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Securities
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October 16, 2024
TD Bank's $3B AML Deal Sparks Scrutiny Of Its Oversight
The long-standing, widespread compliance failures at the root of TD Bank's blockbuster $3 billion U.S. anti-money laundering settlement last week have stunned experts and brought tough punishment for the Canadian bank — but they're also raising questions about why regulators didn't act sooner.
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October 16, 2024
NY's Financial Regulator Releases AI Cybersecurity Guidance
New York's Department of Financial Services issued new guidance Wednesday intended to give state-regulated financial institutions an outline for protecting against cybersecurity risks posed by artificial intelligence.
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October 16, 2024
Chinese AI Co. Hit With Investor Suit Over Nasdaq Compliance
China-based artificial intelligence company Xiao-I Corp. was hit with a proposed investor class action in New York federal court alleging it downplayed increasing research and development costs that it was incurring, increasing the likelihood that it would fail to comply with the Nasdaq Stock Market's minimum price requirement after going public.
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October 16, 2024
Gatos Silver Investor Deal Gets Final OK, Attys Score $6M Fee
Attorneys from Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP, Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP and The Schall Law Firm will receive over $6 million after representing investors in a settlement with precious metals company Gatos Silver Inc. over claims the company knowingly overstated expectations about the resources and reserves in its mine in Mexico.
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October 16, 2024
ConocoPhillips Targets Hedge Fund Over Del. Citgo Sale
ConocoPhillips has initiated a new lawsuit in Delaware in an attempt to preserve the value of Citgo's indirect parent company, PDV Holding Inc., for an upcoming auction aimed at satisfying Venezuelan debt, as Connecticut hedge fund Gramercy allegedly threatens to undermine the long-awaited Citgo sales process.
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October 16, 2024
3rd Par Funding Exec Admits To Racketeering In $100M Scam
The last member of the triumvirate behind Par Funding, a cash advance company that federal prosecutors say bilked investors out of $100 million, pleaded guilty to racketeering in Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday, just weeks before he was scheduled to stand trial.
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October 16, 2024
Atty Pressed On DMI Stock Drop Focus In Del. Merger Suit
A Delaware vice chancellor repeatedly pressed an attorney for shareholders of 3D printer manufacturer The ExOne Co. Wednesday on the relative importance of a stock drop experienced by acquirer Desktop Metal Inc. before and after shareholders voted on a $575 million merger.
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October 16, 2024
Banks Ditch Exchange's Boycott Conspiracy Suit At 2nd Circ.
The Second Circuit on Wednesday rejected a small trading exchange's effort to revive its claims that several major banks conspired to shut it out of the credit default swap market, saying the exchange failed to plausibly allege that the banks' conduct was the result of an unlawful agreement or conspiracy.
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October 16, 2024
Hawaii Utility Beats Investor Suit Over Wildfire, For Now
A California judge on Tuesday dismissed a shareholder suit filed against Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. in the wake of a deadly fire on Maui in 2023, but will allow plaintiffs to amend their claims that the company failed to warn investors about its inadequate risk mitigation program.
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October 16, 2024
Pharma Co. Contractor Settles SEC Insider Trading Claim
An information technology consultant for a Massachusetts biopharmaceutical company will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over $28,000 to resolve claims he immediately dumped shares of his client when he got wind of its yet-to-be announced plans for major layoffs.
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October 16, 2024
Ex-Pharma Co. Employee Traded On GSK Deal Info, SEC Says
The former director of analytical development at Canada-based drug company Bellus Health Inc. has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over $120,000 to settle claims that he sold shares on nonpublic information about pharma giant GSK's impending takeover of his company, according to court filings.
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October 16, 2024
SEC To Settle Claims CBD Exec Took $13M From Hospital
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is ready to make a deal with a former cannabidiol products executive accused of taking $13 million from a hospital after falsely promising to deliver urgently needed masks during the height of the pandemic.
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October 16, 2024
Alphatec Investor Seeks $9.5M Atty Fee After Chancery Win
A family office investment company that recently won a five-year battle over millions worth of securities purchase rights not honored by a surgical and medical device developer asked Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday to shift more than $9.5 million in fees and expenses to the developer.
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October 16, 2024
NYSE Seeks To Curb Reverse Splits In Latest Crackdown
The New York Stock Exchange wants to limit companies' ability to rely on reverse stock splits to raise their share prices and avoid delisting, submitting a proposal shortly after regulators approved a Nasdaq plan to rein in such splits.
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October 16, 2024
SEC Data Contractor Faked Audit Certification, Feds Say
The CEO of a company that received roughly $11 million from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide data infrastructure services was charged in D.C. federal court with creating a shell entity to fraudulently claim his business was certified for high-level reliability and security, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
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October 16, 2024
PE Firm Trashed Exec To Avoid Payout In $98M Deal, Suit Says
A Summit Partners affiliate and several executives concocted false allegations of misconduct to get out of fully compensating the owner of an investment management firm as part of an acquisition worth a reported $97.6 million, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.
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October 16, 2024
2 SDNY Terror Finance Cases Against Binance Stay Separate
Two suits claiming Binance unlawfully fostered terrorist activity, filed in the wake of the cryptocurrency platform's $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, will proceed separately in the Southern District of New York, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday.
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October 16, 2024
RTX To Pay $1B For Qatari Bribes And Defrauding US Gov't
RTX Corp. and its Raytheon subsidiary have agreed to pay approximately $1 billion and enter into two separate deferred prosecution agreements in connection with a bribery scheme to secure Qatari military contracts, as well as separate ploys to defraud the U.S. government in deals for Patriot missile and radar systems.
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October 16, 2024
US Fails To Revoke Bail Of Crypto Chief Wanted In Fraud Case
The U.S. government failed on Wednesday to keep the former chief executive of a $7.5 billion crypto-asset business in custody while he fights extradition for allegedly manipulating the market for his company's virtual tokens, as a judge deemed him a low flight risk.
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October 15, 2024
Conn. Trader Pilfered $4.1M From Struggling Firm, SEC Says
A Greenwich, Conn.-based investment adviser stole more than $4.1 million from a pair of investment funds he managed to help prop up his family's "expensive lifestyle" and counter his personal financial woes, including several tax liens and foreclosure attempts on his home, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged.
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October 15, 2024
Santander Settles Investors' Squeeze-Out Suit For $162.5M
Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. has agreed to shell out $162.5 million to put to rest stockholders' consolidated class action challenging a $2.5 billion minority squeeze-out merger, according to a stipulation filed Monday in Delaware's Court of Chancery.
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October 15, 2024
Exec's $77M WeWork Offer Was Stupid, Not Fraud, Jury Told
Counsel for the former CEO of real estate investment firm Arciterra told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday his client was a fool for making what prosecutors described as a fake $77 million tender offer for a controlling stake in WeWork before its bankruptcy, but he wasn't trying to falsely pump up the coworking company's stock price.
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October 15, 2024
Crypto Huckster Slammed With 20 Years For Forcount Fraud
A New York federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an Ecuadorean man from Florida to 20 years in prison for pushing the $14 million, international Forcount cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme on his fellow Latinos over five years, saying he caused incalculable damage.
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October 15, 2024
10th Circ. Won't Reboot Short Sellers' Suit Against Overstock
In a decision dealing with matters of first impression, the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday declined to revive a hedge fund's proposed class action accusing Overstock.com Inc. and its leadership of manipulating the market when it said it would pay shareholders using cryptocurrency but abandoned the plan to force short sellers into a "squeeze."
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October 15, 2024
SafeMoon Execs Can't Beat Fraud Charges Now, Feds Say
The crypto executives behind the alleged SafeMoon fraud can't claim their conduct was beyond the reach of U.S. courts at this stage of litigation, federal prosecutors said in a brief that pushed back on the executives' bid to dismiss the indictment.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking The Latest Tranche Of Sanctions Targeting Russia
Hundreds of new U.S. sanctions and export-control measures targeting trade with Russia, issued last week in connection with the G7 summit, illustrate the fluidity of trade-focused restrictions and the need to constantly refresh compliance analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Considerations For Cooperation Contracts In Loan Trades
Significant challenges to settling trades can arise when lenders of syndicated bank loans enter into defense-oriented cooperation agreements, which are growing in popularity, but working through these issues on the front end of a trade can save hours down the road, says Robert Waldner at Crowell & Moring.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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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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Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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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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Risks And Promises Of AI In The Financial Services Industry
Generative artificial intelligence has immense potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, but firms considering its use should first prepare to show their customers and the increasingly divided international regulatory community that they can manage the risks inherent to the new technology, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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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.