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Securities
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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 transition 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.
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January 17, 2025
Nasdaq Pulls Board Diversity Rules After 5th Circ. Loss
Nasdaq has moved to formally undo its rules requiring that companies listed on the exchange disclose board diversity data, following a narrow, en banc ruling from the Fifth Circuit last month finding that the rules ran afoul of federal securities law.
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January 17, 2025
Wells Fargo, BofA Units Pay SEC $60M Over Cash Sweeps
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday announced that Merrill Lynch and two units of Wells Fargo will pay a combined $60 million to settle claims they failed to implement preventative procedures concerning their cash sweep programs.
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January 17, 2025
Drink Maker Celsius Settles SEC's Accounting Claims For $3M
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined beverage company Celsius Holdings Inc. $3 million to settle claims that it issued financial statements that were materially inaccurate and misleading due to misreported stock award information.
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January 17, 2025
Energy Co. To Pay $19M SEC Fine Over Ohio Bribery Scandal
American Electric Power Inc. on Friday agreed to pay $19 million to resolve claims from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the utility company violated federal securities laws in connection with a bribery scandal embroiling the Ohio Legislature.
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January 17, 2025
NYC Mall Lenders, Developer Want Foreign Investor Suit Nixed
Financial backers of a Staten Island mall project are asking a federal judge to toss a suit by foreign investors seeking damages, arguing that the investors are just trying to "claw back" whatever they can from others who lost even more money.
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January 17, 2025
Ex-Mozambique Finance Head Gets 8½ Years In $2B Bond Rap
A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced Mozambique's former finance minister to 8½ years in prison Friday for facilitating a corrupt $2 billion loans-for-bribes deal, ordering him to forfeit $7 million and imposing time beyond the six years the defendant has been incarcerated.
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January 17, 2025
Meet The Key Players In Tom Goldstein's Tax-Crimes Case
The tax-evasion indictment of U.S. Supreme Court expert lawyer and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein features an eclectic cast of characters linked to his purported side career as a high-stakes poker player, including law firm partners, professional gamblers, a Texas billionaire, a movie producer and an actor.
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January 17, 2025
SEC Fines Crypto Giant DCG, Ex-Genesis CEO $38.5M
Crypto venture capital firm Digital Currency Group and the ex-CEO of its bankrupt lending subsidiary Genesis Global Capital LLC agreed to a combined $38.5 million civil penalty Friday to settle claims they misled investors about Genesis' financial condition ahead of its collapse.
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January 17, 2025
SEC Fines Unregistered Broker $3M Over Pre-IPO Work
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday fined an unregistered broker $3 million to resolve charges for illegally brokering transactions related to the stock of private companies that were expected to conduct initial public offerings.
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January 17, 2025
Vanguard To Pay SEC, States $106M Over Surprise Tax Bills
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was joined by dozens of state regulators Friday in announcing a $106.4 million settlement with The Vanguard Group Inc. over claims that the company misled investors about the heightened capital gains taxes they would have to pay on certain retirement savings accounts.
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January 16, 2025
Two Sigma Fined $90M Over Investment, Whistleblower Issues
New York-based Two Sigma has agreed to pay $90 million in fines and has already refunded $165 million to various funds and accounts to put to rest the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations it failed to deal with known issues with its investment models, the SEC announced Thursday.
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January 16, 2025
SEC's General Counsel Barbero To Exit As Trump Takes Office
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that General Counsel Megan Barbero will depart the agency on the day of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, capping a nearly two-year run that saw the agency face setbacks to its regulatory powers before conservative courts, but also notch some important wins.
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January 16, 2025
NY Court Won't Revive Leon Black Sex Assault Suit
A New York appeals court ruled Thursday that a nondisclosure agreement did indeed bar a woman's sexual assault suit against former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black, finding that the NDA was not signed under duress and is therefore valid.
Expert Analysis
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Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win
Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
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Takeaways From SEC's Registered Investment Cos. Risk Alert
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Examinations' recent risk alert pertaining to registered investment companies provides a high-level overview of its risk-based approach to selecting RICs for examination — a potential hint that the division is investigating some of the covered topics, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark
All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Small Biz Caught In Corporate Transparency Act Crossfire
Despite compliance being put on hold due to a nationwide preliminary injunction, small businesses have been caught in the middle of the legal battle over the Corporate Transparency Act — and confusion over the law's requirements could result in major penalties, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024
B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
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Series
Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
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What Broker-Dealers Must Know Before Selling Bitcoin ETPs
Interest in bitcoin exchange-traded products is already high, and only expected to grow in light of the incoming Trump administration's pro-crypto stance, but broker-dealers must still consider numerous regulatory requirements before recommending a bitcoin ETP to a client, say Frank Weigand and Justine Woods at Cahill Gordon.
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Series
Texas Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4
The fourth quarter of 2024 brought noteworthy developments to the Texas financial services sector, particularly a new state artificial intelligence bill and a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that will affect an outsize number of Texas community banks, says Tyler George at Naman Howell.
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Cyber Disclosure Is A Mainstay In 2025 SEC Exam Priorities
Despite a new administration and a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair incoming, the SEC's 2025 examination priorities signal that cybersecurity disclosures and risk management practices will remain important due to the growing threat of cyberattacks, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.
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Opinion
No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.
A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
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The Compliance Trends And Imperatives On Tap In 2025
The corporate ethics and compliance landscape is rapidly evolving, posing challenges from conflicting stakeholder expectations to technological disruptions, and businesses will need to explore human-centered, data-driven and evidence-based practices, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.
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5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond
In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
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Best Practices To Find Del. Earnout Provisions That Hold Up
Recent Delaware earnout litigation illustrates the need for careful drafting and proactive planning to avoid later divergent interpretations of the signed contract, and a series of drafting tips can help, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
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Climate Disclosure Spotlight Shifts To 2 Calif. Laws
With Donald Trump's election spelling the all-but-certain demise of the proposed federal climate disclosure rules, new laws in California currently stand as the nation's only broadly applicable climate disclosure requirements — and their brevity is both a blessing and a curse, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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What's Ahead As Transparency Act Comes To A Crossroads
Synthesizing the contrasting federal district and appellate court rulings on the Corporate Transparency Act’s validity reveals several main areas of debate that will likely remain at issue as challenges to the law continue winding through the courts, say attorneys at Farella Braun.