Securities

  • March 13, 2025

    ADM Can't Duck Suit Over Nutrition Biz Investigation

    An Illinois federal judge has refused to dismiss an investor suit claiming that the purported growth of Archer Daniels Midland's nutrition segment was based on improper accounting practices, saying the shareholders have made "robust" allegations that company executives made knowingly false statements about its profitability.

  • March 13, 2025

    Amid Del. Corporate Law Overhaul Push, Texas Turns Up Heat

    As Delaware lawmakers advance changes to the state's general corporation law — aimed in part at stopping companies from moving their corporate charters — they are facing increased pressure from their counterparts in Texas, where legislation appears to be on a fast dash in an attempt to convince more businesses to make it their legal home.

  • March 13, 2025

    Del.'s Divisive Corporate Law Rework Passes In State Senate

    Divisive amendments to Delaware's general corporation law cleared the state Senate Thursday with multiple questions but little debate and without dissenting votes, and will now be sent to the House amid warnings that failure to approve could weaken the state's standing as a top corporate charter hub.

  • March 13, 2025

    Senate Stablecoin Bill Advances With Democrats Divided

    The Republican-led U.S. Senate Banking Committee advanced its stablecoin framework Thursday with the help of Democrats who broke from ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren's opposition, while a separate bill on what is being called debanking passed along party lines.

  • March 13, 2025

    Vanguard's $40M Deal In Tax Suit Gets Delay In Final Approval

    A Pennsylvania federal judge delayed a proposed $40 million settlement between Vanguard and investors who claimed the firm unfairly stuck them with big tax bills, saying both sides must respond to objections about the effects of a recent SEC settlement on the deal.

  • March 13, 2025

    SEC Drops Dealer-Registration Case Criticized By Hedge Fund

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping its claim that a Boston hedge fund should have registered as a broker-dealer, abandoning a case that the defense had argued overstepped the law and would subject more firms to federal oversight.

  • March 13, 2025

    NY Taps Ex-CFPB Official For Top Financial Enforcement Role

    New York's financial services regulator said Thursday that it has hired a new top consumer protection cop, bringing aboard a veteran enforcement official recently departed from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

  • March 13, 2025

    Judge Orders Reinstatement Of Many Fired Federal Workers

    A California federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate reinstatement of certain probationary employees fired from six federal agencies, saying the Office of Personnel Management did not have the authority to direct those terminations, making the firings "unlawful."

  • March 13, 2025

    Willkie Farr Hires Kirkland Private Funds Partner In NY

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has hired a private funds attorney in New York who spent the past four years at Kirkland & Ellis LLP advising fund sponsors on operational and other matters, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • March 13, 2025

    Paul Hastings Adds Ex-DLA Piper Structured Credit Pro In NY

    Paul Hastings LLP has added a structured credit attorney previously with DLA Piper as a partner in New York, the firm announced Thursday.

  • March 12, 2025

    Capital One Nearly Bought Frank For $125M, Javice Jury Told

    A Capital One investment banker told a New York federal jury on Wednesday that the lender was eyeing student financial aid startup Frank for a potential $125 million acquisition before backing out, $50 million less than what JPMorgan Chase & Co. ultimately paid for the company, the result of what prosecutors say was a scheme to fraudulently induce JPMorgan to make the purchase.

  • March 12, 2025

    Del. Justices Told Conflicts Tainted AstraZeneca Co.'s $3B Sale

    A stockholder class attorney told Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday that a vice chancellor never addressed the undisclosed conflicts cited in a Court of Chancery suit accusing AstraZeneca PLC of lining up a conflicted, underpriced $3 billion sale of clinical stage biopharmaceutical venture Viela Bio Inc.

  • March 12, 2025

    European Commission Wants DC Court To Ax $84M ECT Suit

    The European Commission has urged a D.C. federal court to toss an investor's suit against Spain to enforce an approximately €77 million ($84 million) arbitral award under the Energy Charter Treaty as the country plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a related case.

  • March 12, 2025

    Crypto Influencer's Counsel Says SEC Will Drop Case

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to drop its case over cryptocurrency influencer Ian Balina's alleged promotion of so-called SPRK tokens, his attorney said Wednesday.

  • March 12, 2025

    SEC Says Ex-Allarity Execs Concealed Doomed FDA Approval

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued three former executives of clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Allarity Therapeutics Inc. in Massachusetts federal court, alleging Wednesday that they schemed to conceal from the public that the company's new drug application for its flagship drug had no chance of gaining regulatory approval.

  • March 12, 2025

    Coinbase Escapes Direct Listing Suit Despite New Plaintiff Bid

    A California federal court has dismissed a proposed class action against Coinbase over its direct listing following the lead plaintiff's decision to leave the suit when the Ninth Circuit dismissed a similar case brought against Slack Technologies, saying the voluntary dismissal counts as a final proceeding.

  • March 12, 2025

    SEC Answers Latham's Call To Free Up Private Capital

    Staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance Wednesday that could allow accredited investors to self-certify their ability to participate in private securities offerings, a move that Latham & Watkins LLP said represents a "new era" for capital fundraising. 

  • March 12, 2025

    Del. Senate Panel Sends Corp. Law Overhaul To Full Chamber

    Delaware legislation that could narrow stockholder opportunities to sue state-chartered corporations for fiduciary duty breaches or access to books and records moved to the state's full Senate on Wednesday after a less than 90-minute committee hearing that leaned toward the bill's supporters.

  • March 12, 2025

    Binance Asks Judge To Rethink Upholding Terror Victims' Suit

    Cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao have asked a New York federal judge to reconsider his ruling allowing a bulk of claims from a group of Hamas attack survivors to move forward, arguing that the survivors do not allege that Binance had a "close nexus" to the terrorist groups that allegedly used its platforms.

  • March 12, 2025

    Caribou Biosciences Brass Face Investor's Clinical Trials Suit

    Executives and directors of Caribou Biosciences Inc. have been hit with a shareholder's derivative suit alleging that they overstated the safety and efficacy of Caribou's cell therapy and concealed that the company was at risk of being unable to fund its operations.

  • March 12, 2025

    Convicted Insurance Magnate Settles SEC's $57M Fraud Suit

    Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg has netted a deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve claims he misappropriated $57 million in client funds, tying up the civil suit just four months after he copped to related criminal charges.

  • March 12, 2025

    Crypto CEO Linked To Jack Abramoff Convicted Of Fraud

    A California federal jury on Wednesday convicted a cryptocurrency company founder of fraud and money laundering over allegations he stole more than $10 million from tens of thousands of investors in a scheme that involved disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

  • March 12, 2025

    PwC Singapore Fudged Compliance Test Data, PCAOB Says

    PricewaterhouseCoopers' Singapore unit has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that the firm failed to have proper policies and procedures in place for periodic reviews of staff members' financial independence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Ex-Smartmatic Execs Seek FCPA Reprieve After Trump Order

    Two former executives of electronic-voting system developer Smartmatic asked a Florida federal judge on Wednesday to push back the schedule in their bribery case while the U.S. Department of Justice reviews pending Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases.

  • March 12, 2025

    Ohio Man Gets 30 Months For $2M Energy Investment Scam

    An Ohio man was sentenced to 2½ years in federal prison for his role in a $2 million scheme that duped investors into thinking they were funding the construction of a plant that would convert biodegradable waste into green energy, acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti announced.

Expert Analysis

  • Chancery Ruling Holds Authorized Share Takeaways For Cos.

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent ruling in Salama v. Simon resolved statutory ambiguity in favor of boards seeking authorized share increases, and has important implications for litigators presenting extrinsic evidence in support of contract or statutory interpretation arguments, says Robin Wechkin at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    NFT Bill Needs Refining To Effectively Regulate Digital Assets

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    A recent bill in the U.S. House proposing to regulate nonfungible tokens as digital assets would leave key concepts undefined until the U.S. comptroller general completes an after-the-fact study of NFTs, showing it needs more work before it is comprehensive enough to meaningfully protect the market, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • McMahon SEC Settlement Warns Of Nondisclosure's Price

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent financial nondisclosure settlement with former WWE CEO Vince McMahon illustrates the breadth of executives' reimbursement obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and highlights the importance of building robust internal corporate reporting processes, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Series

    Racing Corvettes Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I use when racing Corvettes have enhanced my legal practice in several ways, because driving, like practicing law, requires precision, awareness and a good set of brakes — complete with the wisdom to know how and when to use them, says Kat Mateo at Olshan Frome.

  • Bill Would Bring Welcome Clarity To Del. Corporate Law

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    A recently proposed bill in Delaware that would provide greater predictability for areas including director independence and controlling stockholders reflects prudential adjustments consistent with the state's long history of refining and modernizing its corporate law, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Opinion

    Attorneys Must Act Now To Protect Judicial Independence

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    Given the Trump administration's recent moves threatening the independence of the judiciary, including efforts to impeach judges who ruled against executive actions, lawyers must protect the rule of law and resist attempts to dilute the judicial branch’s authority, says attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Del. Supreme Court TripAdvisor Ruling May Limit 'MFW Creep'

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Maffei v. Palkon ruling regarding TripAdvisor's proposed reincorporation to Nevada potentially signals a turning point in the trend of expanding the protections from Kahn v. M&F Worldwide to other types of transactions, says Andrew J. Haile at Elon University.

  • What To Expect In Crypto Banking After SEC Nixed Guidance

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    With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently rescinding its controversial cryptocurrency accounting guidance, the industry's focus will turn to the potentially significant hurdle to crypto banking posed by the federal banking regulators, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Partially Faulting Airline For 401(k) ESG Focus Belies ERISA

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    A Texas federal court's recent finding that American Airlines breached its fiduciary duty of loyalty, but not of prudence, by letting its 401(k) pursue environmental, social and governance investments, misinterprets the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's standard of care, says Jeff Mamorsky, a Cohen & Buckmann partner and ERISA drafter.

  • Fund Names Rule FAQs Leave Some Interpretative Uncertainty

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    Although recently released FAQs clarify many specific points of the 2023 expansion to the Investment Company Act's fund names rule, important questions remain about how U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff will interpret other key terms when the end-of-year compliance date arrives, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work

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    Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.

  • What Travis Hill's Vision For FDIC Could Portend For Banks

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    If selected to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a permanent capacity, acting Chairman Travis Hill is likely to prioritize removing barriers to innovation and institution-level growth, emphasizing the idea that eliminating rules, relaxing standards and reducing scrutiny will reinvigorate the industry, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

  • Will Independent Federal Agencies Remain Independent?

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    For 90 years, members of multimember independent federal agencies have relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. establishing the security of their positions — but as the Trump administration attempts to overturn this understanding, it is unclear how the high court will respond, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

  • Del. Justices' D&O Ruling Clarifies 'Related' Claim Analysis

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    In its recent decision in the Alexion Pharmaceuticals coverage case, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a "meaningful linkage" standard for relatedness analysis, providing further guidance to Delaware policyholders on how to navigate those directors and officers insurance disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.

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