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Securities
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February 06, 2025
CFTC Signals Openness To Regulate Sports Event Contracts
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a public roundtable to discuss its regulation of contracts tied to high-profile sporting events Wednesday, with the acting chair bemoaning the commission's current policy as a "sinkhole of legal uncertainty."
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February 05, 2025
FDIC Letters Show It Met Crypto With 'Resistance,' Hill Says
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s acting Chairman Travis Hill said Wednesday that he has jump-started a "comprehensive review" of the regulator's past crypto-focused communications with supervised banks, releasing a trove of documents he said shows that many banks abandoned their cryptocurrency plans after the FDIC met them with "resistance."
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February 05, 2025
Blue Ridge Bankshares, Investors Reach $2.5M Deal
Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc. and a proposed class of investors have reached a $2.5 million settlement to resolve claims that the multi-state bank holding company engaged in improper loan accounting practices.
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February 05, 2025
Paramount-Skydance Merger Block Sought Pending Del. Suit
Five Paramount Global pension fund stockholders sought a preliminary injunction in Delaware late Wednesday seeking to block closing on the estimated $8 billion Paramount-Skydance Media merger pending a decision on a still-sealed Court of Chancery breach of fiduciary duty suit filed Tueday night.
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February 05, 2025
Catholic Investors Bring Smith & Wesson Suit To Fed. Court
A group of Catholic sisters has refiled in federal court their suit accusing Smith & Wesson's directors and senior executives of placing their own "greed" and "political concerns" above the interests of the company and its stockholders by ignoring the liabilities of marketing AR-15 rifles that are used to perpetrate mass shootings.
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February 05, 2025
Schwab To Add Oversight To End TD Ameritrade Buy Suit
The Charles Schwab Corp. has agreed to implement an antitrust compliance program designed by an independent consultant in order to settle claims from a proposed class of retail investors who alleged they were forced to pay increased transaction costs for trades following the Schwab-TD Ameritrade merger in 2020.
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February 05, 2025
EmpiresX Crypto Platform Operators Ordered To Pay $129M
A Florida federal court has entered a default judgment against two Brazilian co-founders and the head trader of the EmpiresX trading platform, ordering them to pay more than $129 million for allegedly taking investor funds in a fraudulent commodity pool scheme and lying that their money wasn't used to trade cryptocurrencies.
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February 05, 2025
Wachtell, Skadden Guide Becton's Bid To Sell Diagnostics Biz
Becton Dickinson and Co. has agreed to divest its biosciences and diagnostics unit in order to focus more resources on medical technology and maximize shareholder value, the company said on Wednesday.
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February 05, 2025
Judge Won't Pause Crowdfunding Case After Fraud Indictment
A target of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first crowdfunding enforcement action can't pause that three-year-old case to defend himself against unrelated charges that he ran a pump-and-dump scheme with a hallucinogenic mushroom company, a Michigan judge ruled Wednesday.
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February 05, 2025
Monolithic's Investors Say Co. Botched Nvidia Orders
Power management component manufacturer Monolithic Power Systems Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it hid critical defects in power modules used by its largest customer, Nvidia Corp., that led the artificial intelligence chipmaker to cancel orders, harming Monolithic's revenue.
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February 05, 2025
Crypto Expert Witness Ruling Flouts Precedent, Justices Told
The founder of cryptocurrency service Tornado Cash has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to undo what he called an "unprecedented" order from a Manhattan federal judge to disclose whom he might call as an expert witness at his upcoming money laundering and sanctions-dodging trial.
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February 05, 2025
Judge Found 'Vertical' Mattress Deal Won't Hurt Competition
U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge rejected the Federal Trade Commission's bid to pause Tempur Sealy's planned $5 billion purchase of Mattress Firm after finding a merger of the mattress supplier and retail chain would likely increase competition, if it has any impact at all.
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February 05, 2025
NJ Fraud Defendant Loses Bid To Toss 'Vindictive' Charges
A New Jersey federal judge has rejected a bid by convicted fraudster Eliyahu Weinstein — who was later pardoned, and then charged again — to toss seven counts of a 17-count indictment on money laundering and other charges, reasoning that he and a co-defendant didn't show the new counts amounted to vindictive prosecution.
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February 05, 2025
Del. Justices Undo Insurance Cap Ruling In Alexion Suit
Delaware's top court has reversed a Superior Court ruling that upheld Alexion Pharmaceuticals' claim to coverage under a $105 million "tower" of insurance for potential stockholder claims in a suit accusing the company of propping up share prices with misleading information.
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February 05, 2025
CVS Beats 2nd Investor Suit Over Omnicare Deal
A Rhode Island federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a second investor suit against CVS over its Omnicare acquisition in light of a 2022 First Circuit decision in a similar suit, saying the current action should be tossed because it suffers the same pleading fatalities as the case that went before the appeals court.
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February 05, 2025
Chancery Tosses Challenge To $1.1B Smart & Final Sale
Writing that nothing in a "grab bag" of stockholder claims amounted to disclosure failures, Delaware's chancellor dismissed a suit challenging the $1.1 billion April 2019 sale of Smart & Final Stores Inc. — formerly controlled by funds of Ares Management Corp. — to interests of Apollo Global Management.
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February 05, 2025
SEC Moves Under Trump Risk 'Chilling' Staff, Grewal Says
The reported scaling-back of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto enforcement unit by the new Republican SEC majority could make staff at the agency more fearful of doing their jobs and put investors in jeopardy, former SEC enforcement director Gurbir Grewal said Wednesday.
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February 05, 2025
Latham Adds Ex-SEC Pro, GC To NY Roster
The former acting director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement arm and a private capital specialist with in-house and private practice experience have come aboard Latham & Watkins LLP, the firm announced Wednesday, marking the latest in a flurry of lateral hires entering Latham's New York office since fall 2024.
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February 05, 2025
Paxos' Top Atty Takes CLO Spot At Crypto Co. Kraken
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has tapped the general counsel at crypto trust company Paxos to serve as its new chief legal officer.
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February 04, 2025
Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action
February is off to a rip-roaring start in several circuits, and there's plenty more action ahead, including a moment of truth for judiciary policymaking that has managed to anger both the defense and plaintiffs bars. We'll explore all that in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing, which also includes an appellate quiz pegged to recent presidential news.
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February 04, 2025
Del. Judge Tells Fuel Cell Co. Investors To Filter Imprecise Suit
A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday ruled that investors of hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power Inc. must submit more particular details to support their allegation that shareholders were damaged by the company's failure to disclose production challenges, saying it is not the court's responsibility to filter out evidence.
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February 04, 2025
FINRA Fines Broker $3.2M Over Securities Lending Biz
Broker-dealer Apex Clearing Corp. has agreed to pay the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority $3.2 million to end first-of-its-kind claims that the firm failed to abide by customer protection rules with its fully paid securities lending program, including by misrepresenting how it would compensate participants, leaving certain customers vulnerable to potential tax consequences.
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February 04, 2025
Calif. Partly Beats Challenge To Climate Disclosure Laws
A California federal judge has trimmed a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups over the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, finding the groups failed to state a claim with respect to two causes of action.
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February 04, 2025
Wells Fargo Clears 2 More Consent Orders Amid Rehab Efforts
The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that Wells Fargo & Co. has exited a pair of mortgage-related consent orders from more than a decade ago, another step forward in the banking giant's regulatory rehabilitation efforts.
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February 04, 2025
Sen. Banking Chair Sets 100-Day Dash For Crypto Legislation
Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday that he intends to pass crypto legislation out of his chamber in the first 100 days of the new administration with the help of a working group composed of committee chairs in both chambers of Congress.
Expert Analysis
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Kiromic SEC Order Shows Importance Of Self-Reporting
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently filed settled charges against Kiromic BioPharma illustrate the critical intersection between U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory processes and investor disclosures under the securities laws, and showcase how responding promptly to internal whistleblower reports may reap benefits, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Series
Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.
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Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations
In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.
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Understanding Risks Of Celebrities 'Hawking' Crypto Tokens
Prominent social media personality Haliey Welch was recently sued over the promotion and sale of the Hawk Tuah cryptocurrency memecoin, underscoring the importance of public figures conducting due diligence to verify they aren't endorsing a token that is in fact a security, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Top Considerations For Insurance Companies In 2025
As insurance industry participants look to plan for the year, regulatory changes, climate-related challenges, the ongoing effects of social inflation and the potential for significant mergers and acquisitions will be among the key items for insurer boards and management to have on their radar, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Del. Dispatch: Lessons From Failed Albertsons-Kroger Merger
The allegations in Albertsons' lawsuit against Kroger following the grocery stores' blocked merger demonstrate how a target company can best ensure that a buyer timely and effectively complies with its obligations to pursue the necessary regulatory approvals for a deal, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Series
Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.
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Future Of Crypto-Asset Classification Is In 2nd Circ.'s Hands
A definitive ruling from the Second Circuit in a rare interlocutory appeal in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ongoing court battle with Coinbase could finally establish clear guidelines on the classification of digital assets, influencing how they are regulated and traded in the U.S., say attorneys at Manatt.
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5 Ways To Create Effective Mock Assignments For Associates
In order to effectively develop associates’ critical thinking skills, firms should design mock assignments that contain a few key ingredients, from messy fact patterns to actionable feedback, says Abdi Shayesteh at AltaClaro.
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More Environmental Claims, More Greenwashing Challenges
As companies prepare for the 2025 greenwashing landscape, they should take heed of a D.C. appellate decision that shows that environmental claims are increasingly subject to attack and provides plaintiffs with a playbook for challenging corporate claims of sustainability, say attorneys at Sidley.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: How MDLs Fared In 2024
A significant highlight of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's practice during 2024 was the increase in the percentage of new MDL petitions granted by the panel, with 25 granted and only eight denied — one of the highest grant rates in years, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.
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Assessing Gary Gensler's Legacy At The SEC
Gary Gensler's tenure as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair is defined by a record of commonsense regulation in some areas and social activism in others, and by increasing judicial skepticism about the SEC's authority to fulfill its regulatory, enforcement, administrative law and adjudicatory functions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Calif. Cannabis Decision Deepens Commerce Clause Divide
In Peridot Tree v. Sacramento, the Eastern District of California joined a growing minority of courts that have found the dormant commerce clause inapplicable to state-regulated marijuana, and the Ninth Circuit will soon provide important guidance on this issue, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's 2024 Year In Review
Attorneys at Paul Weiss highlight notable developments in the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section’s recently released annual report, and discuss what the second Trump administration could mean for enforcement in the year to come.
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Recent SEC Actions Highlight Importance Of Filing Form D
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement action against three companies last month for failing to timely file Form D is an unprecedented step that should put an end to Regulation D issuers' views that filing these forms is a technical requirement or somewhat voluntary, says Patrick McCloskey at McCloskey Law.