Bumble, the women-talk-first dating app, hopes to hit it off with investors amid a robust initial public offerings market, filing plans to go public on Friday under guidance from Simpson Thacher and underwriters' counsel Davis Polk.
Investors suing Swiss blockchain technology company Status Research urged a New York federal judge Thursday not to toss their proposed class action, arguing U.S. securities laws apply to the foreign company's unregistered digital tokens.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative found that Vietnam's currency manipulation is unfairly hindering U.S. businesses but held off on teeing up new tariffs against Hanoi on Friday, leaving a final decision in the case up to the incoming Biden administration.
Mobile gaming company Playtika began trading on the Nasdaq Friday after pricing an upsized $1.9 billion initial public offering that was guided by Latham & Watkins LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.
Shares for a special purpose acquisition company backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo debuted on the stock exchange after the company landed $900 million in an initial public offering steered by Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP that was among the largest of its kind to tap the market Friday.
Delaware's Chancery Court issued a temporary restraining order Friday limiting California-based Ripple Labs Inc.'s cryptocurrency transactions and equity redemptions after investor Tetragon sued to halt any Ripple virtual currency purchases until Tetragon can sell back its stock.
In this week's Taxation With Representation, New Fortress Energy snaps up two liquefied natural gas firms for $5 billion, health care products company Steris buys Cantel Medical Corp. for $3.6 billion, and cryptocurrency platform Bakkt goes public.
The Labaton Sucharow partner who sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over recent whistleblower rule amendments says he will "keep fighting" until he prevails, contending that the changes will suppress tips from Wall Street bigwigs who provide some of the most valuable checks on major financial institutions.
Online fashion marketplace Poshmark saw its shares soar Thursday after a $277 million initial public offering guided by Goodwin Procter LLP that topped the company's expected price range.
Private equity-backed Petco, guided by Gibson Dunn and underwriters counsel Latham & Watkins, went public Thursday after raising $864 million in an initial public offering that exceeded expectations, hoping to capitalize on the current IPO boom and broader trend of rising pet ownership.
Traders who accused the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX and its founders of "myriad" illegal activities told a federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday that the key facts of their lengthy suit are "simple and easy to understand," and so the suit should not be tossed.
Lucid Motors may enter into a SPAC merger valued at around $15 billion, Deutsche Telekom hopes to sell T-Mobile Netherlands for up to €5 billion ($6.1 billion), and Wells Fargo could sell its asset management business to a group of private equity firms including GTCR. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other deal rumors from the past week that you need to be aware of.
Bankers Trust Co. of South Dakota agreed to pay more than $5 million to end a proposed class action claiming it violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when it let in-home care workers overpay in a $75.5 million stock transaction for their employers' stock.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Thursday it has finalized its "fair access" rule limiting the ability of bigger national banks to stop lending to fossil fuel companies, gun makers and other politically controversial businesses, a move that's already being condemned by bankers and consumer advocates as midnight rulemaking.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Wednesday that Brian Brooks is stepping down as acting head of the agency, bringing to a close the brief, but active, tenure of the former cryptocurrency executive-turned-bank regulator just days before the end of the Trump administration.
Coinbase's former compliance chief, who has decades of experience in the traditional banking sector, is headed to digital financial services firm BitGo as its chief compliance officer, the company announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday announced the launch of a forum meant to link small technology companies with government-trusted investors, saying it will help to cut off "predatory" foreign investors seeking access to U.S. intellectual property.
Alibaba investors competing to lead a proposed class in three suits against the Chinese e-commerce giant urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to consolidate the actions, which accuse the company of hiding details that led to regulators in China stopping affiliated payment provider Ant Group's estimated $34 billion initial public offering.
Fintech startup Affirm, which bills itself as a flexible alternative to credit cards, saw shares soar Wednesday after pricing an above-range $1.2 billion initial public offering guided by Skadden and underwriters counsel Davis Polk.
A Texas bankruptcy judge confirmed the Chapter 11 plan of oil and gas driller Chesapeake Energy on Wednesday, agreeing with the debtor's $5.13 billion valuation and handing over the equity of the company to senior lenders owed more than $7 billion.
Mental and behavioral health business Talkspace said Wednesday it's going public through a merger with blank-check company Hudson in a deal valued at $1.4 billion and led by Latham & Watkins LLP and Milbank LLP.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that it has given the green light to the high-profile, $27 billion acquisition by the London Stock Exchange of U.S. financial data provider Refinitiv, imposing a series of conditions to allay competition concerns.
A prominent whistleblower attorney wants to block recent whistleblower rule amendments from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that assert its authority to limit the size of some of the largest award payouts, claiming Wednesday that the new measures will have "devastating effects" on the successful tipster program and that the agency has overstepped its authority.
The Senate Banking Committee's top Democrat said Tuesday he'll prioritize workers over Wall Street as the next chairman of the powerful panel, pledging to pursue an ambitious progressive policy agenda that includes providing more coronavirus aid, installing more "pro-consumer" agency heads and expanding banking system access.
An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday tossed a proposed securities class action against Baxter International, finding investors had failed to demonstrate that they were intentionally misled by the medical product maker and its executives.
Some recent litigation developments demonstrate efforts by law firms and their clients to search for opportunities in the COVID-19 economic fallout, while others — such as the rise of contingency fee arrangements — reflect acceleration of tendencies that were already underway, says William Weisman at Therium Capital.
Multi-asset real estate funds may provide investors with opportunities to deploy capital during the pandemic-induced market downturn, but several structural questions should be considered before raising a fund, say Matt Ertman and Max Brunner at Allen Matkins.
To comply with recently finalized Internal Revenue Service regulations implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's $1 million cap on compensation deductions, employee benefit and tax executives at public companies should understand who their covered employees are and identify compensation agreements subject to the rules, say Samuel Krause and Teresa Abney at Crowell & Moring.
In the face of rising client demands due to the pandemic and the changing regulatory environment, and with remote work continuing for the foreseeable future, lawyers should invest in their well-being by establishing inspiring yet realistic goals for 2021 — one month at a time, says Krista Larson at Morgan Lewis.
Opinion
Fundamental differences between whistleblower provisions in the recently passed Anti-Money Laundering Act and the Dodd-Frank Act will render the new law ineffective until Congress amends it to fully conform to Dodd-Frank's highly successful reward provisions, says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.
"Confidential" and other search terms commonly used to locate privileged documents during e-discovery are pretty ineffective, so practitioners should consider including specific types of keywords that are demonstrably better at targeting privilege, say Robert Keeling at Sidley and Rishi Chhatwal at AT&T.
Lawyers working remotely during the pandemic while physically outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed will find some comfort in a recent American Bar Association opinion sanctioning such practice, but there is ambiguity regarding the contours of what's allowed, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.
By using the novel prosecutorial tactic known as access theory, President-elect Joe Biden can initiate a 2021 offensive to stop ransomware, says John Stark at John Reed Stark Consulting.
Although derivatives traders are permitted to trade on their own material, nonpublic information to hedge risk, recent U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission enforcement actions highlight the distinction between legal and illegal use of nonpublic information unique to these markets, says CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert.
Attorneys at Alston & Bird explore expectations for this year's securities litigation landscape, including class actions related to COVID-19, whistleblower claims and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement activity.
Whether geared toward a global audience or a particular client, a law firm's articles, blog posts and client alerts should strive to be original by harnessing a few editorial tools and following the right distribution sequence, say Steven Andersen and Tal Donahue at Infinite Global.
Derek Adams at Potomac Law, and Ellen London and Steven Deolus at Alto Litigation, examine the evolution of the Paycheck Protection Program, the impact of constant changes to eligibility and reporting rules, and enforcement developments to expect this year.
Perspectives
Judges should take into consideration the several points of law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion — from traffic stops to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations — that often lead to race-based disparate treatment before a criminal defendant even reaches the courthouse, say Judge Juan Villaseñor and Laurel Quinto at Colorado's Eighth Judicial District Court.
Lawyers should remember that the basics of interpersonal relationships have not changed despite the completely virtual environment caused by the pandemic, and should leverage the new year as an excuse to connect with clients in several ways, say Megan Senese and Courtney Hudson at Pillsbury.
Larry Bergmann and Robertson Park at Murphy & McGonigle analyze several issues that will alter the market for Chinese securities in the U.S., including imminent trading restrictions, that may affect stateside broker-dealers, alternative trading systems and securities exchanges as soon as this coming week.