Asset Management

  • December 17, 2024

    Hunton Adds Ex-Flagstar Atty To NYC Office

    Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP announced on Tuesday it has hired ex-Flagstar Bank senior vice president and associate general counsel Ian W. Sterling for its New York City office as a special counsel who specializes in structured finance and securitization.

  • December 17, 2024

    4 Recent Policy Developments Benefits Attys Should Know

    A trio of federal agencies finalized new disclosure requirements for how health plans cover mental health treatments, states took steps to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the U.S. Department of Labor's investment advice regulations failed in court, and Congress passed legislation to make compliance with the Affordable Care Act easier. Here, Law360 looks back at four policy-related developments in the employee benefits field from the latter half of 2024.

  • December 17, 2024

    Northwest Bancshares Buys Peer Penns Woods In $270M Deal

    Dinsmore & Shohl LLP-advised Northwest Bancshares Inc. has agreed to purchase Stevens & Lee PC-led Penns Woods Bancorp Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at roughly $270.4 million, the organizations said Tuesday.

  • December 17, 2024

    Fenwick-Led AI Startup Databricks Nets $10B In Private Round

    Venture-backed Databricks Inc. said Tuesday it raised $10 billion through a private funding that valued the artificial intelligence startup at $62 billion, represented by Fenwick & West LLP, marking the latest sign of investor enthusiasm for AI technology.

  • December 16, 2024

    BNY Scores Exit In Mutual Fund Conflict Of Interest Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge on Monday granted The Bank of New York Mellon's bid to toss a proposed class action claiming that it failed to disclose conflicts of interest when funneling client assets into mutual funds and other investment vehicles that favored the bank, ruling that the claims are preempted by the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act.

  • December 16, 2024

    Split SEC Will Require Certain Filings Be Made Electronically

    A split U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday adopted rule amendments that require certain filings be made electronically, with Chair Gary Gensler saying the changes will streamline the commission's filing process.

  • December 16, 2024

    'Plans Do Matter,' Tempur Sealy Says In Final Merger Hearing

    Tempur Sealy made its final push Monday in support of its $4 billion planned Mattress Firm purchase, telling a judge during closing arguments that the Federal Trade Commission hadn't shown that the company planned to deviate from its intent for Mattress Firm to remain autonomous. 

  • December 16, 2024

    AME Church Inks $20M Deal In Retirement Fraud Suit

    The African Methodist Episcopal Church has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve a suit claiming it failed to step in when an employee embezzled $90 million from its retirement plan, according to a Tennessee federal court filing seeking an initial green light on the deal.

  • December 16, 2024

    SEC Wants Out Of PE Firm's 'Fishing Expedition' Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a Texas federal judge to toss a suit brought by a real estate-focused private equity fund alleging the SEC subjected it to an unconstitutional "fishing expedition" outside its regulatory purview, arguing that sovereign immunity bars the firm's claims and that the court has no jurisdiction over the case.

  • December 16, 2024

    Investment Pro Denies $600M 'Cherry-Picking' Fraud Charges

    A California investment executive on Monday denied cheating a group of his firm's clients by assigning them poorer-performing trades, pleading not guilty before a Manhattan federal judge to what prosecutors call a $600 million criminal "cherry-picking" fraud.

  • December 16, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Latham's Roman Martinez

    Roman Martinez of Latham & Watkins LLP approaches oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court as if they were just another dinner with family or friends — people he's argued with since he was a kid.

  • December 13, 2024

    Medical Device Co. Brass Hid SPAC's True Value, Suit Says

    The executives and directors of a healthcare holding company have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in Colorado federal court alleging the company hid the financial and regulatory risks it faced to inflate its value after merging with a blank check company.

  • December 13, 2024

    Advocacy Group Has Change Of Heart On SEC Reg Challenge

    An investor advocacy organization that sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its recently adopted "tick size" rule has said it will let others take the reins of the lawsuit because it is worried that the incoming administration will not propose the stronger stock market regulations it wants.

  • December 13, 2024

    US Bank Fails To Beat RMBS Suit From Commerzbank

    A New York federal judge has ruled that Commerzbank AG's suit against U.S. Bank may proceed, rejecting U.S. Bank's argument that presuit notification to certain residential mortgage-backed securities trust parties was unnecessary due to their alleged involvement in the misconduct.

  • December 13, 2024

    Auto Mogul Must Turn Over Note Info In $127M Collection Row

    An auto mogul, his living trust and one of his companies must turn over documents related to a $20 million payment on promissory notes as part of marathon litigation related to Alter Domus LLC's attempts to collect on a $127 million judgment, a Michigan federal judge has ruled.

  • December 13, 2024

    Silvergate Bank Slams Stockholder's Bid To Take Over Ch. 11

    Bankrupt crypto-bank Silvergate has blasted an activist investor fund's effort to scuttle the debtor's exclusive Chapter 11 control in Delaware, accusing common stockholder Stilwell Activist Investments LP of opposing exclusivity to escape a justifiable plan to liquidate the bank's no-longer viable, cryptocurrency-focused business.

  • December 13, 2024

    Off The Bench: PE Buys In On NFL, WWE Abuse Suit Back On

    In this week's Off The Bench, two teams usher in a new era for the NFL by bringing in private equity investors, a suit accusing the WWE and Vince McMahon of sexual abuse and trafficking picks back up while a federal investigation continues, and a private equity giant and NHL owner passes away.

  • December 13, 2024

    3 Firms Guide Pair Of SPAC Listings Totaling $410M

    Two special purpose acquisition companies began trading on Friday after completing initial public offerings that raised a combined $410 million, under guidance from three law firms, targeting industries spanning cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and financial technology.

  • December 12, 2024

    Cantor Fitzgerald To Pay SEC $6.75M Over SPAC Disclosures

    Cantor Fitzgerald on Thursday agreed to pay a $6.75 million penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve claims that it caused two special purpose acquisition companies that it controls to make misleading statements to investors ahead of the SPACs' initial public offerings.

  • December 12, 2024

    SEC Fines Investment Co. For Adviser's Cherry-Picking Scheme

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that it fined SeaCrest Wealth Management $375,000 for allegedly failing to implement policies and procedures that would have possibly prevented the cherry-picking scheme of a former adviser, who is separately being sued by the agency.

  • December 12, 2024

    SEC Will Be GOP-Only Without Crenshaw's Vote, Groups Warn

    More than 40 organizations sent a collective letter to U.S. senators in support of Democrat Caroline Crenshaw's reconfirmation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, a day after Senate Republicans blocked a closed-door vote on her nomination.

  • December 12, 2024

    Fla. Judge Awards $114M To Crypto-Forex Exchange Investors

    A Florida judge issued a directed verdict Thursday against absent foreign exchange currency broker FxWinning Ltd. awarding investors more than $114 million after they told the court how they were swindled out of their investments when the company abruptly stopped honoring withdrawal requests.

  • December 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Leans Toward BofA In Pandemic Market Loss Bout

    The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether Bank of America had a duty to try harder to stop one of its clients from dumping his investments when the market tanked at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but at arguments Thursday morning, the panel did not seem to think so.

  • December 12, 2024

    Biden Steel-Deal Block, Walgreens For Sale, And More Rumors

    President Biden is reportedly ready to block the U.S. Steel-Nippon merger on national security grounds, pharmacy giant Walgreens is exploring selling itself to private equity firm Sycamore, and cryptocurrency-related trading platform EToro is preparing an initial public offering.

  • December 12, 2024

    TD Bank Sued Over AML Controls After Ex-Employee's Arrest

    Toronto-Dominion Bank and its top brass concealed and downplayed issues with the bank's anti-money laundering controls, according to a class action filed one day after a former employee was arrested and charged with assisting in a money laundering scheme that sent millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds from the U.S. to Colombia.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Concerns To Confront In FDIC Brokered Deposit Proposal

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    Banks and fintech companies should note several fundamental issues with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s recent proposal to widen how it classifies brokered deposits, an attempt to limit prudential risk that could expose the industry and underbanked consumers who rely on bank-fintech apps to widespread unintended consequences, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Ways To Limit Risks Of Black-Box AI In Financial Services

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    As regulators increasingly highlight the potential for artificial intelligence to make unfair consumer credit decisions, and require financial institutions to explain how these so-called black-box algorithms arrive at conclusions, companies should consider three key questions to reduce their regulatory risks from these tools, say Jeffrey Naimon and Caroline Stapleton at Orrick.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Jarkesy May Thwart Consumer Agencies' Civil Penalty Power

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy not only implicates future SEC administrative adjudications, but those of other agencies that operate similarly — and may stymie regulators' efforts to levy civil monetary penalties in a range of consumer protection enforcement actions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    Texas Judges Ignored ERISA's Core To Stall Fiduciary Rule

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    Two recent rulings from Texas federal courts, which rely on a plainly wrong reading of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to effectively strike a forthcoming rule that would impose functional fiduciary duties onto sellers of investment services, may expose financially unsophisticated 401(k) participants to peddlers of misleading advice, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Reaffirms Short-Swing Claims Have Standing

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in Packer v. Raging Capital reversing the dismissal of a shareholder's Section 16(b) derivative suit seeking to recover short-swing profits for lack of constitutional standing settles the uncertainty of the district court's decision, which could have undercut Congress' intent in crafting Section 16(b) in the first place, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Inside OCC's Retail Nondeposit Investment Products Refresh

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    In addition to clarifying safe and sound risk management practices generally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's revised booklet on retail nondeposit investment products updates its guidance around certain sales practices in light of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of Regulation Best Interest, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity

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    Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.

  • Why The SEC Is Targeting Short-And-Distort Schemes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent crackdown on the illegal practice of short-and-distort trades highlights the urgent need for public companies to adopt proactive measures, including pursuing private rights of action, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

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