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Securities
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July 16, 2024
BREAKING: Chinese Exile Guo Guilty On Most Counts In $1B Fraud Case
A Manhattan federal jury on Tuesday convicted prominent Chinese Communist Party critic Miles Guo on most charges alleging he operated a vast fraud that solicited more than $1 billion worth of sham investments from his supporters.
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July 16, 2024
Stradley Ronon Hires 2 Corporate Attorneys In DC
Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP has hired two corporate partners in Washington, D.C., and one of those new additions will co-lead the firm's private investment funds practice, according to a Monday announcement.
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July 16, 2024
BREAKING: Former Ozy Media CEO Convicted Of Defrauding Investors
A New York federal jury on Tuesday convicted former Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson of fraud and identity theft in a case alleging the charismatic startup founder lied to banks and investors to secure tens of millions of dollars in funding for the multimedia company.
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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have the Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 15, 2024
Gemini Says CFTC Can't Have It Both Ways On Materiality
Crypto exchange Gemini Trust Co. told a New York federal judge late Monday that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's arguments that Gemini misled it on aspects of a proposed bitcoin futures contract "directly contradict" the agency's defense of sanctions for its own alleged misstatements in another enforcement action.
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July 15, 2024
SEC Urged To Investigate OpenAI For Anti-Whistleblower NDAs
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been contacted by at least one whistleblower urging it to investigate artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI for allegedly requiring employees to sign agreements discouraging them from reporting potential wrongdoing to federal regulators, according to a letter shared with Law360 on Monday.
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July 15, 2024
Ex-Pfizer Worker Seeks No Time For Paxlovid Insider Trading
A former Pfizer employee argued that he shouldn't go to prison after a Manhattan federal jury convicted him of insider trading over clinical trial results for the drug Paxlovid, pointing out that a friend of his and co-defendant had dodged a custodial sentence in the case after helping prosecutors.
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July 15, 2024
Walgreens Investor Sues Over Challenged Pharmacy Division
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. was hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it inflated share prices by concealing the lack of viability of its pharmacy division, which it eventually disclosed needed a major overhaul to become sustainable.
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July 15, 2024
Crypto Promoter Says SEC's Ripple Appeal Helps His Request
A crypto influencer fighting a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit has told a Texas federal judge that his bid for an immediate appeal of a ruling against him is supported by the SEC's own attempt to appeal an adverse ruling in its case against blockchain firm Ripple Labs.
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July 15, 2024
CD&R Tells Del. Court Covetrus Sale 'Fully Informed'
An attorney for private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC told a Delaware vice chancellor Monday that stockholders of animal health company Covetrus Inc. were fully informed when they approved a $21-per-share takeover by CD&R and TPG Capital in 2022, disputing allegations of knowing standstill agreement violations and disclosure failures.
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July 15, 2024
SEC Pans Database Privacy Challenge As Too Little, Too Late
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to rid itself of a proposed class action targeting a market surveillance tool known as the consolidated audit trail, telling a Texas federal judge that shutting down a critical market stability tool 12 years after its creation would harm the public without providing any benefit to suing investors.
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July 15, 2024
Logan Paul 'Willfully Ignored' Partners' Fraud, Investor Says
A Texas buyer of influencer Logan Paul's never-launched CryptoZoo project told a Texas federal judge the YouTuber shouldn't win default judgments against the business partners he says duped him as he continues to face a proposed class's claims that he defrauded investors alongside them.
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July 15, 2024
Pump Co. Execs Must Face Trustee's $59.7M Transfer Suit
A Connecticut federal judge won't toss a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee's lawsuit claiming that three former engineering company executives transferred $59.7 million to a holding entity and sent the company into ruin to avoid paying asbestos claims, ruling Monday that the suit plausibly alleges that the executives had conflicts of interest and concealed their conduct.
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July 15, 2024
Fed's Powell Says He's Not Going Anywhere As Chairman
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that he will serve out the remaining two years of his appointment leading the central bank, signaling his intent to stick around despite questions about his future in a second potential Trump administration.
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July 15, 2024
CVS Hit With Investor Suit Over Benefits Unit's Losses
CVS has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court over a series of stock price declines it suffered following announcements about losses the healthcare retailer was experiencing in its Health Care Benefits segment.
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July 15, 2024
Cybersecurity Investor Sues For Docs On PE Merger Wipeout
California-based cybersecurity company Exabeam Inc. has been hit with a books and records request by a shareholder seeking to halt the company's private stock-for-stock merger with competitor LogRhythm, which is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
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July 15, 2024
Chancery Finds Truth Social SPAC Should Get Docs
The sponsor of the special purpose acquisition company that took former President Donald Trump's Truth Social public must turn over most of the documents the SPAC sought as part of the parties' Delaware litigation, a Chancery Court judge ruled Monday, teeing the case up for trial on July 29.
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July 15, 2024
Gray Reed Helped Water Now CEO In Fraud, Investors Say
Investors in the now-defunct water purification company Water Now have added law firm Gray Reed & McGraw LLP and attorney George Diamond to their suit against the company, saying in an amended complaint Monday the firm helped the company's CEO run the business into the ground while enriching himself.
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July 15, 2024
Calif. Man Avoids Prison For Lumentum Insider Trading
A California man who pled guilty to trading on tips from a former executive of laser company Lumentum Holdings Inc. avoided prison Monday in light of his assistance to the government's investigation.
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July 15, 2024
Towers Watson Asks 4th Circ. To Find Merger Dispute Covered
Towers Watson's insurers must pay out $54 million in remaining directors and officers coverage to help fund a $75 million settlement in a shareholder suit over the company's merger with Willis, Towers Watson told the Fourth Circuit, saying a so-called bump-up exclusion does not apply.
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July 15, 2024
SEC Says German Flouting Discovery In $150M Fraud Probe
A German national suspected of receiving proceeds of a $150 million "pump and dump" scheme from his son can't pick and choose when to avail himself of U.S. legal processes, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday as it seeks to recover funds.
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July 15, 2024
Insurance Groups Want DOL Investment Advice Regs Blocked
Several insurance groups urged a Texas federal court to halt the U.S. Department of Labor's new regulations that broaden who qualifies as a fiduciary under federal benefits law, saying the agency's new rule is no different from one the Fifth Circuit invalidated in 2018.
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July 15, 2024
FTX Proposes $4B Settlement Of CFTC's Massive $52B Claim
FTX Trading Ltd. asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to sign off on a settlement with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, saying the agreement to allow the agency a $4 billion claim in its bankruptcy would end a fraud civil enforcement action and address the "most significant single creditor" in the crypto currency exchange's Chapter 11 case.
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July 15, 2024
B. Riley, Others Sued In Del. After Franchise Group Buyout
Four Franchise Group LLC stockholders sued the company's principals and top investors in Delaware's Court of Chancery Friday, alleging that they and others were shortchanged by an insider-controlled $2.8 billion take-private sale of the business after an allegedly sham marketing effort and undisclosed conflicts.
Expert Analysis
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How To Survive Shareholder Activism
In an era where shareholder activism is on the rise, companies must identify weaknesses, clearly communicate strategies, update board composition and engage with shareholders consistently in order to avoid disruptive shareholder activism and safeguard the interests of both the company and its shareholders, say J.T. Ho at Orrick and Greg Taxin at Spotlight Advisors.
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'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed
A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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Will Texas Stock Exchange Provide Regulatory Haven?
While the newly proposed Texas Stock Exchange may represent a market reaction to increasingly complex regulations, those looking to list on a national securities exchange should consider that their choice of an exchange may not relieve them of some of the most burdensome public company requirements, say Elizabeth McNichol and Ryan Lilley at Katten.
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Equity Rights Offering Considerations As Maturity Cliff Looms
Current market uncertainties make an equity rights offering — involving affiliate backstop investors — a cost-effective, capital-raising transaction for distressed companies looking to manage their leverage ahead of the impending maturity of a substantial number of COVID-era debt issuances, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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A Checklist For Lenders Preparing For CRE Loan Defaults
Considering the recent interest rate environment, lenders should brush up on the proper steps that they should take when preparing to respond to a borrower's default on a commercial real estate loan, and borrowers should understand what lenders will be reviewing, says attorney Norma Williams.
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Opinion
Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs
We learned during the spring 2023 failures that bank runs can happen extraordinarily fast in light of modern technology, especially when banks have a greater concentration of large deposits, demonstrating that the antiquated but effective discount window needs to be overhauled before the next crisis, says Cris Cicala at Stinson.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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Series
After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Navigating The Extent Of SEC Cybersecurity Breach Authority
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's broad reading of its authority under Section 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act in the R.R. Donnelley and SolarWinds actions has ramifications for companies dealing with cybersecurity breaches, but it remains to be seen whether the commission's use of the provision will withstand judicial scrutiny, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Best Text Practices In Light Of Terraform's $4.5B Fraud Deal
Text messages were extremely important in a recent civil trial against Terraform Labs, leading to a $4.5 billion settlement, so litigants in securities fraud cases need to have robust mobile data policies that address the content and retention of messages, and the obligations of employees to allow for collection, say Josh Sohn and Alicia Clausen at Crowell & Moring.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Dapper Settlement Offers Rules Of The Road For NFT Issuers
The terms of a $4 million settlement in a class action alleging that Dapper Labs sold its NBA Top Shot Moments as unregistered securities may be a model for third parties that wish to avoid securities liability in connection with offering digital asset non-fungible token collectibles, say attorneys at K&L Gates.