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Securities
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July 10, 2024
CFTC Says Internal Criticism 'Not Relevant' To Sanctions Bid
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission says that criticism leveled against it by one of its own members is "not relevant" to the agency's case against a foreign exchange firm accused of a $300 million fraud and has asked a New Jersey federal court not to consider the comments in deciding whether to issue sanctions against the regulator.
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July 10, 2024
SEC Exchange Plan Can't Stand Post-Chevron, Uniswap Says
Decentralized finance firm Uniswap Labs is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not to adopt a rule that could force it and other cryptocurrency trading platforms to register with the agency as securities exchanges, saying the rule will not survive a legal challenge now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Chevron deference.
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July 10, 2024
SEC Nabs $6.7M Over Fraud Scheme But Must Tweak Fines
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has secured a $6.7 million order against a retired attorney and a former broker accused of fraud tied to a purported energy company, but a Brooklyn federal judge has determined that the agency must recalculate the additional fines and other relief it wants imposed upon the two men.
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July 10, 2024
GOP Bombards Agencies With Demands After Chevron's End
Republican leaders of major congressional committees Wednesday demanded details from dozens of agencies on policies suddenly shrouded in uncertainty after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine, which for 40 years gave regulators flexibility in rulemaking and advantages in related litigation.
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July 10, 2024
Proof Of Ozy Media CEO's Fraud Is Overwhelming, Jury Told
A New York federal prosecutor on Wednesday told the jury weighing the fate of Carlos Watson that the evidence presented at trial clearly shows that the former Ozy Media CEO was at the helm of a scheme to deceive investors into backing the struggling news and entertainment startup, by falsely inflating its financials and lying about the company's prospects in order to keep it afloat.
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July 10, 2024
Skin Care Tech Co. Says Suit Shows 'Rough' Year, Not Fraud
Skin care and beauty technology company Cutera Inc. asked a federal judge to toss a shareholder lawsuit that alleged the company exaggerated its financial sustainability and hid compliance issues, saying the company's "rough" year does not establish securities fraud.
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July 10, 2024
Feds Say Guo Ran 'Fraud Empire' As Racketeering Trial Wraps
Manhattan federal prosecutors urged a jury on Wednesday to convict Chinese dissident Miles Guo for operating his political movement as a vast racketeering conspiracy that "brainwashed" supporters into spending more than $1 billion on scam investments.
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July 10, 2024
Deutsche Bank Settles Ex-Trader's Malicious Prosecution Suit
Deutsche Bank has settled a lawsuit brought by a former trader who claimed the bank scapegoated him when the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation into suspected interest rate rigging, according to a Wednesday filing in New York federal court.
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July 10, 2024
Ex-CEO Of Mogul-Tied Co. Fired For Failures, Fraud Suit Says
A European IT company tied to convicted mogul Greg Lindberg struck back against a lawsuit by its former CEO who alleges he was fired abruptly, accusing the former executive of shirking his leadership duties in a counterclaim.
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July 10, 2024
AdaptHealth Investor Attys Get 25% Of $51M Deal, With Caveat
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday granted final approval to a $51 million settlement between AdaptHealth and investors over allegations tied to its merger with a blank check company, but the plaintiffs' counsel must wait for certain shares to be sold before they can collect their $12.8 million fee.
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July 10, 2024
Peloton Investors Get Final OK For $14M Settlement
A New York magistrate judge has given the final approval to a $14 million settlement between Peloton and investors over claims that the home exercise equipment maker failed to properly disclose issues with its treadmills after a 6-year-old was killed by one.
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July 10, 2024
Thoma Bravo's Qualtrics Bid Fell Short, SAP Tells Chancery
Thoma Bravo LP may have offered $1.2 billion more than Silver Lake Management to buy Qualtrics International Inc. from software company SAP SE in 2023, but other aspects of the bid were less attractive than Silver Lake's $12.5 billion offer, an attorney for SAP directors told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday.
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July 10, 2024
Behnam Tells Senate CFTC Is Ready To Be Retail Crypto Cop
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam sought to assure lawmakers that his agency is ready to protect retail investors if it is given oversight of digital asset markets during a Wednesday Senate hearing setting the stage for a coming legislative proposal on the future of cryptocurrency regulation.
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July 10, 2024
Archegos Founder Convicted Of $100B Fraud On Wall Street
A Manhattan federal jury on Wednesday convicted Archegos founder Bill Hwang of illegally injecting over $100 billion into Wall Street markets with lies to banks that ballooned stocks and his assets, before running his family-office hedge fund into the ground.
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July 10, 2024
House Panel Votes To Nix Biden's Retirement Advice Rule
A Republican-controlled panel of U.S. House lawmakers advanced legislation Wednesday to block recently finalized regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor that expand the definition of a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, after a brief debate on retirement policy that clearly split along party lines.
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July 10, 2024
SEC Probes NYSE's Bid To Extend SPAC Merger Deadlines
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision wants more time to investigate a New York Stock Exchange proposal that would lengthen deadlines to complete certain mergers involving special purpose acquisition companies to 42 months, saying NYSE's proposal departs from typical time limits intended to protect investors.
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July 10, 2024
Ex-CEO Convicted In COVID Test Kit Fraud Case
A former healthcare software executive was found guilty of securities fraud Wednesday by a New Jersey federal jury in the retrial of a case that ended in a hung jury in December.
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July 09, 2024
FINRA Fines UBS For Missing Rep's $7.2M Sell-Away Scheme
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined UBS Financial Services Inc. $850,000 as part of a deal to resolve allegations that the firm failed to detect for more than two decades one of its representative's outside sales of mismarketed securities to his UBS clients.
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July 09, 2024
Private Funds Say 5th Circ. Ruling Sinks SEC's AI, Cyber Bids
Several trade groups for the private fund industry urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday to withdraw rule proposals on artificial intelligence and investment adviser outsourcing and cybersecurity risk management, in light of a Fifth Circuit ruling that dealt a blow to the agency's private fund oversight.
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July 09, 2024
Chancery OKs $100K Incentive Fee In $18.8M Class Settlement
An $18.8 million settlement ended Tuesday a Delaware Court of Chancery derivative suit alleging a $220 million breach of fiduciary duty by Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors LLC and trustees of a closed-end fund client, with the court also approving a rare $100,000 plaintiff incentive fee.
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July 09, 2024
Slam By CFTC Member Backs Sanctions Bid, Forex Firm Says
A foreign exchange firm that accused the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission of misconduct in bringing an action against it has cited recent criticism of the agency's enforcement division by one of its commissioners in support of its bid to toss the case and sanction the regulator.
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July 09, 2024
3rd Circ. Rips 2nd Circ. In Asset Freeze Ruling For SEC
The Third Circuit is standing by a lower court's decision to freeze a private equity executive's assets as he fights insider trading claims brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, criticizing its sister circuit's approach to handling such issues in a precedential ruling Tuesday.
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July 09, 2024
NJ Panel Revokes Coverage For Pharma Co. In Fraud Row
A pharmaceutical company isn't covered for underlying accusations that it was a middleman in a self-dealing scheme orchestrated by its now-deceased board chairman, a New Jersey state appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a decision that a capacity exclusion in the company's directors and officers policy didn't apply.
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July 09, 2024
5th Circ. Presses SEC On Whistleblower Award Calculation
The Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case accusing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of shortchanging two whistleblowers who uncovered the largest fraud in Texas history, with one judge pressing the agency's attorney over how much money it was able to collect after the fraudster declared bankruptcy.
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July 09, 2024
NJ Jury Begins Deliberating COVID Test Kit Fraud Case
Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the retrial of a securities fraud case that ended with a dramatic mistrial after a juror announced in open court last December that he disagreed with the guilty verdict that had just been delivered by the jury forewoman.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
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Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference
Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs
Investment advisers should prepare for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed rule that would significantly expand anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism obligations by assessing illicit financing risks, and expect examiners to scrutinize unregistered advisers and those with certain foreign clients, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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How Private Funds Can Navigate New FinCEN Reporting Rules
In light of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's new regulations implementing beneficial ownership reporting requirements, private fund managers must assess whether certain obligations apply to entities within their structures and whether potential structural changes could simplify those obligations, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection
Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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Innodata Suit Highlights 'AI Washing' Liability Risk For Cos.
A class action against software company Innodata over so-called AI washing, one of the first of its kind, underscores the litigation and enforcement risks that can arise from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel theory about misleading artificial intelligence capabilities, say attorneys at Bracewell.