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Securities
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May 29, 2024
11th Circ. Backs SEC Win In Trader's Challenge To 'Dealer' Tag
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's win in a suit accusing a microcap stock trader of earning $21.5 million while operating as an unregistered dealer, further solidifying the regulator's argument that so-called toxic lenders are considered unregistered dealers.
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May 29, 2024
Forescout Investors Win Class Cert. Over Tanked Sale
A California federal judge agreed to certify a class of shareholders of cybersecurity company Forescout who allege the company deceived investors ahead of a sale that ultimately fell apart, marking the latest win for plaintiffs who previously saw the case dismissed with prejudice three years ago.
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May 29, 2024
SEC Says Asia-Focused Fund Firm Misled Its Investors
A now-shuttered Asia-focused investment adviser and its CEO have agreed to pay fines totaling $600,000 as part of a deal to end U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations they misled investors about certain details of their portfolios, including a key metric for assessing the risks they faced, and failed to disclose a conflict of interest.
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May 29, 2024
Chancery Sends Momentus De-SPAC Claims Toward Trial
A Delaware vice chancellor refused to dismiss any counts Wednesday in a suit filed by investors in the special purpose acquisition company that took commercial space venture Momentus Inc. public in August 2021, with the court noting that the case will be judged on plaintiff friendly entire fairness standards.
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May 29, 2024
Split 3rd Circ. Affirms Court's Revision To $10M SEC Deal
A split Third Circuit panel has affirmed a district court's decision to revise a nearly $10 million consent judgment between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a man it accused of misappropriating millions from a private equity fund after he was found in contempt of the judgment.
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May 29, 2024
Bankrupt EV Charger Co. Execs Hid Liquidity Woes, Suit Says
Three current and former executives of bankrupt electric-vehicle charging infrastructure company Charge Enterprises Inc. face an investor's proposed class action claiming the executives concealed a liquidity crisis involving the company's founder and his investment advisory firm that allegedly precipitated Charge's bankruptcy.
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May 29, 2024
Texas Securities Regulator Orders Crypto MLM To Shut Down
Texas State Securities Board Commissioner Travis J. Iles has ordered the shutdown of an allegedly fraudulent Arkansas-based multilevel marketing scheme that claimed to offer investments in cloud mining cryptocurrency.
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May 29, 2024
Bankrupt BlockFi Agrees To $150k Penalty In Conn. Bond Row
Bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has reached a deal with Connecticut's banking regulator to pay a $150,000 civil penalty over claims the company failed to maintain a required surety bond, and a decision in November 2020 to halt account withdrawals from the platform.
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May 29, 2024
Robinhood Reaches Deal To End 'Meme Stock' Investor Suit
Robinhood Markets Inc. told a Florida federal judge Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with investors to resolve a suit over the trading platform's suspension of so-called meme stock purchases, saying it anticipates finalizing the deal within the next two weeks.
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May 29, 2024
Chancery Pins Down Musk, Tesla On Pay Bid, Del. Jurisdiction
Delaware's chancellor has nailed Elon Musk, Tesla Inc. and their counsel to assurances that the company won't flee state corporate law jurisdiction and a potentially massive stockholder attorney fee dispute by rushing votes on a struck-down, $56 billion compensation plan for Musk and proposed reincorporation in Texas.
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May 29, 2024
Atty Says SEC Waited Too Long To Secure Civil Penalties
An attorney and her husband have told a Florida federal judge that it's too late for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reopen its case against them and seek civil penalties over a microcap scheme after almost four years of doing nothing to prosecute the case.
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May 29, 2024
Ex-Calif. Atty Cops To Role In $9.5M Crypto Ponzi Scheme
A disbarred California attorney has pled guilty in federal court to his role in promoting a $9.5 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.
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May 29, 2024
3 More Burns & Levinson Attys Join Blank Rome In Boston
Less than one month after Blank Rome LLP announced it had opened its Boston office with 25 corporate and finance attorneys from Burns & Levinson LLP, another three Burns & Levinson partners have joined the firm.
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May 29, 2024
Israeli Atty Cops To Aiding Convicted Ponzi Schemer In NJ
An Israeli attorney has admitted to conspiring to commit securities fraud, launder money and obstruct justice to aid alleged serial fraudster Eliyahu "Eli" Weinstein, who is facing new fraud charges just two years after then-President Donald Trump commuted Weinstein's 24-year prison sentence for previous fraud convictions amid a flood of last-minute pardons in January 2021.
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May 29, 2024
Womble Bond Adds Veteran Energy Transaction Atty In Mass.
An experienced corporate transactional attorney has moved stateside from Thailand to join Womble Bond Dickinson in Boston.
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May 29, 2024
Archegos Jury Gets Glimpse At Founder's Earlier Legal Woes
A banker told a Manhattan jury Wednesday that Archegos founder Bill Hwang's 2012 run-in with the law at his previous hedge fund was concerning, but details were largely kept from jurors hearing charges against Hwang over Archegos's $36 billion collapse.
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May 29, 2024
Gemini Returns $2.2B Of Crypto From Genesis Ch. 11
Crypto Exchange Gemini and bankrupt former crypto lender Genesis Global Holdco LLC returned $2.18 billion worth of digital assets Wednesday to 232,000 users of an interest-accruing lending program, Gemini Earn, that have been locked up since Genesis had filed for Chapter 11 protection in early 2023.
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May 28, 2024
Autonomy Founder Says HP 'Panicked,' Tried To Unwind Deal
Autonomy founder Michael Lynch testified Tuesday in a California federal criminal trial over claims he conned HP into overpaying for his company that HP's board "panicked" after news of the acquisition leaked and HP's stock dropped 20%, that HP fired its CEO and that it attempted to back out of the deal.
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May 28, 2024
Chancery Finds Ex-CEO Owed $79M For Share Lockup Losses
The former CEO of a 3D building imaging company is owed more than $79 million in damages in his share value suit against the company, but not the more than $141 million he sought, the Delaware Chancery Court ruled Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Twitter Investors Seek Cert Over Musk's Backtrack On Buyout
A group of Twitter investors have asked a California federal judge to certify a class over claims Elon Musk fraudulently tweeted about the social media company's alleged bot problem to get out of his $44 billion acquisition, arguing that the case is "perfectly suited for class certification."
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May 28, 2024
Cloud Software Co. Hid Slowing Growth, Investor Suit Says
Software company Fastly Inc. was hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it concealed from investors that it would be unable to meet its previously issued financial guidance following a period of unsustainable customer growth.
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May 28, 2024
RBS, Lloyds Bank, Others Ink $1.9M Libor Settlement
A group of plaintiffs in the yearslong suit alleging several big banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, have reached a $1.9 million settlement with the Royal Banks of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and others, bringing the total settlement recovery amount to more than $780 million.
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May 28, 2024
SEC Ordered To Pay $1.8M Over Crypto Case Sanctions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is on the hook for more than $1.8 million in attorney and receiver fees arising from its allegedly ill-gotten temporary restraining order against crypto project Debt Box, though a Utah federal judge allowed the agency the opportunity to refile the enforcement case despite protests from the defendants.
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May 28, 2024
Colo. Justices To Mull Atty Advice Defense In Securities Cases
The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the advice a defendant's business attorney gave him is relevant to his state of mind in a securities fraud case, according to an order Tuesday granting the state's petition for appeal.
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May 28, 2024
Block.one Investors Renew Push For $22M Deal Approval
A class of investors has again asked the court to approve a $22 million settlement with Block.one over the cryptocurrency company's $4 billion initial coin offering, following several instances in which the court denied approval of the deal.
Expert Analysis
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What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes
The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Del. Dispatch: Clarification On Fiduciary Duties Of Controllers
The Delaware Chancery Court’s January opinion in a Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores' stockholder dispute — holding that a controlling stockholder owes the company and minority shareholders some fiduciary duties when selling shares or voting to change the status quo — suggests instances where investors opposing board decisions should tread carefully, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Navigating The Sunset Of Sibor And Other Key Benchmarks
Similar to the recent transition away from Libor, the expected cessation deadlines of the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate and Singapore Interbank Offered Rate are nigh, so Canadian and Singapore dollar-denominated credit facilities will likely need to be amended, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Series
ESG Around The World: Brazil
Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.
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The FINRA Reports That May Foreshadow New AI Rules
By reading the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s 2024 annual report detailing the regulatory implications of artificial intelligence tools alongside a similar 2020 FINRA publication, member firms may be able to anticipate which industry areas may soon face AI-specific regulations, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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What Financial Cos. Must Know For Handling T+1 Settlements
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a groundbreaking new T+1 settlement rule for securities transactions in order to improve market efficiency — but it presents significant challenges for the financial services industry, especially private equity firms, hedge funds and institutional asset managers, says Adam Weiss at Petra Funds Group.
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Breaking Down FDIC's New Advertising And Signage Rule
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s final rule on signage and advertising, coming on the heels of a campaign against nonbank businesses purporting to offer FDIC-insured deposit products, introduces important new requirements and clarifies existing regulations for both traditional depository institutions and novel digital platforms, say attorneys at Venable.
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The Double-Edged Sword Of Biometrics In Financial Services
Financial institutions are increasingly turning to biometrics for identity verification and fraud prevention, and while there are many benefits to such features, banks must remain vigilant against growing AI technologies that could make users' information vulnerable to biometrics hackers, say Elizabeth Roper at Baker McKenzie and Chris Allgrove at Ingenium Biometric Laboratories.
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CFTC Moves May Boost Interest In Voluntary Carbon Markets
As companies try to reduce their net greenhouse gas emissions, many have been cautious about embracing voluntary carbon credit markets — but recent moves by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate this sector may address some of its well-known challenges, say Deborah North and Laura Daugherty at Cleary.
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Musk Pay Package Ruling Offers Detailed Lesson On Del. Law
Anat Alon-Beck and John Livingstone at Case Western Reserve University discuss the specifics that led Delaware's chancellor to rescind Elon Musk's $55.8 billion Tesla pay package on Jan. 30, how the state’s entire fairness doctrine played into the ruling, and its bigger-picture impact on the executive compensation landscape.
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Chancery's Sears Ruling Clarifies Stockholder Duties
In a recent landmark decision involving stockholders of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, the Delaware Chancery Court addressed for the first time what precise duties a controlling stockholder owes, highlighting that controller interference with board action is not per se invalid and that enhanced scrutiny is a reasonableness test, say Christopher Chuff and Taylor Bartholomew at Troutman Pepper.
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Del. Ruling Adds Momentum For Caremark Plaintiffs
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent opinion in Lebanon County Employees' Retirement Fund v. Collis could be viewed as expanding plaintiffs' ability to viably plead a Caremark claim against directors, so Delaware companies should be on heightened alert and focus on creating a record of board oversight, say attorneys at V&E.