Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Securities
-
January 22, 2025
Securities Defense Bar Notched More Dismissals In '24
Courts threw out more securities class actions last year than they had in years before, reversing a six-year downturn in the number of shareholder suits resolved through settlement or dismissal, according to a Wednesday report by National Economic Research Associates Inc.
-
January 22, 2025
Waste Co. Says Ex-Director Used Secret Info For Sabotage
Commercial waste management company RTS has accused a former board director in Delaware Chancery Court of misusing its confidential information and deliberately sabotaging the business to try to force a cheap sale to the ex-director's private equity firm.
-
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 Ex-Investment Firm Reps, GC Over 'Sham' Energy Co.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused former representatives of a wealth management firm of selling shares of a "sham" oil and gas company, and separately accused the firm's general counsel and chief compliance officer of playing an "active role" in the alleged misconduct by drawing up liability releases for the firm.
-
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.
Expert Analysis
-
Series
Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer
Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.
-
How D&O Coverage Can Aid Against Increased AI Scrutiny
The recent increase in regulatory enforcement and securities class actions stemming from corporate use of artificial intelligence should prompt companies to ensure that their directors and officers liability insurance coverage is appropriately tailored to AI-related risks, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
-
Crypto Cos. Add New Play In Their Offense Against SEC
Consensys and Crypto.com have adopted a novel strategy of preempting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions by moving to crypto-friendly Texas and filing declaratory lawsuits challenging the SEC's jurisdiction to regulate crypto-assets — an aggressive approach that may pay off, say attorneys at Herrick Feinstein.
-
3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less
Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.
-
How To Safely Leverage AI In The Digital Assets Industry
Digital asset businesses that use or plan to implement artificial intelligence should assess their risk management frameworks to ensure that AI-related business areas, including customer support and fraud detection, are in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory guidance from the last year, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
-
$3B TD Bank AML Settlement Is A Wake-Up Call For All Banks
TD Bank’s historic settlement over anti-money laundering violations, resulting in over $3 billion in penalties, reminds banks of all shapes and sizes why they need to take financial crime compliance seriously, and highlights three areas that may be especially vulnerable to enforcement, says Jack Harrington at Bradley Arant.
-
What Trump Presidency May Mean For Climate Reporting
While the Trump administration will likely take a hands-off approach to climate-related disclosures and rescind regulations promulgated under the Biden administration, state and international ESG laws mean the private sector may not reverse course on such disclosures, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
-
SEC Action Indicates Continued Focus On ESG Disclosures
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently settled enforcement action against Invesco Advisers provides a road map for how regulatory agencies will continue to focus on ESG-related disclosures going forward, and underscores a focus on greenwashing, say attorneys at V&E.
-
The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule
Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.
-
The AI Consumer Class Action Threat Is Not A Hallucination
As regulators scrutinize whether businesses can deliver on claims about their artificial intelligence products and services, the industry faces a wave of consumer fraud class actions — but AI companies can protect themselves by prioritizing fundamental best practices that are often overlooked, say Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein and Richard Torrenzano at the Torrenzano Group.
-
What's Next For The CFTC After The Election
While much of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's enforcement actions in line with its traditional priorities will continue as usual in the near term, postelection leadership changes at the CFTC and new congressional priorities may alter the commission's regulatory framework in 2025 and beyond — particularly its oversight of crypto, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
-
Del. Dispatch: Clarifying Charter Amendment Vote Obligations
The Delaware Court of Chancery recently held in Gunderson v. The Trade Desk that only a majority stockholder vote is needed to approve a company's proposed reincorporation from Delaware to Nevada through a corporate conversion, which bodes well for other companies also considering leaving the First State, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
-
What's Still Up In The Air After Ruling On Calif. Climate Laws
A California federal court's recent ruling on challenges to California's sweeping climate disclosure laws resolved some issues, but allows litigation over the constitutionality of the laws to continue, and leaves many important questions on what entities will need to do to comply with the laws unanswered, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
-
Series
Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.
-
Navigating DOJ's Patchwork Whistleblower Regime
In the past few months, the U.S. Department of Justice and several individual U.S. attorney’s offices have issued different pilot programs aimed at incentivizing individuals to blow the whistle on misconduct, but this piecemeal approach may create confusion and suboptimal outcomes, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.