Capital Markets

  • January 16, 2025

    DOL Proposes Rule On Valuing Stock For Purchase By ESOPs

    The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule Thursday to help plan managers determine the value of company stock for purchase by an employee stock ownership plan while also withdrawing a previous rule that the DOL proposed in 1988 but never finalized.

  • January 15, 2025

    DeFi Upstart Brings On Seasoned Crypto Legal Chief

    Veteran crypto in-house attorney Rebecca Rettig will take on the chief legal officer role at Jito Labs, a developer of products on the Solana blockchain, as the firm's first legal hire, the company announced Thursday.

  • January 15, 2025

    Wells Fargo Unit Sued Over Ex-Rep's EB-5 Investment Scheme

    A Wells Fargo subsidiary has been hit with a suit in Nevada federal court by an attorney and real estate developer who claims she and several other entities were hit with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action because the Wells Fargo subsidiary and one of its former employees gave bad investment advice.

  • January 15, 2025

    SEC's Last-Minute Musk Suit Could Be Scuttled Under Trump

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's latest lawsuit against Elon Musk is unlikely to be viewed favorably by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, which may press for a lesser penalty or even move to dismiss the case outright, attorneys told Law360 on Wednesday.

  • January 15, 2025

    SEC Says Restaurant Tech Co. Misled Investors On AI Product

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached a non-monetary settlement with Presto Automation Inc. to resolve claims the restaurant technology company made false and misleading statements about aspects of its artificial intelligence product, which uses AI-assisted speech recognition technology to automate aspects of drive-thru order taking at quick-service restaurants.

  • January 15, 2025

    SEC Fines Advisers For Link To Alleged $410M IPO Fraud

    Three investment adviser representatives have agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $540,000 to end the regulator's claims that they acted as unregistered brokers while soliciting investors for a private equity firm accused of defrauding investors in a $410 million pre-IPO share scheme.

  • January 15, 2025

    SEC Dings Pharma Co., Ex-CFO Over Prescription Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it has settled claims against bankrupt DMK Pharmaceuticals Corp. and its ex-chief financial officer over their alleged role in a fraudulent scheme to generate revenues using illegal prescriptions for horse medications.

  • January 15, 2025

    Tenn. Judge Says PCAOB Authority Challenge Belongs In DC

    A Tennessee federal judge on Wednesday transferred a certified public accountant's constitutional challenge against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to Washington, D.C., finding the board's headquarters, regulatory actions and related cases in that district made it the more appropriate venue.

  • January 15, 2025

    Crypto Co. Kraken's Legal Chief Says He's Stepping Down

    The legal head of Kraken announced Wednesday that he is stepping down as chief legal officer and stepping into a senior adviser role that will see him build a global advisory council at the crypto exchange.

  • January 15, 2025

    Silvergate's Ex-CFO Fires Back At SEC Accounting Claims

    The former chief financial officer of defunct crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital urged a New York federal judge to toss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations that he concealed the bank's precarious financial position, saying he didn't have anything to gain from hiding Silvergate's financial woes.

  • January 15, 2025

    Sidley-Led Flowco Raises $427M In Year's First Major IPO

    Oilfield equipment and services provider Flowco Holdings Inc. on Wednesday priced a $427 million initial public offering above its range, represented by Sidley Austin LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, marking the year's first sizable IPO.

  • January 15, 2025

    Del. Court Nixes Bid For Truth Social Share Attachment

    A Delaware vice chancellor on Wednesday rejected an investor motion for a prejudgment attachment of remaining shares held by the blank-check company that took President-elect Donald Trump's Truth Social platform public, saying the move exceeded the court's authority.

  • January 15, 2025

    Block Pays Regulators $80M Over Cash App AML Compliance

    Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. has reached an $80 million settlement over alleged anti-money laundering compliance failures by its mobile payments platform Cash App, a coalition of state banking regulators announced Wednesday.

  • January 15, 2025

    Buyers In Cheese Co. Deal Fight To Keep Claims In Fla.

    Two Florida companies asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive their lawsuit accusing Savencia Cheese USA LLC and its executives of fraudulently selling them a worthless cheese distribution company for $17 million, arguing the presence of deal counsel in Miami is enough to keep the suit in Florida federal court.

  • January 15, 2025

    Plum Acquisition's Latest SPAC Leads 2 IPOs Raising $200M

    Plum Acquisition IV Corp., the latest special-purpose acquisition company backed by investment firm Plum Partners, and Tokyo-based SPAC Ribbon Acquisition Corp. began trading today after the vehicles raised $200 million combined, guided by four law firms.

  • January 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Open To Reviving Robinhood Suit Over $2.1B IPO

    Judges on a Ninth Circuit panel appeared open Wednesday to reviving a proposed securities class action alleging Robinhood hid how a "meme stock" and cryptocurrency trading frenzy had impacted its outlook ahead of its $2.1 billion initial public offering, saying the lower court may have applied the wrong standard in tossing the case.

  • January 15, 2025

    Broker, Traders Charged With $1M Insider Trading Scheme

    A securities broker and three traders have been charged in New York federal court for their roles in what prosecutors described as a yearslong, $1 million insider trading scheme that involved tips about upcoming secondary stock offerings, including one by the owner of DVD rental company Redbox, an indictment unsealed Wednesday showed.

  • January 15, 2025

    SEC Announces Departure Of Top Economist And Accountant

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's chief economist and chief accountant are stepping down, the agency has announced, marking the latest departures given the pending inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

  • January 15, 2025

    Judge Warns DOJ: Settle Burger Forfeiture Suit Or Pay Up

    A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday expressed frustration with Justice Department officials' delays in resolving a civil forfeiture action over an alleged $11 million healthcare fraud scheme involving money laundered through Big Boy Restaurant, telling federal prosecutors they have until next week to settle the case or pay the chain's recent legal bills.

  • January 15, 2025

    Banks Must Face Pension Funds' Mexican Bond-Rigging Suit

    A Manhattan federal judge refused Wednesday to throw out a case brought by U.S. pension funds that accused a group of banks of conspiring to rig Mexican government bond prices, saying chatroom transcripts between traders showed evidence of collusion.

  • January 15, 2025

    BitMEX Fined $100M For 5 Years Of Flouting US Banking Law

    A Manhattan federal judge slapped BitMEX with a $100 million fine Wednesday, rejecting its suggestion that $110 million of earlier penalties sufficed to punish the offshore crypto exchange for a five-year course of evading U.S. financial controls as it earned $1.3 billion.

  • January 15, 2025

    Clifford Chance, Wachtell Help Pfizer To Cut Haleon Stake

    Pharmaceutical titan Pfizer has reduced its stake in Haleon PLC, the British healthcare giant, to 7.3% by selling shares worth £2.5 billion ($3 billion), a bookrunner for the sale said Wednesday.

  • January 14, 2025

    Wells Fargo Fights To Drop Officers From Investors' Bias Suit

    Wells Fargo & Co. urged a California federal judge Tuesday to free three executives from a derivative lawsuit filed by shareholders claiming the bank's leadership failed to address the company's discriminatory lending and hiring practices, saying there are no allegations that explain why a presuit demand to the board would have been futile.

  • January 14, 2025

    Latham Grabs Top Spot For 2024 IPOs By Large Margin

    Latham & Watkins LLP guided more initial public offerings than any law firm in 2024, capturing a diverse mix of large listings for companies that seized opportunities to go public as the broader IPO market inched toward recovery, new data shows.

  • January 14, 2025

    CFTC To Review Crypto Co.'s Sports Event Contracts

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Tuesday it plans to take a closer look at contracts tied to the outcome of high-profile sporting events trading on digital asset exchange Crypto.com, which self-certified the products in the final days of 2024.

Expert Analysis

  • Anticipating Jarkesy's Effect On Bank Agency Enforcement

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, federal courts may eventually issue decisions on banking law principles and processes that could fundamentally alter the agencies' enforcement action framework, and the relationship between banks and examiners, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.

  • CFTC Anti-Fraud Blitz Is A Warning To Carbon Credit Sellers

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    With its recent enforcement actions against a carbon offset project developer and its senior executives for reporting false information about the energy savings of the company's projects, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is staking out its position as a primary regulator in the voluntary carbon credit market, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Unpacking State AG Approaches To Digital Asset Enforcement

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    Attorneys at Cozen O'Connor survey recent digital asset enforcement by attorneys general nationwide driven by concerns over regulatory gaps where technological developments and market changes have outpaced legislation.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • Peeling Back The Layers Of SEC's Equity Trading Reforms

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted amendments lowering the tick sizes for stock trading and reducing access fee caps will benefit investors and necessitate broad systems changes — if they can first survive judicial challenges, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Opinion

    FDIC's Foray Into Index Fund Rules Risks Regulatory Chaos

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    A proposed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rule concerning control over passive index fund investments in banks is outside the agency's remit, clashes with an existing Federal Reserve process and would inhibit competition in the index fund sector, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • With Esmark Case, SEC Returns Focus To Tender Offer Rules

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Esmark in connection with its failed bid to acquire U.S. Steel indicates the SEC's renewed attention under Rule 14e‑8 of the Exchange Act on offerors' financial resources as a measure of the veracity of their tender offer communications, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • What FDIC Expansion Of Change In Bank Control Could Mean

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    A recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposal pertaining to the Change in Bank Control Act has the potential to create uncertainty around investments by mutual fund complexes in banking organizations, which represent a stable source of capital for the banking industry, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Can SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail Survive Post-Chevron?

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently in a showdown at the Eleventh Circuit over its authority to maintain a national market system and require that the industry spend billions to maintain its consolidated audit trail, a case that is further complicated by the Loper Bright decision, says Daniel Hawke at Arnold & Porter.

  • What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals

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    Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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