Securities

  • March 17, 2025

    SEC Says Ex-CFO Cooked Pot Co. Acreage's Books

    The former chief financial officer of cannabis company Acreage faces U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he covered up the company's attempt to inflate its 2019 cash balance with a so-called round-trip transaction involving an affiliate.

  • March 17, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Won't Halt Federal Workers Reinstatement Order

    A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Monday denied the Trump administration's bid for an immediate administrative stay of a California district court order requiring reinstatement of some probationary federal workers fired from six agencies, with the majority saying a pause "would disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head."

  • March 17, 2025

    SEC's Acting Chair Uyeda Promises To Slow Rulemaking

    Acting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mark Uyeda said Monday that he has directed staff to reassess a number of finalized and proposed regulations championed by the Biden administration, including those targeting mutual fund disclosures and the handling of crypto assets, as he championed a "smoother regulatory course" for the agency.

  • March 17, 2025

    $4.4B Alteryx Sale Was Lowball Offer, Investors Tell Del. Court

    Former stockholders of cloud-based enterprise analytics platform Alteryx Inc. have challenged the venture's allegedly lowball, $4.4 billion sale in 2024 to two private equity buyers, claiming breaches of fiduciary duty in Delaware Chancery Court that include undisclosed conflicts among directors and key officers.

  • March 17, 2025

    Auto Mogul Says $150M Note Changes Were For Co.'s Survival

    An auto parts manufacturer and its leader have urged a Michigan federal judge to find that they didn't fraudulently change promissory notes worth $150 million to cheat Alter Domus LLC out of payment, telling the court the amendments were made to help the company survive the COVID-19 pandemic.  

  • March 17, 2025

    Crypto Firm Stole $28M In Pig Butchering Scam, Suit Says

    An Alabama resident has filed a proposed class action against two cryptocurrency firms and their CEO, accusing them of running a $28 million "pig butchering" scam that defrauded victims by laundering stolen cryptocurrency through a complex network of wallets.

  • March 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Lets White House Anti-DEI Efforts Proceed

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday lifted a temporary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's administration from implementing the bulk of his executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, though each judge on the panel had differing views on the matter. 

  • March 14, 2025

    Fannie, Freddie Can't Avoid $612M Investor Win, Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday upheld a $612.4 million jury verdict against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ruling that the jury was provided with "ample evidence" that reasonably led to its conclusion that FHFA improperly amended stock purchase agreements related to the companies.

  • March 14, 2025

    Qatari Sheikh's Billions Invoked In $1M Scam, SEC Claims

    A purported wealth management company and its managing member face U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud allegations over a pair of $1 million dollar schemes, including one involving an elaborate ruse invoking ties to the wealth of the royal family of Qatar.

  • March 14, 2025

    Texas Judge Rejects Ex-GloriFi CEO's Bid To Stop Claims Sale

    A Texas federal judge shot down an alleged attempt by the former CEO of bankrupt conservative-centered fintech startup GloriFi to preserve the ability to sue investors like Ken Griffin's Citadel LLC and Vivek Ramaswamy, saying Friday the bankruptcy judge got it right.

  • March 14, 2025

    Newsmax Says It Shelled Out $40M To End Smartmatic Suit

    Newsmax Media Inc. paid $40 million in last year's settlement with Smartmatic USA Corp. to put to rest the election technology company defamation suit ahead of trial, according to a disclosure recently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • March 14, 2025

    'Pig Butchering' Crypto Site Must Pay $2.5M, Judge Says

    A purported crypto trading platform has been ordered to pay nearly $2.5 million after failing to respond to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims that it was at the heart of a so-called pig-butchering scheme — or a scam that sees victims fleeced by fictitious, chatty social media users.

  • March 14, 2025

    BNY Sued Over $17.7B Unregistered Barclays-Issued Notes

    A trio of investors has filed a proposed class action against The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. for allegedly failing to properly authenticate several exchange-traded note offerings from Barclays, leading to the sale of $17.7 billion in unregistered securities.

  • March 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Energy Exec's Insider Trading Conviction

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas energy executive's conviction for insider trading on natural gas futures based on the constitutionality of federal laws and regulations that criminalize manipulative commodity deals.

  • March 14, 2025

    Coupang Hit With Corporate Fraud, Waste Claims In Chancery

    The officers and directors of tech company Coupang Inc., are facing a derivative lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court — accused of corporate mismanagement, fraud and waste, including labor violations in South Korea.

  • March 14, 2025

    Par Funding Conspirator Gets 11 Years For Fraud, Atty Assault

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has sentenced Par Funding principal James "Jimmy" LaForte to 11 years and four months in prison for helping his family run a $404 million racketeering conspiracy and violently assaulting Par Funding receivership's court-appointed counsel in a position prosecutors described as the loan company's "loyal attack dog."

  • March 14, 2025

    Chief Justice Won't Halt FINRA Case Against Suing Brokerage

    Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Friday denied a request to stay an in-house Financial Industry Regulatory Authority disciplinary proceeding while a broker-dealer attempts to convince the justices to hear its constitutional challenge to the regulator.

  • March 14, 2025

    Three Arrows Beats FTX To Get $1.5B Bankruptcy Claim

    The liquidators of failed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital have prevailed in a dispute with FTX Trading Ltd. over the allowance of a $1.53 billion bankruptcy claim, with a Delaware judge deciding to grant Three Arrows' bid to change its original claim despite FTX asserting that the move was made in bad faith.

  • March 14, 2025

    Biotech Wins Dismissal Of Investor Fraud Claims

    A Boston federal judge on Friday dismissed a proposed investor class action against biotech Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc., ruling that the lawsuit's facts tend to support innocent explanations for executives' statements about its two drug prospects.

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Trims Investor's Bid To Rescind Funds From Pot Co.

    A Florida federal judge has found that an investor can't rescind a deal or claim fraud in a suit alleging that the officers and agents of a cannabis company hid a $13 million tax liability when he invested.

  • March 14, 2025

    FTC Urges 8th Circ. Not To Pause Insulin Pricing Case

    The Federal Trade Commission has urged the Eighth Circuit not to pause its in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices, telling the appeals court the pharmacy benefit managers have no chance of winning on their constitutional claims.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ex-Ozy Media Employee Avoids Prison After Cooperating

    A former Ozy Media employee who became a government cooperator and testified at the fraud trial of the company and its founder Carlos Watson was sentenced to time served Friday.

  • March 14, 2025

    Former SEC General Counsel Barbero Joins Venable In DC

    Venable LLP announced Friday that former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission general counsel Megan Barbero has joined the firm's Washington, D.C., office following a three-year stint at the Wall Street regulator. 

  • March 14, 2025

    Startup Investor Says Cooley Knew About Fraud Probe

    Attorneys for a dry cleaning delivery startup knew that the founder and sole director of the company had fabricated company documents and was the subject of an active securities fraud investigation in Texas as he solicited money from investors, an ex-board member said Friday in response to the law firm's bid to toss a securities fraud lawsuit.

  • March 14, 2025

    Kraken Beats Suit Over Crypto Scam Losses, For Good

    A California state judge permanently tossed a lawsuit Friday alleging lax security measures on the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken are to blame for a Los Angeles County man's loss of nearly $50,000 in a digital asset investment scam.

Expert Analysis

  • During Financial Regulatory Uncertainty, Slow Down And Wait

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    Amid the upheaval at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the slowdown in activity at the prudential agencies, banks must exercise patience before adopting strategic and tactical plans, as well as closely monitor legal and regulatory developments concerning all the federal financial regulators, say attorneys at Dorsey.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Fix The SEC's Pay-To-Play Rule

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    Nearly 15 years after its adoption, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's pay-to-play rule is not working as intended — a notion recently echoed by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce — and the commission should reconsider the strict liability standard, raise the campaign contribution limits and remove the look-back provision, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 4 Ways Women Attorneys Can Build A Legal Legacy

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    This Women’s History Month, women attorneys should consider what small, day-to-day actions they can take to help leave a lasting impact for future generations, even if it means mentoring one person or taking 10 minutes to make a plan, says Jackie Prester, a former shareholder at Baker Donelson.

  • Why A Rare SEC Dismissal May Not Reflect A New Approach

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's pending dismissal of its case against Silver Point is remarkable to the extent that it reflects a novel repudiation of a decision made during the prior commission, a deeper look suggests it may not represent a shift in policy approach, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Deficiency Trends In National Futures Association Exams

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    A recent notice from the National Futures Association outlining the most common deficiencies uncovered during exams gives member firms an opportunity to review prior guidance, particularly regarding the hot topic of implementing procedures governing the use of outsourced service providers, say attorneys at Akin.

  • A Judge's Pointers For Adding Spice To Dry Legal Writing

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    U.S. District Judge Fred Biery shares a few key lessons about how to go against the grain of the legal writing tradition by adding color to bland judicial opinions, such as by telling a human story and injecting literary devices where possible.

  • Mastering The Fundamentals Of Life Sciences Due Diligence

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    As life sciences transactions continue to gain tremendous momentum, companies participating in these transactions must conduct effective and strategic regulatory due diligence, which involves extensive amounts of information and varies by manifold factors, says Anna Zhao at GunnerCooke.

  • Lessons Learned From SAS' Flight Through Chapter 11

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    Scandinavia's SAS is the first European airline to find its wings through the U.S. Chapter 11 process since COVID-19 rocked the aviation industry — and while the process involved some familiar steps, certain complex jurisdictional issues and non-U.S. stakeholders required the carrier to venture into uncharted airspace, says Emily Hong at Norton Rose.

  • Why NY May Want To Reconsider Its LLC Transparency Law

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    Against the backdrop of the myriad challenges to the federal Corporate Transparency Act, it may be prudent for New York to reconsider its adoption of the LLC Transparency Act, since it's unclear whether the Empire State's "baby-CTA" statute is still necessary or was passed prematurely, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Expectations For SEC Exams As Private Credit Market Grows

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may rely heavily on its Division of Examinations for regulating private credit markets amid their expansion into the retail investor space, so investment advisers should be prepared to address several likely areas of focus when confronted with an exam, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Paves Path Out Of Loper Bright 'Twilight Zone'

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright ruling created a twilight zone between express statutory delegations that trigger agency deference and implicit ones that do not, but the Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Moctezuma-Reyes v. Garland crafted a two-part test for resolving cases within this gray area, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • What FERC Scrutiny Of Directors, Assets Means For Investors

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has recently paid dramatically increased attention to appointments of power company directors by investors, and ownership of vertical assets that provide inputs for electric power production and sale — so investors in FERC-regulated entities should be paying more attention to these matters as well, say attorneys at Day Pitney.

  • What's Potentially In Store For CFTC Under New Leadership

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    Under the leadership of acting U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Caroline Pham, and with the nomination of former commissioner Brian Quintenz to serve as permanent chair, the commission is set to widely embrace digital assets and event contracts, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Revived Executive Order Is A Deregulatory Boon To Banks

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    A recently reinstated 2019 executive order reveals the Trump administration’s willingness to provide unprecedented protections for regulated parties — including financial institutions — but to claim them, banks and other entities must adopt a forward-leaning posture to work with the regulators, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • 3 Ways Civil Plaintiffs Could Fill An FCPA Enforcement Gap

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    While the Department of Justice recently announced it would deprioritize Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations into U.S. businesses without obvious ties to international crime, companies should stay alert to private plaintiffs, who could fill this enforcement void — and win significant civil damages — through several legal channels, says Eric Nitz at MoloLamken.

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