查看中文 This update primarily provides an overview of key regulatory developments in the second quarter of 2024 relevant to companies listed, or planning to list, on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEx) and their...more
The Financial Conduct Authority has published a research note setting out the outcomes of an experiment to investigate the effect of digital engagement practices (DEPs) on trading behavior. The FCA tested an experimental...more
In a three-ring circus — where the first is the motion to dismiss, the second is class certification, and the third is summary judgment — the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has introduced a new act in the second ring for...more
Hong Kong regulators recently brought criminal enforcement actions against virtual asset trading platform JPEX and individuals associated with the platform. This case has become the first opportunity for local authorities to...more
Corporate buy‑back plans will be impacted this year both by the adoption of new rules directly addressing such plans, and new rules related to advance stock trading plans that permit trading to continue even when in...more
As we near June 30, 2023, companies are advised to get a jump start on disclosure changes and possible updates to upcoming Form 10-Qs (or Form 10-Ks in the case of non-calendar year companies). The SEC recently updated the...more
What happened - On May 3, 2023, a divided SEC adopted rule amendments that significantly increase company disclosures about their share repurchases. The changes will require companies to...more
The general notion among M&A practitioners is that time kills deals. That is even more the case in public deals and even more so in a stock-for-stock deal. To be sure, for each day the deal is not signed, the risk grows that...more
The DOJ and SEC have made no secret of their interest in combatting potential insider trading by high-level executives misusing Rule 10b5-1 plans. Those plans provide a potential safe harbor for executives trading their...more
Trading app Robinhood, which “popularized one-click trading and helped fuel last year’s meme stock frenzy,” announced this week that it’s firing 23% of its workforce. The move comes on the heels of the company laying off 340...more
It has now been 20 years since the historic collapse of WorldCom, Inc. (“WorldCom” or the “Company”). A review of the WorldCom collapse yields some continuing lessons for corporate counsel....more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the first ever indictment for insider trading of digital assets. According to the indictment, in 2021 Nathaniel Chastain was...more
The SEC prevailed on a motion to dismiss a closely watched lawsuit alleging that a company employee had engaged in insider trading based on news about a not-yet-public corporate acquisition when he purchased securities of a...more
Recent investigations share findings that over 130 US Federal judges presided over cases in which they had a financial conflict of interest since 2010. In a 422-4 vote this week, the House passed a bipartisan bill that would...more
Gamification tactics and investment advice from social media influencers and chat rooms are just a couple of the disruptive technologies and behaviors that are capturing the attention of regulators in 2021 and forcing them to...more
On 6 July 2021, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (the “HKEx”) published its conclusions in response to its concept paper on the introduction of a new IPO settlement platform – Fast Interface for New Issuance...more
In remarks this week at SEC Speaks, SEC Investor Advocate Rick Fleming mused that the “gamification” of securities trading might pose an undue risk that exploits a potential loophole in Regulation Best Interest (“Reg. BI”)....more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is honing in on Rule 10b5-1 plans. Rule 10b5-1 plans provide an affirmative defense and allow corporate directors and officers to sell and purchase securities without violating...more
In what appears to be a serious black eye for the organization, the World Bank has canceled its prominent “Doing Business” report (which rates the “business environment of the world’s countries”) after an “investigation...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have been busy of late in efforts to address alleged compliance issues associated with payment for order flow (PFOF),...more
On June 3, 2021, in Donelson v. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ordered class-action allegations in a putative securities fraud class action stricken on the...more
In public remarks SEC Gary Gensler hinted at the following changes to Rule 10b5-1: - When insiders or companies adopt 10b5-1 plans, there’s currently no cooling off period required before they make their first trade....more
Gone are the days when you had to walk into a physical branch to open a brokerage account. Each trade used to cost money, and account minimums were high. Not anymore. Now any American with internet access and a bank account...more
On April 23, 2021, in Ford v. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a district court order certifying a class action alleging that TD Ameritrade committed securities...more
The latest and greatest from Fed Chair Powell as the Fed’s March Open Markets Committee meeting wrapped yesterday, including a markets-pleasing assurance that better-than-expected economic growth wasn’t enough to push the...more