Analysis

Zeekr's US Debut Could Spur More IPOs From China

By Tom Zanki

Electric-vehicle maker Zeekr's robust initial public offering sent an encouraging signal to Chinese companies considering whether to tap U.S. markets after a long lull, despite continued risks stemming from fractured U.S.-China relations, experts said Friday.

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CFTC Floats Ban On Election Betting Contracts

By Jessica Corso

A divided U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a proposed rule Friday that would ban trading on the outcome of elections, further solidifying its contested position that such activities constitute illegal "gaming" and threaten to thrust the agency into the role of an "election cop."

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5th Circ. Upholds SEC Proxy Rule On ESG Disclosures

By Jessica Corso

The Fifth Circuit on Friday threw out a legal challenge to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that will make it easier for investors to identify ESG issues on corporate ballots, saying that suing states like Texas haven't proven that they'll be financially harmed by the measure.

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Altman's Nuclear Fission Biz Fizzles After SPAC Deal Closes

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Shares of Oklo Inc., a nuclear-fission startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, were down nearly 50% on Friday, the company's first day of trading after completing its merger with Altman's special-purpose acquisition company AltC Acquisition Corp.

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FINRA Fines Merrill Lynch $825K Over Supervisory Failures

By Katryna Perera

Merrill Lynch has agreed to be censured and pay an $825,000 fine to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to resolve claims that it failed to establish and maintain certain supervisory procedures and comply with recordkeeping requirements.

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Guess? Sued To Stop Founders' Alleged Pending Equity Grab

By Leslie A. Pappas

A pension fund stockholder of Guess? Inc. has sued the company, its founders, and its board in Delaware's Court of Chancery, alleging "a covert attempt to strip the company's public stockholders of their contractual right to equal treatment" in connection with a merger or sale of Guess.

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Rivian's Cert. Oppo Not How 'Real World Works,' Judge Says

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge told Rivian's attorney Friday that his arguments opposing class certification for investors alleging the carmaker misled them on material costs appeared to say that unless a company practically admits fraud in a disclosure it's not a "corrective" disclosure, but "that is not how the real world works."

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Building Materials Biz To Return Further $300M To Investors

By Irene Madongo

CRH PLC on Friday rolled out a new chunk worth up to $300 million of its ongoing share repurchase program as the construction materials manufacturer seeks to reduce its outstanding share capital and to reward investors.

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Digital Platform Xtribe To Go Public Via $141M SPAC Merger

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Technology-driven marketplace company Xtribe PLC, advised by Cozen O'Connor PC, has announced plans to go public via a merger with Haynes and Boone LLP-led special-purpose acquisition company WinVest Acquisition Corp. in a deal that values Xtribe at an implied equity value of $141 million.

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EV Startup Says California Settlement Covers Stockholder Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Backers of a transaction that took electric vehicle startup Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. public with a $1 billion value in 2021 have asked Delaware's Court of Chancery to block discovery in a stockholder challenge to the deal, citing pending settlement of a similar federal action in California.

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Financial Tech Co. Wants New Trial In $7.8M Breach Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A financial technology company ordered to pay more than $7.8 million to an Atlanta-area capital recruiting firm for violating an agreement to pay the recruiter to connect it with investors has asked a Georgia federal judge for either a new trial or judgment as a matter of law.

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SEC Opposes Quick Appeal Of 'Crystal Clear' Coinbase Order

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday urged a Manhattan federal court to reject Coinbase's bid for a Second Circuit review of an order allowing an agency enforcement action to proceed, saying the company's cries of uncertainty over how securities laws apply to crypto assets ignore the "crystal-clear" order it is trying to contest.

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Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures

The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Suspect Wanted In Murder Of Lewis Brisbois Atty Arrested

By Andrea Keckley

The suspect named in the murder of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorney Jeffrey Limmer turned himself in on Friday, the Houston Police Department announced Monday.

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Cohen Says Trump Knew Hush Money Records Were False

By Frank Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen took the witness stand Monday in the ex-president's New York criminal case, testifying that his longtime "boss" directed Cohen to make hush money payments to alleged paramours and later agreed to label his six-figure reimbursement as "legal services" despite seeing the paperwork that showed otherwise.

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Coverage Recap: Day 12 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Monday, day 12 of the trial.

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Binance Says Sullivan & Cromwell, FRA To Serve As Monitors

By Aislinn Keely

Crypto exchange Binance said Monday that the federal government has selected a Sullivan & Cromwell LLP partner and a Forensic Risk Alliance founding partner to serve as independent third-party monitors overseeing its compliance with the terms of its $4.3 billion settlement and guilty plea over money laundering, bank fraud and sanctions violations.

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NJ Firm's Former Exec Says Home Purchase Not Tied To Theft

By Emily Sawicki

A previous McElroy Deutsch executive is fighting a claim on her house after her husband, another former firm leader, copped to stealing $1.5 million, arguing his theft began after January 2017 and therefore the firm could not show funds were used to purchase their New Jersey home in 2016.

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Boston Federal Judge To Be Witness In City Harassment Case

By Julie Manganis

A former Boston city employee will be allowed to call a senior federal judge to testify about a conversation the two had months before she reported being sexually harassed by a former city health director, a state court has ruled.

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Judge Says Bold, Italic Font Muddies Allbirds Investor Suit

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has tossed for now a proposed class action from Allbirds Inc. investors who claim the sustainable shoe retailer made false and misleading statements in registration documents connected to its initial public offering, saying the complaint doesn't indicate which statements from the company's executives were allegedly misleading.

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'Prolific' Asbestos Injury Firm Accused Of Fraud, Racketeering

By Jack Karp

A "prolific" Illinois-based asbestos litigation law firm allegedly engaged in a yearslong scheme involving perjured testimony, suppressed evidence and baseless claims to extract as much money from as many companies as possible, according to one of the companies repeatedly targeted by the firm.

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