Securities

  • January 22, 2025

    Investor Alleges Utility Put Profits Above Storm Preparation

    CenterPoint Energy Inc.'s board of directors was hit with a lawsuit Wednesday from a shareholder who alleges the company's handling of Hurricane Beryl revealed it engaged in "financial engineering" designed to boost profits over operational efficiency.

  • January 22, 2025

    Pharma Co. Says Ex-CEO's Alleged Misconduct Is Not Fraud

    Artificial intelligence-driven pharmaceutical company Exscientia PLC has asked a New Jersey federal court to toss a suit alleging it is responsible for share price declines following the termination of its CEO after claims emerged he participated in inappropriate relationships with employees, arguing the alleged misconduct is not securities fraud.

  • January 22, 2025

    Exxon Says Investors Shared Confidential Info With Ex-Worker

    Exxon Mobil Corp. has urged a Texas federal judge to reject investors' broad reading of what confidential information they're allowed to share and with whom in litigation accusing the oil giant of overvaluing its Permian Basin holdings by billions of dollars.

  • January 22, 2025

    Connell Foley Fights DQ Bid In Investment Firm's Bias Suit

    A group of current and former New Jersey state officials blasted a motion to disqualify their counsel at Connell Foley LLP in a discrimination suit from a Black-owned investment firm in New Jersey federal court, calling the move a frivolous and bad faith stalling tactic.

  • January 22, 2025

    White House Shutters DEI Offices, Puts Workers On Leave

    The U.S. Office of Personnel Management told federal agencies to close offices focused on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives by Wednesday evening and lay off staffers by Jan. 31, part of President Donald Trump's larger efforts to combat workplace diversity programs.

  • January 21, 2025

    Ex-Meta COO Sanctioned For Deleting Cambridge Emails

    A Delaware Court of Chancery judge on Tuesday sanctioned Meta Platforms Inc.'s former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg in consolidated litigation over the Facebook Cambridge Analytica data scandal, finding that she likely selectively deleted emails that related to the litigation.

  • January 21, 2025

    10th Circ. Looks For Limits In Custodia's Master Account Suit

    The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City on Tuesday told a Tenth Circuit panel that the crypto-focused Custodia Bank is not entitled to a so-called master account that it has sued the Federal Reserve to get, while acknowledging that the Fed's own discretion to deny such an account has its limits.

  • January 21, 2025

    SEC Says 'Hotspot' Crypto Miners Broke Registration Laws

    Technology company Nova Labs Inc. faces U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it attempted an "end-run" around federal securities laws with its unregistered sale of investment contracts in the form of its "hotspot" crypto asset mining devices.

  • January 21, 2025

    Del. Justices Seal Oracle's Win In $9.3B NetSuite Merger Suit

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed the Chancery Court's toss last year of a challenge to Oracle Corp.'s $9.3 billion acquisition of NetSuite Corp. in 2016, saying the Chancery did not err in finding that the transaction was untainted from influence by Oracle's management or its founder and top shareholder.

  • January 21, 2025

    SEC Sues Investment Firms, GC Over 'Sham' Oil And Gas Co.

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused a wealth management advisory firm, an affiliate and several of its representatives of defrauding investors by selling prohibited shares of a "sham" oil and gas company, while also accusing the firm's general counsel and chief compliance officer of playing an "active role" in the alleged misconduct.

  • January 21, 2025

    SEC Says Engineering Prof To Pay $785K For Insider Trading

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday told a California federal court that an electrical engineering professor has agreed to pay about $785,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing him of improperly trading shares of a radio technology company at which he previously served as an advisory committee member.

  • January 21, 2025

    Coinbase Asks 2nd Circ. To Settle Crypto Securities Question

    Coinbase has urged the Second Circuit to settle how securities laws apply to its crypto transactions, saying "there is no more pressing issue in securities law today" than determining the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to regulate digital assets.

  • January 21, 2025

    Block Hit With Shareholder Suit Over Cash App AML Protocols

    Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. touted its anti-money laundering protocols designed to prevent criminals from using Cash App and Square for illicit purposes, but in reality, the company's lack of even basic protocols created a "haven for criminal and illicit activities," a California federal lawsuit alleges.

  • January 21, 2025

    Asset Type Immaterial To Crypto Fraud Claims, SEC Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has argued that digital assets referenced in its fraud case in Texas against the principals of a purported cryptocurrency mining operation are "immaterial to the economic reality" of the allegedly fraudulent securities transactions at the heart of its action.

  • January 21, 2025

    KeyBank Fights Adviser's $1.1M Defamation Win In 2nd Circ.

    KeyBank's investment unit urged the Second Circuit on Tuesday to overturn parts of a $1.1 million defamation award to a former adviser, claiming that FINRA arbiters wrongly added attorney fees and a regulatory notice violation to the ex-employee's win.

  • January 21, 2025

    Trump Names Interim Top Prosecutors In Manhattan, Brooklyn

    President Donald Trump named two high-ranking prosecutors to be interim U.S. attorneys in the Southern and Eastern districts of New York while his long-term picks for the posts await Senate confirmation, spokespeople for the offices confirmed Tuesday.

  • January 21, 2025

    Crypto Firm To Plead Guilty In Market Manipulation Case

    A financial services firm based in the United Arab Emirates has agreed to plead guilty to a fraudulent "wash trading" scheme and will stop working in the U.S. cryptocurrency industry as part of a deal announced Tuesday by Boston federal prosecutors.

  • January 21, 2025

    Ex-Cannabis Exec Hit With Insider Trading Charges

    A former executive of cannabis giant Verano Holdings and friends from his country club have been hit with both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit for insider trading, with the government alleging they bought stock in a rival cannabis company Verano had planned to acquire based on nonpublic information.

  • January 21, 2025

    Medical Cannabis REIT Misled Investors, Suit Claims

    A medical cannabis-focused real estate investment trust lied to its shareholders about the profitability of its leasing operations and declining rents, a new suit has alleged in Maryland federal court.

  • January 21, 2025

    New SEC Task Force Eyes 'Sensible' Crypto Regulations

    A day after being appointed acting chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mark T. Uyeda on Tuesday launched a cryptocurrency task force to develop "a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework" for such assets.

  • January 21, 2025

    Weil Adds SEC's Asset Management Co-Chief To NY Group

    A more-than 12-year veteran of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who most recently co-led the agency's Asset Management Unit, is joining Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as the firm continues adding former regulators to begin the new year.

  • January 21, 2025

    Trump Orders Federal Workers Back To Office

    On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump ordered federal workers back to theirs.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

    Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2024, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

  • January 17, 2025

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 20, 2025

    Trump, Musk Sued By Nonprofits Over DOGE Transparency

    Public Citizen and other nonprofits hit the Trump administration with multiple lawsuits seeking to shut down the new Department of Government Efficiency in D.C. federal court Monday, alleging the Elon Musk-led advisory committee targeting government waste lacks requisite transparency guardrails to prevent DOGE from solely advancing private interests.

Expert Analysis

  • Cyber Disclosure Is A Mainstay In 2025 SEC Exam Priorities

    Author Photo

    Despite a new administration and a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair incoming, the SEC's 2025 examination priorities signal that cybersecurity disclosures and risk management practices will remain important due to the growing threat of cyberattacks, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

    Author Photo

    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • The Compliance Trends And Imperatives On Tap In 2025

    Author Photo

    The corporate ethics and compliance landscape is rapidly evolving, posing challenges from conflicting stakeholder expectations to technological disruptions, and businesses will need to explore human-centered, data-driven and evidence-based practices, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

    Author Photo

    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Best Practices To Find Del. Earnout Provisions That Hold Up

    Author Photo

    Recent Delaware earnout litigation illustrates the need for careful drafting and proactive planning to avoid later divergent interpretations of the signed contract, and a series of drafting tips can help, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Climate Disclosure Spotlight Shifts To 2 Calif. Laws

    Author Photo

    With Donald Trump's election spelling the all-but-certain demise of the proposed federal climate disclosure rules, new laws in California currently stand as the nation's only broadly applicable climate disclosure requirements — and their brevity is both a blessing and a curse, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • What's Ahead As Transparency Act Comes To A Crossroads

    Author Photo

    Synthesizing the contrasting federal district and appellate court rulings on the Corporate Transparency Act’s validity reveals several main areas of debate that will likely remain at issue as challenges to the law continue winding through the courts, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • UBS Ruling Shows SDNY's Pro-Award Confirmation Stance

    Author Photo

    A New York federal court's recent ruling upholding an arbitration award in Lakah v. UBS, a long-running dispute over a bond debt default, serves as a reminder that New York courts carry a strong presumption toward binding parties to arbitration agreements and enforcing arbitral awards, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Where Payments Law And Regulation Are Headed In 2025

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration will likely bring significant changes to payments regulations in 2025, but maintaining internal compliance efforts in the absence of robust federal oversight will remain key as state authorities and private plaintiffs step into the breach, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • How Decline Of Deference Will Affect Trump Policymaking

    Author Photo

    An administrative law regime without Chevron deference may limit the Trump administration’s ability to implement new policies in the short term, but ultimately help it in the long term, and all parties with an interest in regulatory changes will have to take a fresh approach to litigation, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 5 Evolving Concerns For Family Offices In 2025

    Author Photo

    Complex regulatory changes and emerging operational risks will force family offices to stay on their toes in 2025, with timely action particularly necessary to address several tax and reporting developments that may affect their investments and business operations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Ohio Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

    Author Photo

    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw several significant developments in the fourth quarter of 2024, including a landmark Uniform Commercial Code ruling, adjustments to the state's Homebuyer Plus Program and the launch of the state's first women-led bank, says attorney Alex Durst.

  • 2024 Was A Banner Year For Shareholder Activism

    Author Photo

    Shareholder activism campaigns in 2024 continued at an elevated pace globally, with activist investors exploiting valuation gaps and pushing aggressively for corporate governance reforms, including the ouster of many companies' chief executives, a trend that could continue once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

    Author Photo

    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

    Author Photo

    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Securities archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!