Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Securities
-
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.
-
July 15, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Chancery Court news was full of fees and settlements last week, with three multimillion-dollar deals getting a court OK, and a daylong discussion over a potentially multibillion-dollar fee award for attorneys who got Tesla CEO Elon Musk's astronomical pay package thrown out. The court also banged the gavel in cases involving e-payment venture SwervePay and managed care company Centene Corp., and heard arguments from software company SAP SE and biotech Renmatix Inc.
-
July 12, 2024
Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40
Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
-
July 12, 2024
Del. Court Finds 1 Of 6 Bylaws Invalid But All Unenforceable
Only one of six contested advance-notice bylaws that Florida pharma company AIM Immuno Tech Inc. adopted in response to an activist shareholder's proxy contest is actually invalid but none remain enforceable because the board adopted them primarily to thwart the shareholder's challenge, Delaware's Supreme Court has ruled.
-
July 12, 2024
AI Drugmaker BioXcel Beats Investor Fraud Suit, For Now
A Connecticut federal judge has tossed a proposed securities fraud class action against BioXcel Therapeutics Inc., saying that while shareholders sufficiently alleged the AI-driven drugmaker made misleading statements concerning a dementia drug study's compliance issues, they failed to adequately plead the company intended to deceive or defraud investors.
-
July 12, 2024
Loper Bright Is Shaking Up Dozens Of Regulatory Fights
In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, the landmark decision has emerged as a live issue in dozens of administrative challenges, with federal courts already pausing agency regulations expanding LGBTQ+ rights in education and healthcare and with a wave of parties seeking to use the new decision to win their cases.
-
July 12, 2024
FirstEnergy Denied 6th Circ. Appeal In Doc Dispute
Scandal-plagued utility company FirstEnergy Corp. lost another attempt to shield internal investigation documents from a class of investors as well as its former CEO on Friday when an Ohio federal judge denied the company's request to appeal the dispute to the Sixth Circuit on a "logically fallacious" premise.
-
July 12, 2024
Judge Swipes Left On Match Group Investors' Suit
A Delaware federal judge has dismissed, for now, investor allegations that dating website operator Match Group Inc. misled the market about an integration process.
-
July 12, 2024
Red State AGs Slam SEC 'Overreach' In Crypto Co. Challenge
Seven Republican state attorneys general have told a Texas federal judge that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's alleged crypto policy of "rulemaking by district court enforcement action" threatens their ability to protect consumers as the court weighs a yet-to-launch crypto exchange's preemptive challenge to the securities regulator.
-
July 12, 2024
Vicor Hit With Short Sellers' Suit Over Partnership Disclosure
Several short sellers have sued power systems manufacturer Vicor Corp. claiming the company misled the market when it announced it would enter a significant partnership with one of its major customers, but later told investors the partnership would never come to fruition, damaging short sellers.
-
July 12, 2024
Apollo Seeks Chancery Toss Of Stockholder Pact Challenge
Pointing in part to a pending Delaware law that would allow corporate directors to cede some board powers to big stockholders, Apollo Global Management Inc. has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to dismiss a suit challenging its own stockholder pact.
-
July 12, 2024
Guo Trial Juror Booted For Googling Fugitive Co-Defendant
The jury in Chinese dissident Miles Guo's $1 billion fraud and racketeering case was forced to restart its verdict deliberations on Friday after a juror was cut loose for Google-searching Guo's fugitive financial adviser and co-defendant William Je.
-
July 12, 2024
Ex-Slync CEO Gets 20 Years After Wire Fraud Conviction
The founder of shuttered supply chain management software company Slync has received a 20-year prison sentence involving a pair of partially concurrent sentences after a Texas jury in January handed down convictions on wire fraud and other claims over prosecutors' allegations that he drained $25 million out of his company's bank accounts.
-
July 12, 2024
Chancery Tosses Centene Shareholders' Medicaid Fraud Suit
The Delaware Chancery Court on Friday dismissed a Centene stockholder derivative lawsuit seeking damages from company directors and officers over allegations of a multistate Medicaid pharmacy benefit billing fraud scheme that the investors said could result in a $1.25 billion liability for the healthcare giant.
-
July 12, 2024
American Airlines Pilot Pushes For $16M Win After ERISA Trial
An American Airlines pilot urged a Texas federal court to make the airline cough up nearly $16 million following a June bench trial in a retirement savings class action, arguing the company breached its fiduciary duties to its retirement plan by focusing too heavily on environmental and social factors in investments.
-
July 12, 2024
Litigation Funding 'Abuses' Targeted By Federal Lawmakers
Federal lawmakers are seeking to put the reins on third-party investors bankrolling litigation, with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., introducing legislation that would require disclosure of third-party financing deals in civil lawsuits, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., asking Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday to have the Judicial Conference review the practice.
-
July 12, 2024
FINRA's Remote Inspection Pilot Met With Praise, Caution
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's new pilot program for remote inspections of broker-dealers has earned praise from attorneys, who say the measures accommodate the reality of remote work routines, but they're waiting to see how the chips fall on questions including the adequacy of the regulator's data security measures.
-
July 12, 2024
Saul Ewing Adds Entertainment, Real Estate Litigator In LA
Saul Ewing LLP has added as a partner in its Los Angeles office a trial attorney with a nearly 30-year track record of representing public and private companies, along with executives and investors in entertainment and real estate disputes.
-
July 12, 2024
Steptoe & Johnson Lands M&A Pro From Rimon Law
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC has hired an experienced mergers and acquisitions and securities lawyer who previously worked for numerous firms, including Rimon Law, Winstead PC, Baker Botts LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
-
July 12, 2024
BofA, Goldman Get First OK For $46M Deal In Rate-Swap Suit
A New York federal judge has granted the first green light to a $46 million settlement in long-running multidistrict litigation over an alleged plot by several major U.S. and European banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, to limit market competition over interest rate swaps.
-
July 12, 2024
CFTC, DOJ Convene 'Pig Butchering' Working Group
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a U.S. Department of Justice cryptocurrency enforcement team have convened a working group focused on crypto fraud scams known as "pig butchering" schemes, joining forces with officials from more than 15 federal agencies.
-
July 12, 2024
Biggest Illinois Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report
State and federal courts have handed down rulings so far this year that limited the reach of a federal bribery law commonly used to prosecute Illinois corruption, laid out a framework to challenge so-called mootness fees and clarified the scope of Illinois defamation and antitrust law. Here's a look at some of the biggest Illinois decisions in the first half of 2024.
-
July 12, 2024
New Bill Urges Action To Free Imprisoned Binance Exec
A new resolution from Republican lawmakers would have the U.S. House of Representatives formally urge the federal government to designate imprisoned Binance executive and former IRS agent Tigran Gambaryan as wrongfully detained and demand his immediate release from the Nigerian government.
-
July 12, 2024
First Republic Settles $7M Scholarship Fund Loss Suit
A philanthropist couple have reached an agreement to resolve their $7 million breach of fiduciary duty allegations against the now-failed First Republic Bank, telling a California federal judge that they reached a deal during a private mediation session.
-
July 11, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Disbarred Atty's Prison Term For Fraud Plea
A disbarred California attorney can't reverse a Manhattan federal court's 5½-year prison sentence and $5.5 million restitution order that followed his guilty plea to wire fraud for a real estate and venture fraud scheme, the Second Circuit ruled Thursday.
Expert Analysis
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Tips For CCOs Submitting Annual Compliance Reports
Recent settlement actions by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, coupled with statements made by both CFTC and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leadership, demonstrate why this year's chief compliance officer annual report filing is no ordinary exercise, and highlight the increasing importance of the report and its usage, say attorneys at Steptoe.
-
Fintech 'Prenups': Planning For A Card Program Breakup
After a year of economic downturns, some banks and their fintech partners are realizing they may have rushed to the altar without a good prenup, but planning ahead can curb both foreseeable and unexpected issues in the event of a termination of a bank-fintech card-issuing agreement, say Andrew Grant at Ketsal and Richard Malish at Community Federal Savings Bank.
-
SEC's Final Climate Disclosure Rules: What Cos. Must Know
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's scaled-back final rules requiring public companies to disclose certain climate-related information still face challenges in court, companies should begin preparing now to comply with the rules, say Celia Soehner and Erin Martin at Morgan Lewis.
-
Caremark 2.0 Lends Shareholders Agency Against Polluters
The Caremark doctrine has been liberalized by recent Delaware court decisions into what some have termed a 2.0 version, making derivative cases against corporations far more plausible and invigorating oversight duty on environmental risks like toxic spills and air pollution, say Joshua Margolin and Sean Goldman-Hunt at Selendy Gay.