Securities Law

CEO of blood testing company Theranos is accused of ‘massive fraud’ in SEC complaint

The founder and CEO of blood testing company Theranos has agreed to settle civil fraud charges filed Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC says Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes raised more than $700 million from investors “through an elaborate, years-long fraud” in which she exaggerated or made false…

Mar 14, 2018 1:23 PM CDT

Judge cites ‘multitude of lies’ and sentences Martin Shkreli to 7 years in prison

A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, sentenced a tearful Martin Shkreli to seven years in prison for securities fraud Friday after he told the court he was there because of his “gross, stupid and negligent mistakes.”

Mar 9, 2018 1:50 PM CST

US Treasury says money transmitter rules apply to initial coin offerings

The U.S. Department of Treasury raised a potential hurdle for those offering or allowing for the trade of initial coin offerings (ICOs). In a letter from Drew Maloney, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and the ranking…

Mar 8, 2018 7:30 AM CST

One-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album and lawyer payments at risk as a result of Shkreli forfeiture order

A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, has ordered former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli to forfeit $7.36 million in connection with his conviction for securities fraud. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said Shkreli will have to pay the money from his own funds or from “substitute assets”—which could include…

Mar 6, 2018 12:34 PM CST

Blockchain-based initial coin offerings chart uncertain legal terrain

An initial coin offering allows accredited investors to bankroll the creation of a blockchain that will repay them in “coin” or “token” credits that can be traded. Unlike an initial public offering, an ICO does not confer equity in the company.

Mar 1, 2018 12:10 AM CST

Whistleblowers aren’t protected by Dodd-Frank absent SEC complaint, Supreme Court rules

The Dodd-Frank financial oversight law doesn’t protect securities whistleblowers from retaliation unless they report the alleged violation to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the unanimous opinion finding there was no retaliation protection under the law for Paul Somers,…

Feb 21, 2018 10:57 AM CST

Lawyer pleads guilty to aiding pump-and-dump scheme with IOLTA funds, opinion letters

A Colorado lawyer has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for aiding a pump-and-dump scheme that netted her about $30,000.

Feb 7, 2018 12:14 PM CST

Milberg Weiss founder Melvyn Weiss dies at 82

Melvyn Weiss, a founder of securities class-action law firm Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, Hynes & Lerach, has died at the age of 82. Weiss, “a giant of the plaintiffs bar,” had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in June and died in his sleep, the American Lawyer reports. A press release…

Feb 5, 2018 11:03 AM CST

Supreme Court accepts cases on appointment of SEC judges, retailer sales taxes, redistricting

The U.S. Supreme Court granted review in 12 cases Friday, including a challenge to the appointment process for administrative law judges at the Securities and Exchange Commission. At issue in the SEC case, Lucia v. SEC, is whether the judges are “inferior officers” under the appointments clause, rather than mere…

Jan 16, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Milberg joins forces with mass tort firm Sanders Philips Grossman

Class action and complex litigation firm Milberg and mass tort firm Sanders Phillips Grossman plan to partner up, becoming Milberg Tadler Phillips Grossman, the American Lawyer and Global Legal Post reported Monday. The new law firm will be headquartered in New York City and represent plaintiffs across the United States…

Jan 8, 2018 5:40 PM CST

Commodity Futures Trading Commission to meet regarding cryptocurrency

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to hold two meetings this month regarding the future of cryptocurrency derivatives trading. “Undoubtedly, virtual currency and virtual currency derivatives present both significant opportunities and challenges,” Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo said in a statement. “One thing is certain: ignoring virtual currency trading…

Jan 5, 2018 4:47 PM CST

Ex-BigLaw partner who represented Shkreli faces possible 20-year sentence

A former income partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced for his role in a securities fraud scheme by convicted former drug company CEO Martin Shkreli. The lawyer, Evan Greebel, was convicted on Dec. 27 on charges of…

Jan 3, 2018 1:57 PM CST

New SEC cyber unit makes first filing, and it’s over a cryptocurrency sale

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed and obtained an emergency action against PlexCorps, a Canadian company promoting an initial coin offering, or ICO. In the filing (PDF), the SEC claimed that PlexCorps, led by “recidivist securities law violator” Dominic Lacroix and his partner Sabrina Paradis-Royer, misappropriated investor funds…

Dec 4, 2017 2:30 PM CST

US regulator to allow bitcoin futures trading for the first time

Updated: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will allow futures trading of bitcoin. In a press release issued Friday, the derivatives regulator cleared the way for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the CBOE Futures Exchange to be the first traditional exchanges to trade in bitcoin-related financial contracts. “Bitcoin, a virtual…

Dec 1, 2017 2:40 PM CST

Former BigLaw partner pleads guilty to insider trading

A former Foley & Lardner partner has pleaded guilty to insider trading for using information from the law firm’s computer network to make stock trades. Walter “Chet” Little of Apollo Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Reuters reports. Prosecutors said Little made more than $320,000 by trading on information about…

Nov 10, 2017 11:57 AM CST