Securities

  • October 01, 2024

    Foley & Lardner Accused Of Malpractice In GWG Transactions

    Foley & Lardner LLP did not heed the fiduciary duty it owed to GWG Holdings when it facilitated loans and other transactions unfair to the life insurance-backed bond seller and, instead, enriched a group of "corrupt" shareholders, according to a lengthy adversary lawsuit filed in Texas bankruptcy court.

  • October 01, 2024

    Tesla Dodges Investor Suit Over Self-Driving Tech Claims

    A California federal judge has released Tesla Inc. from litigation accusing it of deceiving investors about the capabilities and safety record of its self-driving technology, granting it at least a temporary reprieve from the class action litigation because suing shareholders hadn't shown that CEO Elon Musk knew his statements about the technology were false.

  • October 01, 2024

    Chancery Tosses Class Suit Over TransUnion CFPB Violations

    Observing that "imperfect compliance is not bad faith," a Delaware vice chancellor dismissed on Tuesday a stockholder derivative suit seeking damages on behalf of consumer credit reporting company TransUnion for alleged board and officer failures to comply with a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau order issued in 2017.

  • October 01, 2024

    Israeli Analytics Co. Beats 'Social Engineering' Suit, For Now

    A New York federal judge has dismissed a proposed investor class action against Israeli security analytics company Cognyte Software Ltd. over claims that its tools were used to surveil and "social-engineer" journalists and politicians, saying many of the alleged misstatements are inactionable as currently presented.

  • October 01, 2024

    Starbucks Investor Suit Seems 'Premature,' Court Official Says

    A Washington appellate commissioner gave Starbucks another chance to end a shareholder suit accusing the company's leadership of turning a blind eye to union-busting by managers, saying the lawsuit appears "premature" since it mostly relies on unfair labor practice complaints that are still pending.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ex-CBD Exec Must Face SEC Fraud Suit Over $13M Deal

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sufficiently backed its claims that a former cannabidiol products executive misled investors, including by making false statements in press releases, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled.

  • October 01, 2024

    Binance GC Is Building The Firm's Future, One Atty At A Time

    Binance general counsel Eleanor Hughes says she inherited "probably one of the most stressful situations a lawyer can face" when she entered her role as the company negotiated a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities, but since then her focus has been on building the right team to guide the firm's compliance forward.

  • October 01, 2024

    Boeing Can't Escape Investors' 737 Max Fraud Suit

    An Illinois federal judge trimmed but refused to toss a proposed securities class action against Boeing over claims that it harmed investors by misrepresenting the 737 Max's safety, pushing back against defendants who wanted him to reach the same conclusion as the suit's previously assigned judge.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ex-NBA Star's Big Paydays Not Relevant In Hoops Fraud Trial

    Dwight Howard's NBA contracts exceeding $240 million over his 18-year playing career are irrelevant to charges that an Atlanta businessman defrauded the ex-basketball superstar out of $7 million, a Manhattan federal judge held Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    Amgen Must Face Suit It Misled Investors On $10.7B Tax Bill

    Amgen lost an attempt to escape a potential class action claiming the pharmaceutical giant hid a $10.7 billion tax bill from investors after a New York federal court ruled there was sufficient evidence for the action to proceed.

  • October 01, 2024

    Biotech Investors Reach $32.5M Deal Over Failed COVID Test

    A class of Talis Biomedical Corp. investors accusing the company of inflating their stock price in the run-up to its IPO and then failing to launch a COVID-19 diagnostic test asked a California federal judge on Monday to preliminarily approve their $32.5 million settlement, citing Talis' shrinking cash reserves and imminent plans to file for bankruptcy.

  • October 01, 2024

    Big Banks Urge Panel To Toss NJ Bond Marketing Claims

    A New Jersey state judge erred when he applied a recent change in state law to deny a bid by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other big banks to toss a suit accusing them of a scheme to inflate the interest rates of certain bonds, the banks argued Tuesday before a state appellate panel.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ex-Interior Dept. Deputy's Oil Stocks Violated Ethics Laws

    The onetime deputy secretary of the Interior, Tommy Beaudreau, who moved into private practice last year and now co-leads WilmerHale's energy practice, violated government ethics laws by failing to recuse himself from drilling-related matters while knowingly holding petroleum stocks, according to an internal watchdog's ethics report released Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    Bybit Adds Ex-Binance Atty As Legal And Compliance Chief

    Crypto exchange Bybit has added a Binance and ByteDance alum to head its legal and compliance operations, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    SEC Fines Marathon Asset Over Nonpublic Info Policies

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Marathon Asset Management LP will pay $1.5 million to settle allegations that the debt investment firm failed to have adequate policies and procedures to prevent the misuse of nonpublic information in relation to its business of analyzing debtors' financial obligations.

  • October 01, 2024

    Jenner & Block Welcomes Davis Wright's Chicago Head

    Jenner & Block LLP announced the addition of the former Chicago office leader at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on Tuesday, touting the longtime financial litigator's skills in litigation and regulatory counseling.

  • September 30, 2024

    AI Safety Bill Veto Shows Calif. Taking Regulatory 'Baby Steps'

    The California governor's rejection of sweeping legislation to ensure the safe deployment of large-scale artificial intelligence models — and his simultaneous embrace of more targeted proposals to regulate the technology — is likely to result in the wider creation of regimes that favor "baby steps" over broad strokes, experts say. 

  • September 30, 2024

    SEC Says Ex-Church & Dwight CEO Misled On Independence

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that Church & Dwight Co.'s former CEO and chairman has agreed to settle claims that he had an undisclosed close friendship with a high-ranking company executive while serving as an independent director of the maker of the Arm & Hammer brand and other consumer products.

  • September 30, 2024

    9th Circ. Partly Revives Crypto Investor's Suit Against AT&T

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday partially revived a cryptocurrency investor's suit accusing AT&T of failing to protect his information amid a fraudulent SIM swap that cost him $24 million, finding there to be a triable question whether AT&T gave hackers access to his proprietary information through the scheme.

  • September 30, 2024

    SEC Fines Moloney Securities, Sues Ex-Broker In Reg BI Case

    A Missouri broker-dealer and three of its representatives have agreed to pay more than $438,000 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims that they violated Regulation Best Interest with high-risk debt securities, while the regulator sued another ex-representative for related allegations.

  • September 30, 2024

    MoneyGram Beats Investor Suit Over Anti-Fraud Compliance

    An Illinois federal judge on Monday tossed a proposed securities class action accusing MoneyGram International of lying about its anti-fraud compliance, finding that the suing investors did not adequately plead any misleading statements or that MoneyGram's executives acted with an intent to deceive.

  • September 30, 2024

    TD Securities To Pay $28M In Treasuries Spoofing Settlements

    Brokerage firm TD Securities has agreed to pay nearly $28 million to avoid prosecution and end regulatory investigations into its role in a spoofing scandal that will soon see the former head of its U.S. Treasuries trading desk brought before a jury, government officials announced Monday.

  • September 30, 2024

    Bristol-Myers Beats Celgene Investors' Drug Delay Suit

    A New York federal judge on Monday tossed UMB Bank's claims that Bristol-Myers Squibb improperly delayed U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of a cancer treatment to avoid paying shareholders $6.4 billion owed from a 2019 acquisition of Celgene Corp., saying the bank lacked standing to sue.

  • September 30, 2024

    Google Investors' Attys Snag $66.5M In $350M Privacy Deal

    A California federal judge on Monday gave final approval to Alphabet's $350 million deal settling a Google data breach securities suit and awarded $66.5 million for attorney fees amid objections, calling the deal "an excellent result" and noting the 19% cut was below the benchmark for similar cases.

  • September 30, 2024

    Big Banks Get Brazilian Pollution Suit Booted From NY

    A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed an effort by a Brazilian city and residents to hold several big banks liable for allegedly financing environmentally ruinous mining operations in their region, ruling the matter would be more appropriately heard in Brazil.

Expert Analysis

  • What Passage Of House Crypto Bill Could Mean For Industry

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    While the prospects of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, which recently passed the House in a bipartisan fashion, becoming law remain murky, the manner of its passage may give crypto markets a real cause for hope, say Neel Maitra and Dale Beggs at Dechert.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Advisers Can Avoid Gaps In SEC Marketing Rule Compliance

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    A recent risk alert from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the enforcement history of the marketing rule indicate that advisers have encountered persistent difficulties in achieving compliance — but there are steps advisers can take to mitigate risks of violations, say Scott Moss and Jimmy Kang at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.

  • Banks As Crypto Custodians May Rest On SEC Bulletin's Fate

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    Banks' willingness to accept custody of cryptocurrency assets, like the exchange-traded funds approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this spring, may hinge on whether a 2022 SEC accounting bulletin directing banks to track customers' digital assets on their balance sheets can survive Congress' attempts to strike it down, says Roger Chari at Duane Morris.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Takeaways From Regulators' £61.6M Citigroup Trading Fine

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    Following the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority’s recent significant fining of Citigroup for its catastrophic trading error, and with more enforcement likely, institutions should update their controls and ensure system warnings do not become routine and therefore disregarded, says Abdulali Jiwaji at Signature Litigation.

  • Big Banks Face Potential Broader Recovery Plan Rules

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent call for potentially subjecting more banks to recovery planning standards would represent a significant expansion of the scope of the recovery guidelines, and banks that would be affected should assess whether they’re prepared, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Practical Private Equity Lessons From 2 Delaware Deals

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    A pair of Delaware Chancery Court cases remind private equity sponsors that specificity is crucial through the lens of deal certainty, particularly around closing conditions and agreement sections of acquisition agreements, say Robert Rizzo and Larissa Lucas at Weil Gotshal and William Lafferty at Morris Nichols.

  • New Laws, Regs Mean More Scrutiny Of Airline Carbon Claims

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    Recent climate disclosure laws and regulations in the U.S. and Europe mean that scrutiny of airlines' green claims will likely continue to intensify — so carriers must make sure their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through use of sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and carbon offsets measure up to their marketing, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • 4 Tips For Drafting Earnouts To Avoid Disputes

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    Amid slowed merger and acquisition activity, buyers and sellers are increasingly turning to earnout provisions to get deals done, but these must be carefully drafted to avoid interpretative differences that can lead to later disputes, say attorneys at Cooley.

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