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Securities
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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.
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July 09, 2024
Del. Chancellor Sends SwervePay Merger Suit Toward Trial
Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday rejected dismissal for an amended complaint filed by e-payment venture SwervePay accusing buyers affiliated with payment collection business Ontario Systems LLC of overstating by tens of billions revenue-producing transactions expected under a proposed 2020 tie-up.
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July 09, 2024
Yellen Says Customer Due Diligence Proposal Planned For Fall
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told members of Congress Tuesday that her department is aiming to release a proposal this fall to revise the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's customer due diligence rule, while facing criticism over "duplicative" reporting regimes.
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July 09, 2024
Feds Seek 37 Mos. For Tippee In JPMorgan Insider Case
California federal prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison sentence for a Los Angeles man who was found guilty of trading on privileged information supplied by a childhood friend who was an analyst at JPMorgan Securities LLC, saying that his repeated lies under oath suggest he does not fully understand the consequences of his actions.
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July 09, 2024
2 Cooperators In Bankman-Fried Case To Be Sentenced In Fall
Two former FTX executives who pled guilty and testified for the government at the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange's founder, will be sentenced this fall, a New York federal judge said Tuesday.
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July 09, 2024
Ackman's Pershing Square USA Kicks Off IPO Roadshow
Pershing Square USA Ltd., a closed-end fund backed by hedge-fund giant Bill Ackman, on Tuesday said it has launched a marketing roadshow for an initial public offering that could enable retail investors to own part of one of the U.S.'s largest listed funds.
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July 09, 2024
Ex-DOJ Atty Tells Guo Jury Of Illicit Extradition Campaign
Prominent Chinese Communist Party critic Miles Guo capped off his defense to $1 billion fraud charges Tuesday with testimony from a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, who admitted to participating in a plot to lobby the U.S. government for Guo's extradition to China.
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July 09, 2024
McDermott Lands 22-Year Latham Securities Litigator In LA
McDermott Will & Emery has brought in the global co-chair of Latham & Watkins LLP's securities litigation and professional liability practice group to join its Los Angeles office.
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July 09, 2024
Jackson Lewis Snags Proskauer Atty In NYC Office
Nationwide employment law firm Jackson Lewis PC announced Tuesday that it has hired a former Proskauer Rose LLP associate as a principal in its New York City office.
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July 09, 2024
Davis Malm, Partner Dropped From Investor Suit
Davis Malm & D'Agostine PC and one of its partners have been dropped from a suit alleging a former client of the firm convinced a group of investors to back a startup, then misused their funds.
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July 09, 2024
Chancery OKs $22M Golden Nugget Deal, Trims Fee To $4M
Former stockholders of Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. who challenged the venture's $1.56 billion all-stock sale in May 2022 to DraftKings Inc. got approval Tuesday to settle their Delaware Chancery Court class action for $22 million cash, with $4 million of it going to class attorneys.
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July 09, 2024
5th Circ. Skeptical Of Nixing ESG Rule Despite Chevron's End
A Fifth Circuit panel appeared unlikely Tuesday to knock out a Biden administration rule allowing retirement plan advisers to consider environmental, social and governance factors when choosing investments, although one judge seemed to support vacating a lower court's decision upholding the regulation in light of the Chevron doctrine's demise.
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July 09, 2024
Akin Adds DOJ Atty As White Collar Defense Partner In DC
An experienced U.S. Department of Justice attorney who most recently served as an assistant chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit has returned to private practice at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
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July 09, 2024
Fed's Powell Backs Do-Over For Basel Bank Capital Plan
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told senators on Tuesday that he supports a reproposal of federal regulators' Basel III endgame overhaul to big-bank capital requirements, suggesting the package is being rethought significantly enough to merit a whole new draft before it can be finalized.
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July 08, 2024
Emergent, J&J Reach $50M Deal In COVID Vax Supply Fight
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay Emergent BioSolutions $50 million to resolve claims stemming from a now-terminated COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing deal, according to a disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Unpacking The Latest Tranche Of Sanctions Targeting Russia
Hundreds of new U.S. sanctions and export-control measures targeting trade with Russia, issued last week in connection with the G7 summit, illustrate the fluidity of trade-focused restrictions and the need to constantly refresh compliance analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Considerations For Cooperation Contracts In Loan Trades
Significant challenges to settling trades can arise when lenders of syndicated bank loans enter into defense-oriented cooperation agreements, which are growing in popularity, but working through these issues on the front end of a trade can save hours down the road, says Robert Waldner at Crowell & Moring.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules
The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Updates To CFTC Large Trader Report Rules Leave Questions
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's updated large trader position reporting rules for futures and options is a much-needed change that modernizes a rule that had gone largely untouched since the 1980s, but the updates leave important questions unanswered, say Katherine Cooper and Maggie DePoy at BCLP.
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Risks And Promises Of AI In The Financial Services Industry
Generative artificial intelligence has immense potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, but firms considering its use should first prepare to show their customers and the increasingly divided international regulatory community that they can manage the risks inherent to the new technology, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Beware Shifting Provisions In Middle-Market Loan Documents
In recent years, many credit facility provisions previously considered to be market standard have been negotiated, often turning in favor of borrowers, demanding renewed diligence from workout officers and restructuring counsel operating in the middle market, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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How SEC Could Tackle AI Regulations On Brokers, Advisers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held an open meeting of its Investor Advisory Committee on June 6 to review the use of artificial intelligence in investment decision making, showing that regulators are being careful not to stifle innovation or implement rules that will quickly be made irrelevant after their passage, says Brian Korn at Manatt Phelps.