chinese smart car technology company's malpractice suit against DLA Piper that accused the firm of mishandling a shareholder suit, with the appeals court panel saying federal court does not have jurisdiction over the suit.

  • June 10, 2024

    Chinese Dissident's Banker Lied About Accounts, Jury Hears

    The former head of banking for Miles Guo, the prominent Chinese dissident also known as Ho Wan Kwok, testified in Manhattan federal court Monday that he lied to financial institutions about a number of investment entities that are now the subject of $1 billion fraud charges.

  • June 10, 2024

    Conduent Buys Back $132M Of Shares From Carl Icahn

    Business services provider Conduent Inc. on Monday agreed to repurchase $132 million of common stock from activist investor Carl Icahn, ending Ichahn's stock in the company through a deal guided by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Holland & Knight LLP.

  • June 10, 2024

    Prudential Financial Hit With Data Breach Suit In NJ

    Prudential Financial Inc. faces a negligence suit alleging the company failed to protect the personal information of nearly 37,000 clients after it acknowledged that certain of its systems were compromised in a February hacking incident involving so-called social engineering.

  • June 10, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Big players and big moves dominated much of the past week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, as Tesla in particular and big corporations in general showed their pique over rulings that went toward stockholders or against conventional expectations.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy

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    With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.

  • What 3rd Circ. Trust Ruling Means For Securitization Market

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    Mercedes Tunstall and Michael Gambro at Cadwalader break down the Third Circuit's March decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. National Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust, as well as predict next steps in the litigation and the implications of the decision for servicers and the securitization industry as a whole.

  • Tips For Balanced Board Oversight After A Cyberincident

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's cybersecurity disclosure rules, as well as recent regulatory enforcement actions bringing board governance under scrutiny, continue to push boards toward active engagement in relation to their cyber-oversight role, despite it being unclear what a board's level of involvement should be, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Breaking Down DOJ's Individual Self-Disclosure Pilot Program

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently announced pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to voluntarily self-disclose corporate misconduct they were personally involved in, complementing a new whistleblower pilot program for individuals not involved in misconduct as well as the government's broader corporate enforcement approach, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Reverse Veil-Piercing Ruling Will Help Judgment Creditors

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    A New York federal court’s recent decision in Citibank v. Aralpa Holdings, finding two corporate entities liable for a judgment issued against a Mexican businessman, shows the value of reverse veil piercing as a remedy for judgment creditors to go after sophisticated debtors who squirrel away assets, says Gabe Bluestone at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Address Complainants Before They Become Whistleblowers

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    A New York federal court's dismissal of a whistleblower retaliation claim against HSBC Securities last month indicates that ignored complaints to management combined with financial incentives from regulators create the perfect conditions for a concerned and disgruntled employee to make the jump to federal whistleblower, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Ensuring Nonpublic Info Stays Private Amid SEC Crackdown

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    Companies and individuals must take steps to ensure material nonpublic information remains confidential while working outside the office, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continues to take enforcement actions against those who trade on MNPI and don't comply with new off-channel communications rules in the remote work era, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • What Cos. Are Reporting Under New SEC Cybersecurity Rule

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    Four months after its effective date, 14 companies have made disclosures under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's mandatory cybersecurity incident reporting rule, and some early trends are emerging, including a possible rush to file, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 10 Tips For ESG Disclosure Compliance In Private Funds

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    As regulators increase scrutiny of misleading claims about environmental, social and governance investments, private fund sponsors should consider several practical tips for communicating accurately with potential investors, drafting comprehensive disclosures and establishing internal policies that can keep pace with evolving compliance requirements, says Jonathan Rash at Ropes & Gray.

  • Binance Ruling Spotlights Muddled Post-Morrison Landscape

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in Williams v. Binance highlights the judiciary's struggle to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's Morrison v. National Australia Bank ruling to digital assets, and illustrates how Morrison's territorial limits on the federal securities laws have become convoluted, say Andrew Rhys Davies and Jessica Lewis at WilmerHale.

  • What FERC's Disclosure Demands Mean For Cos., Investors

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    Two recent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission orders reflect the commission's increasingly meticulous approach to reviewing corporate structures in applications for approval of proposed consolidations, acquisitions or changes in control — putting the onus on the regulated community to track and comply with ever-more-burdensome disclosure requirements, say attorneys at Willkie.

  • Corp. Transparency Act Could Survive 11th Circ. Several Ways

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    If the Eleventh Circuit upholds an Alabama federal court’s injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act, the anti-money laundering law could persist as a narrower version that could moot some constitutional challenges, but these remedies would likely generate additional regulatory or statutory ambiguities that would result in further litigation, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Del. Match.com Ruling Maintains Precedent In Time Of Change

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    Despite speculation that the Delaware Supreme Court could drive away corporations if it lowered the bar for business judgment review in its Match.com stockholder ruling, the court broke its recent run of controversial precedent-busting decisions by upholding, and arguably strengthening, minority stockholder protections against controller coercion, say Renee Zaytsev and Marc Ayala at Boies Schiller.

  • Macquarie Ruling Raises The Bar For Securities Fraud Claims

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week in Macquarie Infrastructure v. Moab Partners — holding that a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule does not forbid omissions in company disclosures unless they render other statements false — is a major setback for plaintiffs pursuing securities fraud claims against corporations, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • First 10b5-1 Insider Trading Case Raises Compliance Issues

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    The ongoing case against former Ontrak CEO Terren Peizer is the U.S. Department of Justice's first insider trading prosecution based primarily on the filing of 10b5-1 plans, and has important takeaways for attorneys reviewing corporate policies on the possession of material nonpublic information, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

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