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Securities
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September 05, 2024
CFTC Says Ex-Commish's Signature Was Forged For $1.5M Scam
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued the operator of an unlicensed commodity pool for allegedly targeting dozens of Spanish-speaking immigrants in a $1.5 million Ponzi-like scheme that used a fictitious license containing a counterfeit CFTC seal and a forged commissioner signature to falsely promise investors guaranteed monthly returns.
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September 05, 2024
Class Attys Vie To Lead Drug Co. Insider Trading Suit In Del.
A courtroom face-off over lead stockholder counsel duties in a Delaware Chancery Court case accusing a biopharmaceutical company's directors of insider trading and fiduciary duty breaches got edgy Thursday, after one of the plaintiff-side legal teams contended that the other's case was irreparably hobbled by conflicts of interest.
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September 05, 2024
Ex-SEC Enforcement Atty Joins Whistleblower Law Boutique
Kohn Kohn & Colapinto announced Thursday that a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney will join the whistleblower law firm as senior special counsel.
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September 05, 2024
Investment Firm Fights Order To Return Docs In NJ Bias Suit
A Black-owned investment firm accusing BlackRock Inc. and New Jersey of squeezing it out of a lucrative contract has challenged a U.S. magistrate judge's order to return redacted emails to the Garden State, arguing that the order was made without a full written record or a requested conference on the privilege dispute.
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September 05, 2024
Circor Dodges SEC Fine As Ex-Exec Faces Falsified Docs Suit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said industrial valve manufacturer Circor International Inc. has avoided a penalty after it self-reported and remediated an alleged accounting scheme, while the agency sued a former executive accused of falsifying the financial results for one of the company's business units.
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September 05, 2024
Pharma Co. Verrica Fails To Shed Investor Suit Over FDA OK
A Pennsylvania federal judge has partially denied Verrica Phamaceuticals Inc.'s second request to throw out a proposed class action filed by investors who claim the company defrauded them by hiding obstacles it faced in obtaining approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its lead product.
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September 05, 2024
Ga. Investment Adviser To Pay $335K To End SEC Suit
Atlanta-based West Mountain LLC and its director, Paul Alar, will pay $335,000 and take other steps to resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint alleging they fraudulently overvalued assets and collected inflated fees.
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September 05, 2024
CrowdStrike Brass Face Investor Suit Over Global Outage
Executives and directors of global cybersecurity company CrowdStrike have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging that they overstated the capabilities of the company's technology that eventually caused a massive disruption over the summer when its system crashed.
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September 05, 2024
7th Circ. Doubts JPMorgan Traders' Spoofing Appeal
The Seventh Circuit seemed skeptical Thursday about three former JPMorgan traders' assertion that evidentiary issues surrounding their underlying spoofing trials warrant unwinding their convictions for manipulating the market with fake orders for precious metals.
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September 05, 2024
2nd Circ. Chilly To Mortgage-Backed Securities ERISA Suit
The Second Circuit appeared unlikely Thursday to revive a union pension fund's suit looking to hold Wells Fargo and Ocwen Financial Corp. liable for losses on mortgage-backed securities, with two judges signaling the risky loans the fund sued over might not be covered by federal benefits law.
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September 05, 2024
Chancery Presses Pause On $450M Bolt Financial Financing
Affiliates of multinational investors Hedosophia and BlackRock have won a Delaware Court of Chancery pause of a purported Bolt Financial Inc. $450 million equity financing that would eliminate and replace all the company's preferred stock while returning founder Ryan Breslow to his CEO seat.
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September 05, 2024
Cooley Hires Corporate Governance Pro As Strategic Adviser
Cooley LLP has hired a thought leader with expertise in securities regulation as a strategic adviser to provide content for clients, including a new blog to give guidance on all types of governance issues, the firm announced Thursday.
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September 04, 2024
Robinhood Inks $3.9M Deal In Calif.'s Crypto Withdrawal Probe
Robinhood's cryptocurrency trading platform will pay a $3.9 million penalty to resolve the state of California's claims that the Menlo Park-based company didn't allow customers to make withdrawals from their accounts from 2018 to 2022, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Wednesday.
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September 04, 2024
SEC Lets Deadline Pass For 5th Circ. Private Funds Appeal
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won't challenge a Fifth Circuit decision that vacated its recently passed disclosure rules for private fund advisers, taking no action as its deadline to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court passed.
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September 04, 2024
FINRA Beats Post-Jarkesy Challenge To Enforcement Powers
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has beaten back a broker's bid to use the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Jarkesy decision to challenge its enforcement regime, after a Pennsylvania federal judge found other high court precedent barred him from hearing the broker's constitutional challenge to the regulator's proceedings.
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September 04, 2024
UBS Financial Gets Wrapped Up In Cash Sweep Class Action
UBS Financial Services has been hit with a proposed class action suit alleging it prioritized its own financial interests and those of its affiliated banks over customers by using its cash sweep program to direct customers' uninvested cash balances into accounts that disproportionately benefited the investment bank.
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September 04, 2024
PE Advisers Flouted Registration Requirements, SEC Says
A pair of Florida-based private equity advisers and their CEO have agreed to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that they broke federal securities laws by improperly declaring themselves exempt from registering as advisers to private funds, according to the agency.
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September 04, 2024
Icahn Enterprises Investor Sues Alleging 'Ponzi-Like' Scam
An Icahn Enterprises LP investor hit the partnership's billionaire founder Carl Icahn and its board with a derivative suit in Florida federal court Tuesday, accusing them of hiding "highly significant" risks, including the partnership's alleged "Ponzi-like" structure, which purportedly inflated its price and exposed it to regulatory probes and litigation.
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September 04, 2024
Ripple Gets OK To Pause SEC Penalty As It Mulls Appeal
A New York federal judge on Wednesday signed off on Ripple Labs' request to hold off on paying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission the $125 million penalty it owes to allow time for either side to appeal the landmark ruling in the agency's registration case.
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September 04, 2024
SEC Fines NJ Financial Cos. For Whistleblowing Violations
New Jersey-based brokerage Nationwide Planning Associates Inc. and two affiliated investment advisers have agreed to collectively pay $240,000 to settle allegations that they prevented their clients from acting as whistleblowers, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.
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September 04, 2024
Atty Tied To Ponzi Scheme Can't Discharge CFTC Debt
A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday denied an attorney's request to have his debt to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission discharged after he and others were found liable for $10 million for their roles in a Ponzi scheme.
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September 04, 2024
SEC Says $5M Fraud Scheme Targeted Venezuelan-Americans
A pair of Miami area residents and a company they control have agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over $3.25 million to settle affinity fraud allegations involving a purported proprietary automated trading platform they were developing.
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September 04, 2024
Judge Says EB-5 Investors, Fund Must Disclose More Info
An Illinois federal judge told a group of Chinese investors and a development fund on Wednesday they both must provide additional information in a suit accusing the fund of making off with $13.2 million intended for the development of a Hawaii resort.
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September 04, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Blackbeard IP Fight, Firm Data Breach
As summer winds down, the North Carolina Business Court tackled usage rights pertaining to footage and artifacts from Blackbeard's shipwreck while grappling with uncovering the details of a cyberattack that exposed the data of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
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September 04, 2024
Ex-Lender Says FDIC Can't 'Trap' Him In Dispute Without Trial
A former small-business financier has doubled down on his push to immediately halt an enforcement proceeding against him filed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., arguing it would be unjust to block his claims after a "sea change" in relevant case law.
Expert Analysis
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Advisers Can Avoid Gaps In SEC Marketing Rule Compliance
A recent risk alert from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the enforcement history of the marketing rule indicate that advisers have encountered persistent difficulties in achieving compliance — but there are steps advisers can take to mitigate risks of violations, say Scott Moss and Jimmy Kang at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.
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Banks As Crypto Custodians May Rest On SEC Bulletin's Fate
Banks' willingness to accept custody of cryptocurrency assets, like the exchange-traded funds approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this spring, may hinge on whether a 2022 SEC accounting bulletin directing banks to track customers' digital assets on their balance sheets can survive Congress' attempts to strike it down, says Roger Chari at Duane Morris.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Takeaways From Regulators' £61.6M Citigroup Trading Fine
Following the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority’s recent significant fining of Citigroup for its catastrophic trading error, and with more enforcement likely, institutions should update their controls and ensure system warnings do not become routine and therefore disregarded, says Abdulali Jiwaji at Signature Litigation.
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Big Banks Face Potential Broader Recovery Plan Rules
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent call for potentially subjecting more banks to recovery planning standards would represent a significant expansion of the scope of the recovery guidelines, and banks that would be affected should assess whether they’re prepared, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Practical Private Equity Lessons From 2 Delaware Deals
A pair of Delaware Chancery Court cases remind private equity sponsors that specificity is crucial through the lens of deal certainty, particularly around closing conditions and agreement sections of acquisition agreements, say Robert Rizzo and Larissa Lucas at Weil Gotshal and William Lafferty at Morris Nichols.
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New Laws, Regs Mean More Scrutiny Of Airline Carbon Claims
Recent climate disclosure laws and regulations in the U.S. and Europe mean that scrutiny of airlines' green claims will likely continue to intensify — so carriers must make sure their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through use of sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and carbon offsets measure up to their marketing, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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4 Tips For Drafting Earnouts To Avoid Disputes
Amid slowed merger and acquisition activity, buyers and sellers are increasingly turning to earnout provisions to get deals done, but these must be carefully drafted to avoid interpretative differences that can lead to later disputes, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers
Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.
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Best Practices For Chemical Transparency In Supply Chains
A flurry of new and forthcoming regulations in different jurisdictions that require disclosure of potentially hazardous substances used in companies' products and processes will require businesses to take proactive steps to build chemical transparency into their supply chains, and engage robustly and systematically with vendors, says Jillian Stacy at Enhesa.