Bitcoin’s price plummeted after U.S. regulators rejected a proposal by the Winklevoss twins for a publicly traded fund based on the digital currency, dashing hopes that a government-approved investment vehicle would lead to wider interest in virtual money. The Securities and Exchange Commission refused to grant an exemption that would have let the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust trade on the Bats BZX Exchange, according to a filing posted Friday on the regulator’s website.
Category: Corporate / Securities Law
Outgoing Coke CEO given pay package worth $16 million
Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent , who is stepping down in May, received a compensation package worth $16 million last year, according to a regulatory filing. That included a salary of $1.6 million, stock and options worth $9.5 million and incentive pay of $4.1 million.
Trump SEC Pick Made Millions Representing Banks and Hedge Funds
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has earned $7.62 million since 2015 representing some of Wall Street’s biggest firms, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, according to a federal disclosure form. Jay Clayton, the Sullivan & Cromwell partner tapped by Trump, outlined his clients — and his potential conflicts — in a filing to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics that he signed in January.
M&A Litigation Moves Away from Delaware
Patterns of merger litigation have changed significantly in response to developments in Delaware law, four scholars find in a recent paper . Lawyers for stockholder plaintiffs have filed fewer fiduciary duty cases in Delaware since Chancellor Andre Bouchard essentially barred disclosure-only settlements last year in in a case arising from the sale of Trulia to Zillow , instead opting to file such matters in the courts or other states or bring securities law cases in federal court.
Yahoo Reveals Details of Breaches
Following an independent committee investigation into a series of major security breaches affecting more than 1 billion user accounts, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will lose out on a cash bonus and an equity award reportedly worth around $14 million. The committee’s findings, outlined in a company filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission , also prompted the resignation of Yahoo general counsel and secretary Ronald Bell.
Yahoo Reveals New Details of Major 2013-2016 Security Breaches
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Yahoo Reveals Details of Breaches
We just wanted to let you know that our site content is, of course, available to you absolutely free of charge. Our ads are the only way we have to be able to bring you the latest high-quality content, which is written by professional journalists, with the help of editors, graphic designers, and our site production and I.T. staff, as well as many other talented people who work around the clock for this site.
Mystery Traders Said to Make Millions Illegally on Fortress Deal
Unknown traders made more than $3.6 million in illegal profits by investing in shares and derivatives ahead of Softbank Group Corp.’s announcement last month that it would buy Fortress Investment Group LLC, according to U.S. regulators. The traders are believed to be overseas investors who used accounts outside the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a court filing.
SEC Advisory Committee to Question Snap’s Transparency
An investor committee that advises the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will examine if the Snap Inc.’s decision to deny shareholders voting rights will reduce Snap’s public revelations regarding executive pay and governance affairs, the head of the committee told Reuters Wednesday evening. The review is expected sometime next week.
D.C. Circuit Agrees to Hear Controversial PHH Case En Banc
On Feb. 16, 2017, the D.C. Circuit granted the CFPB’s petition to rehear en banc the court’s landmark October 2016 decision finding that the structure of the CFPB was unconstitutional. We covered the panel decision here .
Related Article: What Buffett, Icahn and Other Billionaire Investors Are Buying in the Trump Era
Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn, David Einhorn, Dan Loeb and Bill Ackman have been making some major investment moves in recent months, as revealed in regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. They’ve invested millions, if not billions, of dollars in companies like Apple , Herbalife , Chipotle and Goldman Sachs .
Verizon Cuts $350M from Yahoo Price
While Verizon is moving ahead with its plan to take over core parts of Yahoo’s business, the company has cut a new deal that lowers the price and has Yahoo shouldering more responsibility for any fallout from several large security breaches. Expected to close in the second quarter of this year, the Verizon acquisition of Yahoo is now priced at $4.48 billion — $350 million less than when the purchase was first announced in July.
SEC Fines Morgan Stanley For Unsuitable Sales Of Inverse ETFs
The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney on Tuesday, fining the firm $8 million for selling unsuitable ETF products to customers and not obtaining proof the clients understood the risks involved with purchasing inverse ETFs. Morgan Stanley admitted its wrongdoing.
U.S. Swaps Regulator Postpones Enforcement for Collateral Rule
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission says it will give swaps dealers more time to comply with collateral requirements scheduled to take effect March 1, aiming to ease concerns that global markets could face disruptions without a transition period. In a no-action letter issued Monday, the CFTC said that from March 1 through Sept.
Insider Q&A: Duke University expert James Cox on SEC future
President Trump has named Jay Clayton, a Wall Street attorney who worked on mergers and IPOs, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week Trump ordered a review of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which reshaped regulation of the banking industry after the financial crisis.
Hain Celestial Shares Drop After Disclosing SEC Investigation in Friday News Dump
In a regulatory filing late Friday, Hain Celestial Group disclosed that it’s being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for its accounting practices, sending shares down 3.5%, to $38.53, in after-hours trading. The filing stated that the SEC has “issued a formal order of investigation” and subpoenaed Hain for “relevant documents” after being informed in August of the delay of its fourth quarter earnings release.
Snapchat Files Paperwork Ahead of Long-Awaited Public Listing
The popular messaging app on Thursday filed its S-1 SEC paperwork, one of the first steps in its much-awaited IPO process. Snap Inc. , the parent company of popular messaging app Snapchat, today officially filed its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Resolution to Scrap Oil and Gas Anti-Bribery Rule Is Moving Swiftly Through Congress
A resolution to scrap an anti-bribery rule that affects oil, gas and mining companies is quickly making its way through Congress. A resolution to scrap an anti-bribery rule that affects oil, gas and mining companies is quickly making its way through Congress.
Two Ex-Och-Ziff Executives Accused by SEC in Bribery Scheme
Two former Och-Ziff Capital Management Group executives, including the ex-head of the hedge fund’s European office, were sued by U.S. regulators over allegations that they spearheaded a sprawling bribery scheme that involved paying tens of millions of dollars across Africa to win business. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement action against Michael Cohen, who headed the European office, and Vanja Baros, an executive on Africa-related deals, follows a settlement with the U.S. government last year in which an Och-Ziff unit pleaded guilty to violating bribery laws and the firm agreed to pay $415 million.
CFTC Fines E*TRADE For Allegedly Destroying Customer Records
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission settled charges against Chicago-based E*Trade Securities LLC , an introducing broker, and E*Trade Clearing LLC, the firm’s futures broker-dealer, for record-keeping and supervision violations. According to the CFTC order, between October 2009 and January 25, 2014 E*Trade Securities and E*Trade Clearing allowed audit trail logs for their customers trades to be destroyed after 10 days rather than that maintaining them for use by regulators who use the records to monitor the firm’s compliance with laws and regulations.
Yahoo’s 4Q shows modest strides amid security breach fallout
Yahoo’s financial performance improved slightly during the fourth quarter while the company dealt with the fallout from massive security breaches that have jeopardized the $4.8 billion sale of its internet operations to Verizon Communications. The fourth-quarter report released Monday provided the latest snapshot of a shrinking company that has been steadily losing ground in the digital advertising market that generates most of its revenue.
Pershing Square Pays $75,000 To Settle Pay-to-play Probe
Pershing Square Capital Management reached a $75,000 settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday regarding a campaign contribution made by a former employee that violated the government’s donation rules. The former employee contributed $500 to a personal friend of a sibling, who tried, unsuccessfully, to enter one of the gubernatorial primaries in Massachusetts.
Cooperman Case Poses Question of When Inside Tips Become Illicit
Regulators pursuing an insider-trading case against billionaire Leon Cooperman say he is using an “astounding theory” to justify trading on non-public information he obtained from a company insider. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Cooperman is seeking to use a “loophole” in insider-trading law that would “reward deception.”
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If you simply buy — without the use of any margin — the entire stock market via an index fund, it’s all but impossible to lose all of your money. Indeed, an index fund represents an ownership interest in a well-diversified group of U.S. businesses; the risk of total loss is vanishingly small.
Deals Lawyer Said to Be a Contender to Lead SEC Under Trump
President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating Sullivan & Cromwell partner Jay Clayton to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, potentially positioning a top lawyer to banks and hedge funds to lead Wall Street’s main regulator, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Clayton, who met with Trump last month, has represented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and investment firms ranging from Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC to Oaktree Capital Group LLC, according to Sullivan & Cromwell’s website.
Trump Picks Wall Street Attorney Jay Clayton for Top SEC Post
Sullivan & Cromwell partner Jay Clayton is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head up the Securities and Exchange Commission. Clayton, one of about 875 attorneys at the law firm, has a wide range of experience dealing with complex legal issues involving M&A, private equity, capital formation, regulatory issues and corporate governance.
Vermont ski resort owner denies SEC civil fraud charges
The owner of a Vermont ski resort is denying fraud allegations filed against him by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In documents filed last week in federal court in Miami, Ariel Quiros denies that he was behind a $200 million fraud at Jay Peak ski resort.
Cybersecurity 2017 – The Year in Preview: Changes Afoot in Federal Enforcement?
Fragmentation in U.S. data privacy and cybersecurity law is both peril and promise. The peril? Businesses must contend with uncertainty and the costs associated with pleasing many regulatory masters.
Ex-U.S. Attorney Yang Said to Be Trump’s Top SEC Contender
President-elect Donald Trump is considering nominating ex-U.S. attorney Debra Wong Yang to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, positioning her to be the second consecutive former federal prosecutor to lead Wall Street’s top regulator, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. While Trump and his transition team have spoken with a handful of candidates, Yang is the top contender to be SEC chairman, said the person, who asked not to be named because the incoming president hasn’t announced his pick.
Deutsche Bank Admits Misleading Clients in Dark Pool Trades
Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $37 million and admit to misleading customers about its dark pool stock-trading platforms to settle a joint state and federal probe, bringing the bank a step closer to resolving several potentially costly legal challenges in the U.S. The bank will admit to violating state and federal securities laws over a two-year period by failing to address known technical problems with its proprietary dark-pool ranking model, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday. “Misleading and self-serving statements that defraud investors will not be tolerated,” Schneiderman said.