Securities

  • October 30, 2024

    FTX Witness Who Saw Bankman-Fried's 'Evil' Avoids Prison

    A Manhattan federal judge allowed FTX's former chief engineer to avoid prison Wednesday, crediting his trial testimony against the crypto exchange's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, his ongoing cooperation and his relatively small role in the $11.2 billion fraud.

  • October 30, 2024

    Gibson Dunn Lands Trump Impeachment Prosecutor, 4 Others

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP announced Wednesday that it had hired away former President Donald Trump's impeachment prosecutor from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP to co-chair its global litigation practice group in New York, as well as four other former federal prosecutors from that firm.

  • October 29, 2024

    'In-And-Out' Trades Don't Doom Lead Plaintiff Bid, Judge Says

    A Manhattan federal judge appointed a Pomerantz LLP client as lead plaintiff in a shareholder suit against Nano Nuclear Energy Inc., rejecting arguments that the investor's handful of so-called in-and-out trades in the company's stock should preclude her from representing the proposed class in securities fraud allegations against the company.

  • October 29, 2024

    Alameda Research Wants Crypto Exchange To Return $50M

    Alameda Research, the crypto trading affiliate of the bankrupt FTX digital asset empire, has sued the operators of KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange in Delaware bankruptcy court seeking the return of $50 million of assets that continue to be held on the platform despite the debtors' requests.

  • October 29, 2024

    BofA Faces Scrutiny Of AML Program, Zelle Payment Handling

    Bank of America Corp. disclosed Tuesday that its anti-money laundering program is a focus of ongoing "discussions" with federal regulators and said it is mulling litigation with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a potential enforcement action related to digital payment network Zelle.

  • October 29, 2024

    Y-mAbs Therapeutics Investors Get Final OK For $19.7M Deal

    A New York federal judge has granted final approval to a $19.7 million settlement between Y-mAbs Therapeutics and investors who claim the company misrepresented the likelihood that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would approve the company's signature pediatric nerve cancer treatment, giving class counsel a $6.5 million cut of the deal.

  • October 29, 2024

    NFT Platform OpenSea Taps Consensys Atty To Be Deputy GC

    Blockchain software developer Consensys' head of litigation has departed the firm amid its fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to step into a deputy general counsel role at OpenSea, another crypto firm facing scrutiny from the securities regulator.

  • October 29, 2024

    Lovesac To Pay SEC $1.5M Fine In Accounting Fraud Case

    Beanbag chair maker Lovesac has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations that some of the company's former executives conspired to cover up an accounting debacle over how it recorded what's known as last-mile shipping costs.

  • October 29, 2024

    Yieldstreet Investors' $9M Deal Over Risky Offerings OK'd

    A New York federal judge has given his preliminary blessing to a settlement worth up to $9 million resolving a class action by Yieldstreet investors who accused the online platform of offering "riskier-than-junk-bond investments" to the public that caused the plaintiffs to lose millions of dollars in defaulted loans.

  • October 29, 2024

    Defunct Pot Co. CEO Says 'Grifter' Is Trying To Stop Settlement

    The founder of a defunct marijuana greenhouse claims the $1.5 million settlement it made with a class of investors has been stymied in unrelated legal action filed by a "sophisticated grifter" looking for personal gain, urging a Colorado federal judge to push aside the bankruptcy action.

  • October 29, 2024

    Chancery Shoots Down $9.5M Straight Path Atty Fee Claim

    Stockholder attorneys who waged a multiyear Delaware Court of Chancery battle over IDT Corp. founder Howard Jonas' campaign to scuttle damage claims against him arising from federal sanctions against Straight Path Communications on Tuesday lost a Chancery fight for a $9.5 million attorney fee.

  • October 29, 2024

    Crypto Co. Consensys CEO Slams SEC In Announcing Layoffs

    Blockchain software firm Consensys on Tuesday announced a round of layoffs affecting 20% of its staff that it says was driven in part by a costly legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but a spokesperson confirmed to Law360 that the firm's legal department wasn't part of the reduction.

  • October 29, 2024

    Biopharma Co. Escapes Investor Suit Over Drug Approval Lies

    Biopharmaceutical company Spero Therapeutics Inc. has escaped a proposed investor class action accusing it of concealing warning signs that it would not secure regulatory approval of one of its drugs, with the court ruling that Spero's interactions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration do not indicate Spero should have known its application would be rejected.

  • October 29, 2024

    Investors Float $21M Deal To End Life Sciences SPAC Suit

    Shareholders in special purpose acquisition company CM Life Sciences Holdings have reached a tentative $21 million class settlement in Delaware's Court of Chancery after suing over alleged missing or misleading disclosures in the lead-up to the take-public merger of clinical data and genomics company Sema4 Holdings in July 2021.

  • October 29, 2024

    Sham Getty Stock Offer Lands Investor 10-Month Prison Term

    A former Massachusetts corporate executive will serve 10 months in prison for launching a sham takeover bid for Seattle-based Getty Images Holdings to drive up its share price and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit, a Boston federal judge said Tuesday.

  • October 29, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives Investor Suit Against Chinese News App

    The Second Circuit has revived a securities class action alleging that Chinese news aggregation app Qutoutiao hid changes in its advertising policies that allegedly spurred fraudulent advertisements on the app and eventually caused its share price to decline, finding that the lower court erred in determining that the suit's claims sound in fraud.

  • October 29, 2024

    2 Firms Tapped To Lead Five Below Investor Suit

    Berger Montague PC and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP will represent a proposed class of investors in a suit alleging that teen-focused retail chain Five Below overstated its growth prospects, then saw trading prices crater when it announced that its sales expectations fell short.

  • October 29, 2024

    Burns & Levinson Atty Duo Latest To Join Blank Rome

    Blank Rome has announced it added a pair of attorneys from Burns & Levinson to its office in Boston, a move that the firm said bolsters its litigation and corporate capabilities and serves as the latest example of lawyers moving between the two firms since Blank Rome opened the office in April with 25 Burns & Levinson corporate and finance attorneys.

  • October 29, 2024

    Oil Trader's Brother Gets Probation, Fine For Brazilian Bribes

    An ailing Connecticut man who admitted to helping his brother pull off a scheme to bribe officials at Brazil's state-owned oil company has been sentenced to probation, a fine and asset forfeiture, federal court records showed Tuesday.

  • October 29, 2024

    Financial Firm Gets $1.4M Placeholder Against Adviser

    A Connecticut state court judge has granted a financial firm's bid for a nearly $1.4 million placeholder against an exiting financial adviser during ongoing FINRA arbitration, reasoning the firm has shown a likely chance of proving the adviser siphoned customers during a transition to a new broker-dealer.

  • October 29, 2024

    Alibaba's $433.5M Investor Suit Deal Gets Initial OK

    A New York federal judge granted preliminary approval to a $433.5 million deal settling a suit between Alibaba Group and investors alleging the company made misstatements about its exclusivity practices and the planned $34 billion initial public offering of a fintech affiliate.

  • October 29, 2024

    1st Circ. Scraps Securities Fraud Case Against 3D Printing Co.

    The First Circuit has affirmed a ruling throwing out a securities fraud lawsuit against 3D printing business Desktop Metal, finding the investor behind the action abandoned one of her claims and failed to adequately allege the other. 

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Jones Day Litigator Joins Honigman In Detroit

    Honigman LLP has brought on a former Jones Day business and tort litigation associate as a business litigation practice group partner.

  • October 28, 2024

    JPMorgan CEO Says Banks Must 'Fight Back' As Regs Mount

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that it's time for the banking industry to "fight back" against aggressive federal regulators, criticizing what he described as an "onslaught" of unnecessary, overly harsh rulemaking.

  • October 28, 2024

    Masimo Sues Founder Over Alleged 'Empty Voting' Scheme

    Masimo Corp. has sued its founder for allegedly conspiring with an investment firm and company stockholder to manipulate a shareholder vote in order to maintain his seat on the medical technology company's board of directors.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals

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    Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure

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    Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Making Sure Your Co. Isn't In The Next Section 13(f) Sweep

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    Enforcement actions taken against 11 institutional investment managers for alleged failures to file forms required by Section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange Act serve as a reminder that firms should carefully monitor their obligations to avoid becoming the target of the next enforcement sweep, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    With the implementation of H.B. 989, the third quarter of 2024 has been transformative for banking law and regulation in Florida, and this new law places a strong emphasis on fair access to banking, and prohibits ideologically or politically motivated decisions by financial institutions, says Sha’Ron James at Gunster.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • How The 2025 Tax Policy Debate Will Affect The Energy Sector

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    Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. election, 2025 will bring a major tax policy debate that could affect the energy sector more than any other part of the economy — so stakeholders who could be affected should be engaging now to make sure they understand the stakes, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • 3rd Circ. Hertz Ruling Highlights Flawed Bankruptcy Theory

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    The Third Circuit, in its recent Hertz bankruptcy decision, became the latest appeals court to hold that noteholders were entitled to interest before shareholders under the absolute priority rule, but risked going astray by invoking the flawed theory of code impairment, say Matthew McGill and David Casazza at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Breaking Down CFTC's Novel Theory Driving Uniswap Action

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement action against Uniswap concerning digital asset liquidity appears to be a unilateral attempt to expand its regulatory authority in the absence of official congressional approval, putting forth a novel theory of liability that will likely be tested through litigation, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

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