Securities

  • December 12, 2025

    SEC, Ex-Advisers Settle Unregistered Securities Sales Claims

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a settlement with a pair of former investment advisers it accused of participating in a fraudulent scheme to sell unregistered oil and gas securities, according to a motion filed on Friday.

  • December 12, 2025

    CFTC Drops 'Outdated' Crypto Guidance On Actual Delivery

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has withdrawn what it called "outdated" guidance on the actual delivery of cryptocurrency, to be more in line with recommendations from the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, and has issued no-action letters to several prediction market platforms.

  • December 12, 2025

    Starbucks Defends Ex-CFO In Investors' 'Triple Shot' Suit

    Starbucks Corp. is fighting shareholders' effort to reinstate claims against its former chief financial officer in a lawsuit they brought over the company's "Triple Shot" reinvention plan, arguing that a judge in Seattle correctly dismissed claims against the onetime executive. 

  • December 12, 2025

    OCC Conditionally Grants 5 Crypto-Focused Trust Charters

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Friday gave five crypto-focused firms a preliminary nod to operate as national trust banks, clearing the way for crypto to integrate further into the banking system despite pushback from banking lobbyists.

  • December 12, 2025

    Ex-Fiserv CEO Accused Of Insider Trading In New Suit

    The top brass of payments company Fiserv Inc., including ex-CEO and Social Security Administration head Frank Bisignano, face shareholder derivative claims that they misled investors about a flagship product's declining sales and used the resulting inflated share prices to justify $7.9 billion in stock buybacks as Bisignano and another officer made proceeds of over $600 million selling off their Fiserv shares.

  • December 12, 2025

    Crypto Industry Balks At Citadel Securities' Call For Regs

    Cryptocurrency advocates pushed back Friday against Citadel Securities' request that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission more closely monitor decentralized trading platforms, contending that placing the industry under the same strictures as traditional exchanges would "undermine" innovation.

  • December 12, 2025

    Oppenheimer Fined $1.2M In SEC Muni Bond Disclosure Case

    Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $1.2 million for allegedly skirting municipal bond disclosure requirements, the regulator announced Friday.

  • December 12, 2025

    Wrong Metric Created $2 Valuation, Chancery Suit Says

    A former equity holder in a nutrition services business has sued in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to unwind what it calls a sham $2 repurchase of its ownership interest and to force payment of a separate $2 million deferred purchase price, arguing that the business disregarded contractually mandated valuation mechanics to engineer a zero-value outcome.

  • December 12, 2025

    Chancery Issues Rare Redemption Order In Congo Dispute

    A rare Court of Chancery battle over control of a sprawling palm oil plantation enterprise along Africa's Congo River has produced an equally rare court order for "redemptions in kind," or an unwinding and separation from an investor who led what the court described as a multi-faceted enterprise "coup."

  • December 12, 2025

    Betting, Trading Platforms Form Prediction Market Alliance

    A group of betting and trading platforms said they've created a new organization to advance the interests of prediction markets as betting challenges from states intensify and Congress starts to formally structure the cryptocurrency market writ large.

  • December 12, 2025

    Bogus AI Hedge Fund Chief Finalizes $4.1M SEC Deal

    A self-styled hedge fund CEO who pled guilty to scamming investors with claims that his firm used artificial intelligence for its high-frequency trading strategy has finalized a parallel $4.1 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, though the debts would be considered satisfied by his criminal restitution, a Brooklyn federal judge said Friday.

  • December 12, 2025

    Chancery Lets Nextdoor Argue De-SPAC Suit Filed Too Late

    The Delaware Chancery Court on Friday let Nextdoor Inc. and related defendants argue that investors waited too long to sue over the company's de-SPAC merger, while pausing discovery as the court considers motions that could end the case.

  • December 12, 2025

    Molina Investor Sues Board Over Insurer's Guidance Cuts

    Executives and directors of health insurance provider Molina Healthcare were hit with a shareholder's derivative suit Friday accusing them of misleading investors about medical cost trends and internal controls before repeatedly slashing the company's 2025 earnings guidance.

  • December 12, 2025

    Nasdaq Seeks Power To Block IPOs Over Manipulation Risks

    Nasdaq proposed a rule change on Friday that would give the exchange new discretion to block initial public offerings even when companies meet all quantitative listing requirements, citing concerns that certain stocks could be vulnerable to manipulation once they begin trading.

  • December 12, 2025

    Higgs Fletcher Forms White Collar, Regs Enforcement Team

    San Diego-based law firm Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP has launched a white collar crime and regulatory enforcement defense practice group, citing heightened regulatory scrutiny in the financial and healthcare sectors and rising enforcement risks for licensed professionals and institutions.

  • December 12, 2025

    ArentFox Adds Cross-Border Corporate Atty From Reed Smith

    ArentFox Schiff LLP announced Wednesday that it has added a Los Angeles-based partner from Reed Smith LLP to its corporate and securities practice, calling her "one of the most prominent Chinese-speaking corporate lawyers in the US."

  • December 11, 2025

    Trump Orders Review Of Proxy Advisers' 'Substantial Power'

    President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order that aims to scrutinize the influence that proxy adviser firms like Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC have, including in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion agendas.

  • December 11, 2025

    FSOC To Tack Toward Deregulation For Growth, Bessent Says

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that the Financial Stability Oversight Council will pivot toward a focus on promoting economic growth through deregulation, charting a new course for the panel that mirrors shifts underway at its member agencies.

  • December 11, 2025

    House Passes Bill To Rev Up Investment, Biz Opportunities

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed bipartisan legislation that would revamp securities law by making it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to access capital and by expanding investment opportunities in private markets.

  • December 11, 2025

    Gemini To Offer Prediction Markets With CFTC License

    Winklevoss-led crypto firm Gemini plans to soon offer prediction markets to customers now that it's won a designated contract market license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

  • December 11, 2025

    House Weighs CFTC's Future As Admin Looks To Fill Positions

    The White House said Thursday that it will soon fill some of the open leadership positions at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as industry experts and former CFTC insiders told Congress that the agency will need more funding and additional personnel if it's to properly police the cryptocurrency and prediction markets.

  • December 11, 2025

    SEC Gets Amended $32M Win In Real Estate Fraud Suit

    A Florida federal judge on Dec. 11 granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's bid for an amended $32 million default judgment against three companies owned by two French half-brothers accused of misappropriating $40 million from investors in a real estate investment fraud scheme, and entered a final judgment against one of the brothers.

  • December 11, 2025

    SEC Must Provide Names To Compliance Chief In Fraud Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to comply with a chief compliance officer's request for the names of agency staffers familiar with his whistleblower claims as he defends allegations that he played a role in a purportedly fraudulent stock offering by a "sham" energy company.

  • December 11, 2025

    Smartsheet Investor Sues Over Blackstone, Vista Buyout

    A stockholder in a proposed class action against enterprise software maker Smartsheet Inc. accused the company and its former CEO of underselling the company's performance in the lead-up to its $8.4 billion acquisition this year by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners, allowing the sale to move forward at an unfairly low share price.

  • December 11, 2025

    Visa Escapes Investor Suit Over DOJ Claims

    A California federal judge has released Visa from a securities fraud suit accusing it of concealing anticompetitive debit practices that are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, saying the plaintiffs did not show that Visa's alleged omissions caused investors losses.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • SEC Rulemaking Radar: The Debut Of Atkins' 'New Day'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory flex agenda, published last week, demonstrates a clear return to appropriately tailored and mission-focused rulemaking, with potential new rules applicable to brokers, exchanges and trading, among others, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • A Changing Playbook For Fighting Records Requests In Del.

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in Wong v. Amazon, reversing the denial of an inspection demand brought by a stockholder, serves as a stark warning to corporations challenging books and records requests, making clear that companies cannot defeat such demands solely by attacking the scope of their stated purpose, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • What To Expect As Trump's 401(k) Order Materializes

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    Following the Trump administration’s recent executive order on 401(k) plan investments in alternative assets like cryptocurrencies and real estate, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will need to answer several outstanding questions before any regulatory changes are implemented, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Demystifying The Civil Procedure Rules Amendment Process

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    Every year, an advisory committee receives dozens of proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, most of which are never adopted — but a few pointers can help maximize the likelihood that an amendment will be adopted, says Josh Gardner at DLA Piper.

  • 'Solicit' Ruling Offers Proxy Advisers Compliance Relief

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    The D.C. Circuit recently found that proxy voting advice does not fall under the legal definition of "solicitation," significantly narrowing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's regulatory power over such advisers, offering stability to the proxy advisory industry and providing temporary relief from new compliance burdens, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Evaluating The SEC's Rising Whistleblower Denial Rate

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    The rising trend of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower award claim denials represents a departure from the SEC's previous track record and may reflect a more conservative approach to whistleblower award determinations under the current administration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • State Crypto Regs Diverge As Federal Framework Dawns

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    Following the Genius Act's passage, states like California, New York and Wyoming are racing to set new standards for crypto governance, creating both opportunity and risk for digital asset firms as innovation flourishes in some jurisdictions while costly friction emerges in others, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

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    As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Teaching Trial Advocacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Teaching trial advocacy skills to other lawyers makes us better litigators because it makes us question our default methods, connect to young attorneys with new perspectives and focus on the needs of the real people at the heart of every trial, say Reuben Guttman, Veronica Finkelstein and Joleen Youngers.

  • The Crucial Question Left Unanswered In EpicentRx Decision

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    The California Supreme Court recently issued its long-awaited decision in EpicentRx Inc. v. Superior Court, resolving a dispute regarding the enforceability of forum selection clauses, but the question remains whether private companies can trust that courts will continue to consistently enforce forum selection clauses in corporate charters, says John Yow at Yow PC.

  • MIT Bros.' Crypto Charges Provide Fraud Test Case For Gov't

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    As U.S. v. Peraire-Bueno, involving cryptocurrency fraud charges against brothers who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, moves forward after surviving a motion to dismiss, the case provides an early example of how the government might use the federal fraud statutes to regulate decentralized networks, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Why EpicentRx Ruling Is A Major Win For Business Certainty

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    The California Supreme Court's recent decision in EpicentRx v. Superior Court removes a significant source of uncertainty that plagued commercial litigation in California by clarifying that forum selection clauses shouldn't be invalidated solely because the selected forum lacks the right to a jury trial, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

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