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Capital Markets
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August 01, 2024
Mass. Could Be New Front In The Battle Over Jury Trial Right
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling granting defendants facing administrative civil penalties the right to a jury trial, experts say a similar challenge in Massachusetts is likely, but may not find as receptive a judicial audience.
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July 31, 2024
Ackman's New Investment Fund Calls Off Planned $2B IPO
Bill Ackman's new investment fund Pershing Square USA on Wednesday called off its initial public offering just a day after setting a $2 billion fundraising target, which was down significantly from earlier estimates.
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July 31, 2024
Report Finds Uptick In AI-Related Shareholder Suits
Class action lawsuits accusing companies of deceiving investors about their artificial intelligence capabilities are on the rise this year while the previously trendy areas of shareholder litigation against cryptocurrency companies and special purpose acquisition companies have fallen significantly, according to a Wednesday report from Cornerstone Research.
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July 31, 2024
Fla. Electric Co. Ex-CEO Gets 4 Years For Privatization Plot
A Jacksonville, Florida, federal judge sentenced a former CEO of the city's electric company to four years in prison after a jury convicted him of fraud conspiracy charges in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme connected to a process to privatize the public utility, prosecutors said Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Chancery Keeps Challenge To $1.5B Genius Sports Deal Alive
Stockholders of a blank check company that took sports data company Genius Sports Ltd. public have overcome a bid to spike their Delaware Court of Chancery challenge to the $1.5 billion deal.
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July 31, 2024
$7.25M Del. Settlement Offered In $1.35B UpHealth SPAC Suit
Parties to a Delaware Court of Chancery stockholder suit that challenged a $1.35 billion take-public "blank-check" company merger with Florida-based digital health manager UpHealth Inc. have reached a $7.25 million settlement of all claims, pending court approval, according to an agreement filed Tuesday.
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July 31, 2024
SEC Settles Reg BI Case Against Calif. Broker-Dealer
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday it has agreed to settle allegations that Western International Securities Inc. sold more than $13 million in high-risk debt securities to those with lower risk profiles, marking the potential end of a first-of-its kind enforcement action claiming violations of Regulation Best Interest.
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July 31, 2024
Doc 'Muddle' Stalls Trump Media SPAC Figure's Ouster Suit
Pointing to multiple, conflicting operating agreement versions, a Delaware vice chancellor said she was unable to rule Wednesday on a suit to uphold dismissal of the managing member of a blank check company sponsor for the deal that took former President Donald Trump's social media company public.
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July 31, 2024
CrowdStrike Investors Sue Over Stock Drop After Outage
A group of CrowdStrike investors sued the cybersecurity company Tuesday in Texas federal court, alleging that it misrepresented the measures it was taking to prevent a system crash, which caused its stock price to plummet after the platform experienced a massive outage earlier this month.
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July 31, 2024
DraftKings Closes NFT Platform Over 'Legal Developments'
DraftKings has announced that it is shuttering its nonfungible token marketplace due to "recent legal developments," with the decision coming weeks after a Massachusetts federal judge permitted a proposed securities class action involving the marketplace to move forward.
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July 31, 2024
Dutch Regulators OK Freshfields-Guided Asset Exchange
A Dutch digital asset exchange is touting itself as the first widely accessible and regulated crypto derivatives exchange in Europe after receiving a license from the government of the Netherlands, aided by the guidance of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, the firm has announced.
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July 31, 2024
UPDATE: Paramount Global Bid Called Into Question After Announcement Pulled
The validity of a purported $43 billion takeover offer for Paramount Global from Apex Capital is being called into question, after the press release service that published the announcement removed it.
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July 30, 2024
FDIC Moves To Revamp Brokered Deposit Regs In Policy Push
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday unveiled a proposal that would subject more bank deposits to heightened regulation as "brokered" funds, outlining new rules that the agency pitched as addressing risks highlighted by failures of firms like First Republic Bank and Voyager, a crypto lender.
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July 30, 2024
FTX Users Say Sullivan & Cromwell Must Face Abetting Claims
FTX customers told a Florida federal judge on Tuesday that Sullivan & Cromwell LLP can't dismiss customer claims it aided and abetted the defunct cryptocurrency exchange's fraud as "speculative allegations" when the customers' complaint "paints a much more detailed and nefarious picture."
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July 30, 2024
FTX Exec Gets Prison Report Date Delayed After Dog Attack
A New York federal judge on Tuesday allowed ex-FTX executive Ryan Salame to delay his surrender date to begin his prison term from August to October, as he was forced to undergo medical treatment and surgery after being mauled by a German shepherd while visiting a friend's house last month.
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July 30, 2024
FINRA Says Jarkesy Doesn't Apply To Its Internal Proceedings
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is opposing a broker's attempt to get the regulator's internal proceedings against him tossed, saying that he has no case under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Jarkesy decision because FINRA is not a government regulator subject to the same constitutional challenges as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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July 30, 2024
Chancery Rejects Forte-Camac Deal As 'Not Fair' To Class
A Delaware Chancery Court judge on Tuesday rejected a settlement between Forte Biosciences Inc. and Camac Partners LLC that would have ended the activist investor's class action over Forte's alleged board entrenchment, finding that the proposed deal gave Camac "unique and personal benefits" that weren't shared with the rest of the class.
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July 30, 2024
Ebix Ch. 11 Plan Ruling Held Up By Liability Release Dispute
A Texas bankruptcy judge declined to rule Tuesday on Ebix Inc.'s request for Chapter 11 plan confirmation, telling the parties he needed more time to sort out a dispute over third-party releases contained in the reorganization deal.
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July 30, 2024
Calif. Broker-Dealer To Pay FINRA $1.5M For Excessive Trades
Broker-dealer Western International Securities Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle allegations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that the firm failed to properly monitor potentially excessive trading in about 100 accounts, and it was hit with a separate cease-and-desist order from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday over Regulation Best Interest violations.
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July 30, 2024
Feds, SEC Say Creator Of Crypto Co. BitClout Misled Investors
Federal prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced parallel actions Tuesday against the founder of crypto project BitClout for allegedly duping investors and spending millions of proceeds for his own benefit.
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July 30, 2024
Crypto Groups Say Loper Bright Defeats SEC Dealer Rule
The crypto industry groups fighting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations that could force some of their members to register with the agency as securities dealers are arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent abandonment of Chevron deference bolsters their argument that the SEC lacked the authority to expand its definition of dealer.
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July 30, 2024
SEC Asks To Amend Token Claims In Binance Complaint
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a D.C. federal court that it plans on amending its claims concerning third-party tokens that traded on crypto exchange Binance's platform, according to a Tuesday status update in the enforcement suit.
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July 30, 2024
AI Dominance In Startup Funding Has Small Biz Concerned
Except for funding for artificial-intelligence startups, early-stage companies are struggling to raise capital amid higher interest rates and lean markets for initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, members of a small business-focused panel advising the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Husch Blackwell Hires UB Greensfelder Partner In St. Louis
Several years after Husch Blackwell LLP's newest partner, Garrett Reuter Jr., graduated from law school, he joined Greensfelder Hemker & Gale PC to work alongside his late father. Now, he's bringing clients he grew up watching his father work with, to a new platform.
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July 30, 2024
Katten Adds Mayer Brown Practice Group Co-Chair In Chicago
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has added to its financial markets litigation and enforcement practice group an attorney who formerly co-chaired a similar practice at Mayer Brown LLP and also has previous in-house experience.
Expert Analysis
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Standardizing Early Case Appraisal In Securities Class Actions
While an initial economic assessment of securities class action litigation is far too often not undertaken, it's an important step in planning the defense strategy that can provide counsel, clients and insurers with a much clearer view of the case, and can be simplified through standardized analyses, says Assen Koev at SCA iPortal.
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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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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule
A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market
Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.
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Opinion
SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule
Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.
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Opinion
SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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How EB-5 Regional Centers Can Prepare For USCIS Audits
In response to the recently announced U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines that require EB-5 regional center audits every five years to verify their compliance with immigration and securities laws, regional centers should take steps to facilitate a seamless audit process, say Jennifer Hermansky and Miriam Thompson at Greenberg Traurig.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Series
Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
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Navigating SPAC Market Challenges For Microcap Issuers
For microcap issuers, the special-purpose acquisition vehicle market tells a cautionary tale in which few targets attain the advantages they seek, and important considerations for companies with market capitalization of under $300 million include negotiating costs and expenses upfront to avoid becoming saddled with debt, say attorneys at Lucosky Brookman.
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Expect Tougher Bank Exams 1 Year After Spring 2023 Failures
With federal banking agencies still implementing harsher examinations with swifter escalations a year after the spring 2023 bank failures, banks can gain insight into changing expectations by monitoring how the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are coordinating and updating their exam policies, say attorneys at Debevoise.