Mealey's Securities

  • March 28, 2024

    Judge Largely Denies Coinbase’s Bid For Judgment On Pleadings In SEC Enforcement

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on March 27 issued a split ruling mostly denying Coinbase Inc.’s motion for judgment on the pleadings because the Securities and Exchange Commission adequately alleged that the company engaged in the unregistered sale of securities but also finding that the commission had not substantiated its claim that Coinbase acts as an unregistered broker.

  • March 28, 2024

    Judge Won’t Rethink Former Executive’s Required Payments After SEC Fraud Finding

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York denied a request from a former executive of a technology company to reconsider the judge’s grant of summary judgment in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s favor, finding that the former executive pointed to no evidence the judge overlooked when granting the SEC’s request for reimbursement in its case accusing the executive and another former executive of falsifying their former employer’s public investor materials.

  • March 26, 2024

    9th Circuit: Investor Does Not Allege Scienter In COVID-19 ‘Cure’ Suit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A panel of judges in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 25 upheld the dismissal of putative class complaint in which an investor claimed that a pharmaceutical company and certain of its executives misled investors by claiming that a COVID-19 treatment was a “cure,” with the panel finding that the investor did not adequately allege a strong inference of scienter.

  • March 26, 2024

    UCL, Declaratory Judgment Counterclaims Tossed In Dispute Over Marks, Logo

    HARTFORD, Conn. — Trademark infringement and false advertising plaintiffs secured dismissal on March 25 of allegations that they violated the California unfair competition law (UCL), with a federal judge in Connecticut ruling that complained-of securities transactions took place overseas.

  • March 26, 2024

    SEC Tells High Court Musk Forfeited Constitutionality Claims By Signing Agreement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission says the U.S. Supreme Court should deny a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Elon Musk, arguing that a consent judgment he signed did not violate his constitutional rights and that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly affirmed that the consent judgment could not be changed after Musk agreed to it.

  • March 25, 2024

    5th Circuit Lifts Stay Of SEC Climate Rules For Transfer To 8th Circuit

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 22 dissolved an administrative stay of newly announced rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring new disclosures of climate-related risks; the court also transferred the petition brought by two companies to the Eight Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where it will be consolidated with other petitions related to the rules.

  • March 20, 2024

    Federal Judge Imposes Sanctions After SEC Used False Info For Restraining Order

    SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah imposed sanctions on the Securities and Exchange Commission after finding that the commission relied on false information when applying for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in an enforcement action it brought against several groups it accused of using a cryptocurrency scheme to defraud investors of at least $49 million, ordering the commission to pay all attorney fees and costs associated with the TRO.

  • March 20, 2024

    SEC Settles With 1 Of 2 Companies Involved In Crypto Loan Program

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York issued final judgment against one of two companies the Securities and Exchange Commission sued for running a program that allowed individuals to loan crypto assets in exchange for interest after it agreed to settle the claims the SEC brought against it, only days after the judge found that the SEC adequately established that the program was an investment contract.

  • March 20, 2024

    Federal Judge Rules Medical Company, Executives Engaged In Securities Fraud

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado granted a Securities and Exchange Commission motion for partial summary judgment, finding that the commission had adequately established that a radiopharmaceutical company engaged in securities fraud by engaging in the unregistered sale of securities.

  • March 19, 2024

    5th Circuit Orders Stay Of Newly Announced SEC Climate Rules

    NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a single-sentence unpublished order granted a motion for an administrative stay filed by two companies seeking review of newly announced rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to what climate-related risks publicly traded companies are required to disclose.

  • March 18, 2024

    Investors Seek Approval Of $490M Settlement With Apple Inc. Over Sales Claims

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Apple Inc. and certain of its executives have agreed to pay $490 million to settle class claims brought by investors that the company’s CEO issued misleading statements about Apple’s sales of iPhones in China, according to a March 15 motion seeking preliminary approval of the proposed settlement filed in a California federal court by the lead plaintiff.

  • March 18, 2024

    Former AutoZone CEO Owes Short-Swing Disgorgement, Investor Says In Complaint

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The former chief executive officer of AutoZone Inc. failed to disclose short-swing profits he earned from shares in the company and must disgorge those earnings, a company that owned shares in the auto parts retailer says in a complaint filed in a Tennessee federal court.

  • March 18, 2024

    Specific-Entity Exclusion Bars Coverage For SEC Suit, 6th Circuit Affirms

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 15 held that an insurance policy’s specific-entity exclusion unambiguously bars coverage for an underlying investigation and enforcement action brough against the insured by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, rejecting the insured’s argument that the policy is ambiguous.

  • March 15, 2024

    Target To Argue In Support Of Dismissal Of Investors’ Pride Stock Loss Claims

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida will allow Target Corp. to reply in further support of its motions to dismiss or transfer a complaint filed against it with its desired page counts for the replies over an objection from investors who sued Target and certain of its executives alleging that they made false statements about its LGBTQ+ Pride collection that caused a loss in stock value, a docket order from the magistrate judge shows.

  • March 15, 2024

    Tupperware: Investors Fail To Show Company Knowingly Issued False Statements

    ORLANDO, Fla. — Tupperware Brands Corp. and certain of its executives say that a putative class action brought against the company by investors should be dismissed because the investors fail to show the company knowingly issued false statements about the management of a Tupperware facility in Mexico.

  • March 14, 2024

    Federal Judge: SEC Adequately Claims Crypto Loan Program Is ‘Investment Agreement’

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on March 13 denied a pair of motions to dismiss filed by two companies the Securities and Exchange Commission accused of violating securities laws through a program allowing individuals to invest crypto assets in exchange for interest, finding that the SEC adequately alleged that the program was an investment contract.

  • March 14, 2024

    Tech Firm Asks High Court To Rule On Role Of Expert Opinions In Securities Suits

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A computer manufacturer and its president and CEO are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLSRA) allows plaintiffs to show falsity of issued statements by relying on expert opinions instead of facts, saying the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created a “gaping loophole” in the PSLRA by allowing expert analysis to form the basis of a securities complaint against the company.

  • March 13, 2024

    SEC: Board Member Gave Insider Info To Friends Ahead Of Merger

    MILWAUKEE — The Securities and Exchange Commission on March 12 filed in a Wisconsin federal court a complaint alleging that a former board member of an energy company and four of his friends had committed insider trading by using insider information that the company would be going private after an upcoming merger and a motion for entry of consent judgments indicating that each of the five men had agreed to settle the SEC’s claims.

  • March 12, 2024

    Crypto CEO Seeks Bar Of Evidence Related To Arrest In SEC Trial

    NEW YORK — Days before a trial is set to begin in a New York federal court, the founder and CEO of Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd. says in a March 11 opposition to motions in limine from the Securities and Exchange Commission that the jury should not hear “missing witness” instructions if he is unable to attend his trial due to being in the custody of Montenegro authorities.

  • March 11, 2024

    Investor Says Social Media Platform Owner Misled About User Retention After COVID

    OAKLAND, Calif. — An acquisitions company that merged with a local community-focused social media platform misled investors by suggesting the platform would be able to maintain spikes in usage it saw during the initial waves of COVID-19 lockdowns, an investor alleges in a putative class complaint filed in a California federal court.

  • March 11, 2024

    Investors Seek Approval Of Fracking Securities Class Settlement Worth $7,068,750

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — U.S. investors who sued an oil and gas exploration company’s officers alleging that they violated federal securities laws have filed a brief in New York federal court supporting preliminary approval of a $7,068,750 class action settlement, which amounts to roughly 12.4% of the U.S. settlement class’s $56.3 million maximum recoverable damages.

  • March 08, 2024

    Judgment Entered Against Man SEC Said Used Info From Wife For Insider Trades

    HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on March 7 granted the Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion to enter a bifurcated judgment against a man the commission says committed insider trading using information he gleaned about BP p.l.c.’s upcoming purchase of an American truck stop company from overhearing his wife’s work conversations while both were working in a home office, barring the man from further violations of securities laws.

  • March 08, 2024

    Bump-Up Exclusion Bars D&O Coverage For $90M Settlement, Judge Rules On Remand

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — On remand from the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a federal judge in Virginia held that a “bump-up” exclusion unambiguously precludes directors and officers liability insurance coverage for the $90 million settlement of two underlying lawsuits arising from a 2015 merger.

  • March 07, 2024

    Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Fracking Securities Case For Failure To State Claim

    NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision dismissing claims brought by an investor against a hydraulic fracturing company, ruling that a district court did not err when it dismissed claims for violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

  • March 07, 2024

    SEC Adopts Climate Disclosure Regulations 2 Years After Proposal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced March 6 that it adopted long-awaited new rules requiring some public companies to disclose information about climate-related risks facing the company and what, if any, strategies they have in place regarding the risks.