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Securities
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June 13, 2024
Longtime Dentons Atty Rejoins Firm After In-House Stint
Dentons announced that an attorney who previously spent over 25 years at the firm and its preceding organization rejoined its Los Angeles office as a partner in the capital markets practice, following several years of working as general counsel for lending companies.
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June 13, 2024
How 3 Firms Cleared 2 Ex-Autonomy Execs In HP Fraud Case
A California federal jury's rejection last week of fraud charges against the founder and former finance vice president of British software company Autonomy validated an approach by the defendants' three law firms — Steptoe, Clifford Chance and Bird Marella — to form a "seamless" collaboration throughout the trial, from jury selection to closing arguments.
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June 13, 2024
Biden Picks CFTC's Goldsmith Romero For FDIC Chair
The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden will nominate Christy Goldsmith Romero, a Democratic member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, for the top job at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
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June 12, 2024
Hedge Fund Manager Cops To $3M Fraud Scheme
A New York fund manager on Wednesday admitted to defrauding investors out of at least $3 million through his investment management firm, in a scheme that has been ongoing for the last three years.
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June 12, 2024
Lies At Heart Of Fraud Case Over COVID Test Kits, Jurors Told
The retrial of a securities fraud case over a COVID test kit deal that never materialized will center on lies, according to opening statements delivered in New Jersey federal court Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
Oppenheimer, Cybersecurity Co. Settle $12M SPAC Bill Spat
Oppenheimer & Co. and an Israeli cybersecurity company have reached a settlement to end claims that the company refused to pay $12 million in fees for SPAC merger-related services the investment bank provided, according to a New York federal court filing made Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
FDIC Head Must Go To Change Status Quo, GOP Reps. Say
House Republicans on Wednesday criticized Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg for not immediately resigning in the wake of a probe of the agency's workplace culture, but some Democrats took issue with the scope of a report on the investigation's findings while applauding his rumored successor.
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June 12, 2024
'Tiger-Wolf' Trader Cops To Wire Fraud For $700K Scheme
A 26-year-old Charlotte man on Wednesday pled guilty to federal prosecutors' claims that he defrauded over 100 would-be investors in his purported hedge fund, Tiger-Wolf Capital LLC, spending much of their money on his own lavish lifestyle.
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June 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Brokerage In Suit Over Biotech's Failed IPO
The Second Circuit on Wednesday declined to reinstate a Texas company's suit against an investment brokerage that advised biotech Inpellis on an initial public offering that failed and sent the company to file Chapter 7, ruling a lower court rightly found a global settlement eclipsed the need for a jury trial.
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June 12, 2024
Cabot Execs Misled Investors On Fracking Impact, Suit Says
Insiders of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., now known as Coterra Energy Inc., were hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging they did not disclose that Cabot was not safeguarding drinking water from the company's fracking operations, which eventually led to criminal charges and reputational and financial damages.
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June 12, 2024
CalPERS Opposes $5B Atty Fee In Musk Pay Fight
The nation's largest public pension fund lined up Wednesday against a proposed $5 billion-plus fee for stockholder attorneys whose Delaware Court of Chancery suit blocked Tesla CEO Elon Musk's one-time $56 billion compensation plan, one day ahead of a Tesla shareholder vote to resurrect the pay deal.
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June 12, 2024
GOP, Dems Fight Over Climate Investment 'Collusion'
House Judiciary Democrats and Republicans traded barbs and competing staff reports Wednesday over investment industry initiatives to combat climate change that the GOP called a "climate cartel" and their partisan rivals said is simply responsible, and voluntary, investing.
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June 12, 2024
Judge Won't Trim $18M Shareholder Settlement Coverage Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge declined to toss certain bad faith allegations against an insurer accused of wrongfully denying coverage for an $18 million settlement between an asset management company and a group of shareholders, adopting a magistrate judge's recommendation that the company sufficiently alleged its claim of bad faith.
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June 12, 2024
Lumen Board Faces Investor Suit Over Lead Cable Liability
The board members of Louisiana-headquartered telecommunications company Lumen Technologies Inc. face a shareholder derivative suit alleging they breached their fiduciary duties following revelations about, and subsequent scrutiny of, lead components of the company's physical cable networks.
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June 12, 2024
SPAC Dealmakers Expect Modest Pickup After Market Bottom
Market professionals expect a slow pickup in deals involving special-purpose acquisition companies starting in the second half of 2024, predicting on Wednesday that a leaner market will emerge following the recent crash and imposition of tighter regulations.
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June 12, 2024
Directors Of Defunct Med Tech SPAC Seek Toss Of Del. Suit
Directors of a special purpose acquisition company that merged with now-defunct medical technology company Better Therapeutics Inc. urged Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday to toss a shareholder's suit about the $15 million de-SPAC merger, saying it wasn't like other problematic SPAC deals.
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June 12, 2024
SEC Says Texas Crypto Cases Aren't Related To Fraud Suit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked a Texas federal judge not to stay its case accusing a crypto asset mining and hosting company of securities fraud, saying in a Wednesday brief that the judge's concerns about other pending cases creating "moving-target precedents" were unfounded.
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June 12, 2024
Okta, Investors Reach $60M Deal In Cyberattack Coverup Suit
Okta Inc. investors have asked a California federal judge to give the first OK to a $60 million settlement reached in a suit alleging the software company misled the certified class about a 2022 cyberattack.
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June 12, 2024
QuantumScape Shareholders Seek Initial OK For $47.5M Deal
Investors of QuantumScape have asked a California federal judge to give the first green light to a $47.5 million settlement to end their class action suit, which alleged published articles revealed the company made false statements about the quality of its batteries and the tests it used to measure performance.
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June 12, 2024
Forte Biosciences Reaches $2M Deal To End Chancery Suit
Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Forte Biosciences has reached a multipart, $2 million concession-plus-cash settlement in Delaware's Court of Chancery with a private investment fund that ran a board proxy contest after its calls to liquidate the business were met with poison pill pushback.
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June 12, 2024
Loan Co. Owners Say SEC Improperly Expanded Receivership
A couple accused of scamming 1,200 investors out of nearly half a billion dollars asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to reverse an order expanding a receivership of their merchant loan business, arguing their due process rights were violated when their personal assets were added to the receivership.
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June 12, 2024
Freshfields Adds Ex-Kirkland, Davis Polk Attys In New York
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP bolstered its corporate offerings in New York this week with M&A partner Joshua Ayal and capital markets partner Jacqueline Marino.
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June 12, 2024
Terraform To Settle With SEC For $4.5B After Fraud Trial
Crypto firm Terraform Labs has agreed to a $4.47 billion settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after a Manhattan jury found the firm and its founder Do Kwon liable for fraud in April.
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June 12, 2024
Labaton Keller Sucharow Adds Securities Litigator In NY
Lauren Ormsbee did not grow up dreaming of fighting securities fraud, but that's the very role she's spent her career in, including in her new position as a partner and litigation team leader at Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP.
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June 12, 2024
Rimon Hires 5 Partners, Expands Global Transactions Team
A team of five partners focusing on transactional, finance and corporate matters has joined Rimon PC across several countries to represent investors, asset managers, credit funds and other clients.
Expert Analysis
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ShapeShift Fine Epitomizes SEC's Crypto Policy, And Its Flaws
A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing a fine on former cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift for failing to register as a securities dealer showcases the SEC's regulation-by-enforcement approach, but the dissent by two commissioners raises valid concerns that the agency's embrace of ambiguity over clarity risks hampering the growth of the crypto economy, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.
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2nd Circ. Adviser Liability Ruling May Shape SEC Enforcement
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Rashid, applying basic negligence principles to reverse a finding of investment adviser liability, provides a road map for future fraud enforcement proceedings, says Elisha Kobre at Bradley Arant.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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New Concerns, Same Tune At This Year's SIFMA Conference
At this year's Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference on legal developments affecting the financial services industry, government regulators’ emphasis on whistleblowing and AI washing represented a new refrain in an increasingly familiar chorus calling for prompt and thorough corporate cooperation, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: Benefits Of MDL Transfers
A recent order from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation highlights a critical part of the panel's work — moving cases into an existing MDL — and serves as a reminder that common arguments against such transfers don't outweigh the benefits of coordinating discovery and utilizing lead counsel, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.
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8 Tips As GCs Prep For New SEC Climate Disclosure Rules
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted rules governing climate-related disclosures represent a major change to the existing public company disclosure regime, so in-house counsel should begin to evaluate existing systems and resources related to emissions data, and identify the changes that will need to be made, say attorneys at Bracewell.
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An Overview Of Key Financing Documents In Venture Capital
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent Moelis decision highlights the importance of structuring corporate governance around investor demand, meaning early-stage companies seeking venture funding through sales of preferred stock should understand the legal documents needed to do so successfully, say Daniel Bell-Garcia and Tristan Kaisharis at Winstead.
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Reducing Risk While DOJ Plans New Whistleblower Rewards
In light of the Department of Justice's newly announced plan to create a comprehensive whistleblower reward program to fill the gaps in the current patchwork of federal incentives, companies should mitigate their risk of external claims now by implementing internal systems where employees can confidently and anonymously report concerns, say Caleb Hayes-Deats and Walter Hawes at MoloLamken.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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How Activision Ruling Favors M&A Formalities Over Practice
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent nod to a proposed class action, alleging shareholder notice violations in Activision Blizzard’s sale to Microsoft, puts practitioners on notice that customary merger and acquisition market practices do not offer protection from potential liability, say John Stigi and Eugene Choi at Sheppard Mullin.
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Takeaways From The 2023 DOJ Fraud Section Report
Attorneys at Wiley discuss notable trends from the U.S. Department of Justice's recently reported Fraud Section activity last year and highlight areas of enforcement to watch for in the future, including healthcare fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
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How New SEC Rule May Turn DeFi Participants Into 'Dealers'
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a new rule to amend its definition of a securities "dealer," but the change could have concerning implications for decentralized finance and blockchain, as the SEC has suggested it may subject DeFi participants to registration requirements and other regulations, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice
With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.
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2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.
The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.