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Securities
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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January 17, 2025
FDIC Missed Some Crypto 'Pause' Letters, Coinbase Ally Says
The research consultancy suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on behalf of Coinbase for documents on the regulator's internal views on crypto said Friday that it intends to update its complaint with new allegations that the FDIC did not conduct a thorough search and may be engaging in unlawful practices, based on purported whistleblower reports.
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January 17, 2025
DC Circ. Unsure On Restoring CFTC's Election Betting Ban
The D.C. Circuit seemed hesitant Friday to reimpose a ban that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission had placed on gambling over the fate of U.S. elections, as the judges spent over an hour trying to parse what Congress meant when it said that gaming on derivatives platforms was prohibited.
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January 17, 2025
Par Funding's Fraud Caused $288M In Losses, Pa. Judge Says
Par Funding caused $288 million in losses stemming from a scheme to defraud investors who poured money into its cash advance business, a Pennsylvania federal judge said Friday, days after holding an evidentiary hearing where the government and the defendants sparred over dueling loss amounts.
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January 17, 2025
SEC Fines Transamerica $2.9M Over Retirement Biz Conflicts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined registered investment adviser Transamerica Retirement Advisors LLC $2.9 million to settle claims it concealed conflicts of interest generated by Transamerica's incentive compensation payments to representatives.
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January 17, 2025
Feds Say Pa. Investment Adviser Stole $20M From Clients
A Pennsylvania investment adviser's alleged misappropriation of more than $20 million worth of client funds has landed him criminal charges and civil enforcement action from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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January 17, 2025
FirstEnergy Execs Hit With RICO Charges Over Bribe Scandal
Two former executives of FirstEnergy Corp. have been hit with federal racketeering charges over their alleged scheme to bribe Ohio House of Representatives members for a billion-dollar bailout that has drawn scrutiny from government agencies and led to long prison sentences for others involved in the scandal.
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January 17, 2025
CFPB, Student Loan Co. Ink $2.25M Deal Over Debt Practices
The National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts agreed to pay $2.25 million to resolve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's suit accusing it of harming borrowers through unfair collection tactics on private student loan debts, according to a joint motion to approve the stipulated judgment filed in Delaware federal court.
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January 17, 2025
Crypto Coder Sues Feds To Block 'Money Transmitter' Label
Crypto policy think tank Coin Center is supporting one of its fellows in suing the federal government over its allegedly "mistaken view" of how criminal money transmission statutes apply to crypto software.
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January 17, 2025
Michigan Justices Won't Answer Securities Test Issue
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday denied an appeal from a developer asking justices to find a state law test rather than a federal one should be used to determine if a promissory note is a security, leaving in place a ruling that keeps the developer liable for notes issued in a $6 million project.
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January 17, 2025
SEC Says Food Tech Startup Overstated Revenue By $550M
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined venture-backed food technology startup GrubMarket $8 million for allegedly misleading investors by overstating revenue by more than $550 million, with faulty accounting that regulators say the company should have known was unreliable.
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January 17, 2025
LPL Fined $18M Over Lax Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined LPL Financial LLC $18 million to settle claims that the firm's anti-money laundering program suffered from significant shortcomings, including the failure to close high-risk accounts such as cannabis-related and international accounts.
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January 17, 2025
Lyft Shareholder Suit Over Earnings Report Error Tossed
A California federal judge tossed a proposed class action Thursday against Lyft that alleged the ride-sharing giant defrauded investors when it issued an earnings release with an error that caused its stock to shoot up and then fall in under an hour when the error was corrected.
Expert Analysis
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How Boards And Officers Should Prep For New Trump Admin
In anticipation of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs and mass deportation campaign, company officers and board members should pursue proactive, comprehensive contingency planning to not only advance the best interests of the companies they serve, but to also properly exercise their fiduciary duty of care, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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The Challenges Of Abandoned Retirement Plans In Ch. 7
The Department of Labor's rule for unwinding retirement accounts when plan sponsors file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was intended to alleviate trustees' administration issues, but practical challenges, like unresolved fee and identification matters, could hinder its implementation, say David Goodrich at Golden Goodrich and Nancy Simons at Stretto.
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5 Ways SEC's Crypto Approach Could Change Under Trump
Given the Trump campaign's procrypto stance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could take a number of different approaches to crypto policy in the next administration, including pausing registration-only enforcement actions and proposing tailored rules that take into account the differences between crypto-assets and traditional securities, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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2nd Circ. AmTrust Decision Shows Audit Reports Still Matter
Though the Second Circuit eventually found on reconsidering a case over the high-profile accounting meltdown at AmTrust that audit reports are material to investors, its previous contrary holding highlights the seriousness of the ongoing crisis of confidence in the audit report, say attorneys at Bernstein Litowitz.
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Series
Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.
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With Precautions, AI Can Help With Suspicious Activity Filings
While artificial intelligence can enhance suspicious activity report processes, financial services firms should review applicable expectations and areas of deficiencies that can lead to enforcement actions before using AI to help write SARs, say attorneys at Jenner.
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How Crypto Cos. Can Take Advantage Of 'Mini-IPOs'
Against the backdrop of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement in the crypto space, mini-initial public offerings, with less burdensome requirements than full registration, can serve as an alternative way for token issuers to raise funds, say attorneys at O'Melveny.
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Nvidia Supreme Court Case May Not Make Big Splash
The skeptical tenor of the justices' questioning at oral argument in Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder suggests that the case is unlikely to alter the motion to dismiss pleading standard in securities class actions, as some had feared, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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$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.
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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.