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Capital Markets
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September 18, 2024
FTX Auditor Prager Metis Settles SEC Charges For Negligence
The former auditor of Sam Bankman-Fried's defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX agreed Tuesday to pay $1.95 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of misconduct in FTX audits and, in a separate case, violations of auditor independence rules.
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September 18, 2024
Loper Bright Undercuts SEC Climate Rule, Fracking Cos. Say
Two fracking companies suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its climate disclosure rules have again urged the Eighth Circuit to vacate the measures, offering a diverging interpretation of how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision axing Chevron deference should apply.
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September 18, 2024
SEC Files Its 1st Suits Over 'Pig Butchering' Crypto Scams
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed two first-of-their-kind suits against a series of entities and individuals behind a pair of so-called pig butchering schemes that allegedly solicited investments in fake crypto platforms by gaining people's trust over social media only to scam them out of nearly $3 million.
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September 18, 2024
Fed's Powell Sees Final Basel Rule Less Than 1 Year Away
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that a revamped version of the Basel III endgame capital rules for big banks could be finalized before next summer, adding that the federal banking agencies will be "moving together" as the controversial rulemaking project enters its next phase.
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September 18, 2024
SEC Settles Latest Covington Info Theft Case For $33K
A New Jersey man will pay a $33,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading on confidential merger tips that his cousin stole from a Covington & Burling LLP lawyer, according to a settlement filed in New York federal court on Wednesday.
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September 18, 2024
Conn. Investment Adviser Stole Secrets, Ex-Employer Says
An employee of a Connecticut investment advisory firm started a competing company and solicited his employer's clients before suddenly resigning and taking trade secrets to his new business, according to a new lawsuit in state court.
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September 18, 2024
SEC's Equity Trading Reforms Allow Half-Penny Stock Pricing
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to allow exchanges to quote stock prices in half-penny increments, part of a wider overhaul purportedly aimed at improving transparency and lowering trading costs.
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September 18, 2024
Biotech Co. Escapes Stock-Drop Suit Over COVID-19 Drug
A Massachusetts biotech company won dismissal Wednesday from a proposed class action by investors who say their shares tanked in value after it allegedly came to light that executives had falsely touted an unproven prospective COVID-19 medicine.
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September 18, 2024
Clifford Chance Hires Investment Management Attorney In DC
Clifford Chance has grown its Washington, D.C., office with the addition of an attorney who formerly held an in-house post at Atalaya Capital Management and previously worked at Ropes & Gray LLP, Linklaters LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP.
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September 18, 2024
Federal Judge Won't Abstain From Pot Payment Co. Dispute
A Nevada federal judge has declined to abstain from a dispute between a pair of investment firms over the collapse of their joint venture, saying while one company is a subsidiary of a cannabis payment processing company, the dispute can be resolved without dipping into the murky waters of cannabis's federal illegality.
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September 18, 2024
Silvergate Bank Parent Co. Files Ch. 11, Plans Liquidation
The parent company of shuttered cryptocurrency-focused bank Silvergate filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware on Tuesday with plans to wind down and liquidate its remaining assets.
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September 17, 2024
Chancery Sides With Truth Social Backer In SPAC Deal Payout
A Delaware Chancery judge sided Tuesday with the investment sponsor of the entity that took former President Donald Trump's Truth Social media company public, on claims it was shortchanged in the deal, ordering a larger share of the stock be handed over from the transaction.
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September 17, 2024
FDIC, OCC Cement New Bank-Merger Policy Guidelines
Federal banking regulators on Tuesday approved plans to tighten their oversight of bank mergers, scoping out heightened scrutiny for deals that result in banks with $100 billion in assets among other things.
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September 17, 2024
FDIC Proposes Rule On Bank-Fintech Partnership Risks
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s rulemaking board on Tuesday proposed new recordkeeping rules aimed at both shoring up consumer protections as more fintech firms enter the banking space, and preventing a repeat of account freezes that have occurred after fintech service provider Synapse entered into bankruptcy earlier this year.
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September 17, 2024
VivoPower Plots $1.13B Merger After Unit's SPAC Deal Closes
Sustainable energy solutions company VivoPower and hydrogen technology company FAST are mulling a combination valuing the pair at $1.13 billion, in a potential deal that would follow the departure of VivoPower's electric utility vehicle subsidiary through a special purpose acquisition company merger.
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September 17, 2024
SEC Fines 12 Muni Advisers $1.3M In Texting Probe Actions
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday fined 12 municipal advisory firms a combined $1.3 million over their failure to keep records of employees' use of text messages and other so-called off-channel communication methods to conduct business.
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September 17, 2024
Freshfields-Led Warburg Pincus Sells IT Biz Shares For €153M
Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus said Tuesday that it has sold a part of its stake in German Internet service provider Ionos Group SE and raised total proceeds of approximately €153 million ($170.3 million) in a placement guided by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
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September 17, 2024
Euronext Buys UK Stock Market Research, Data Software Biz
Euronext NV said Tuesday that it has bought Substantive Research Ltd., a British provider of investment research and market data, as the stock exchange aims to bolster its analysis service for investors.
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September 17, 2024
70% Of Insurance Underwriters Fear Replacement By AI
Seven out of 10 insurance underwriting professionals in the U.S. and U.K. fear losing their jobs within the next five years to artificial intelligence, a survey released Tuesday suggested, as the sector increasingly invests in new forms of automation.
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September 17, 2024
Top UK Banks Push Payments Infrastructure Reform Plan
The trade body for financial institutions urged U.K. regulators and companies on Tuesday to engage with a new infrastructure for digital payments that is backed by major banks and card providers.
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September 17, 2024
Skadden, Freshfields Guide Midea's $4B Hong Kong Listing
Midea Group debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday after the home appliance giant raised almost $4 billion in the largest initial public offering in the special administrative region of China since early 2021.
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September 16, 2024
Ex-MoviePass CEO Admits $9.95 Plan Too Good To Be True
Former MoviePass CEO J. Mitchell Lowe pleaded guilty in Florida federal court on Monday to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, admitting that he and another executive hyped the illusion that their $9.95-a-month unlimited movie watching plan would be profitable while knowing it was merely a gimmick to defraud investors.
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September 16, 2024
CEO's AI Fraud Detection Tool Contract Was Fraud, Feds Say
A former technology company CEO has pled guilty to a charge that he cooked his company's books and raised tens of millions of dollars from investors off phony claims that an artificial intelligence program his firm developed was being used to spot digital ad fraud, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.
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September 16, 2024
Icahn Enterprises Beats Investor Suit Over Dividend Program
Icahn Enterprises has beaten a proposed investor class action accusing it of propping up its stock price with unsustainably high dividends in order to support founder Carl Icahn's loans and financial interests, with a Florida federal judge saying the plaintiffs hadn't shown any misstatements the company made about the "true motivation" for its dividend program.
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September 16, 2024
Pot Co. Execs Go To 9th Circ. In Investment Scam Case
A California cannabis company and its co-founders on Monday appealed a federal court decision booting them from the securities industry and holding them liable for roughly $6 million tied to a medical marijuana investment scam, the same day that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the court to order a third individual to pay up for his part in the alleged scam.
Expert Analysis
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Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules
The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Expected Developments From Upcoming Basel Capital Rules
With U.S. federal banking regulators preparing to finalize the Basel IV regulatory framework as early as this fall, banks and private investment funds are expected to look to uncommitted facilities as one method to address key changes, including tighter capital requirements, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Beware Shifting Provisions In Middle-Market Loan Documents
In recent years, many credit facility provisions previously considered to be market standard have been negotiated, often turning in favor of borrowers, demanding renewed diligence from workout officers and restructuring counsel operating in the middle market, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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How SEC Could Tackle AI Regulations On Brokers, Advisers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held an open meeting of its Investor Advisory Committee on June 6 to review the use of artificial intelligence in investment decision making, showing that regulators are being careful not to stifle innovation or implement rules that will quickly be made irrelevant after their passage, says Brian Korn at Manatt Phelps.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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What To Know As CFPB Late Fee Rule Hangs In Limbo
Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final credit card late fee rule faces an uncertain future due to litigation involving injunctions, emergency petitions and now a venue dispute, card issuers must understand how to navigate the interim period and what to do if the rule takes effect, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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A Deep Dive Into The Evolving World Of ESG Ratings
Attorneys at Mintz discuss the salience of environmental, social and governance ratings in corporate circles in recent years, and consider certain methodologies underlying their calculation for professionals, as well as issues concerning the ESG ratings and products themselves.
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What TikTok's Race Against The Clock Teaches Chinese Firms
The Biden administration's recent divestiture deadline on TikTok parent ByteDance provides useful information for other China-based companies looking to do business in the U.S., including the need to keep products for each market separate and implement firewalls at the design stage, says Richard Lomuscio at Stinson.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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Unlocking Blockchain Opportunities Amid Legal Uncertainty
Dozens of laws and legal precedents will come into the fore as Web3, metaverse and non-fungible tokens gain momentum, so organizations need to design their programs with a broader view of potential exposures — and opportunities, say Teresa Goody Guillén and Robert Musiala at BakerHostetler and Steve McNew at FTI Consulting.
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Adopting 7 Principles May Improve Voluntary Carbon Markets
The Biden administration's recently issued joint policy statement on improving the integrity of voluntary carbon markets may help companies using carbon credits to offset their emissions withstand scrutiny by government agencies, the public and investors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.