On August 1, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged eleven individuals in connection with a cryptocurrency Ponzi and pyramid scheme. [1] The alleged scheme was perpetrated through a website called Forsage, which operates via smart contracts over the blockchain. The eleven defendants include Forsage’s four founders as well…
Per a federal court ruling on August 11, 2022, Robinhood Markets Inc, the app-based online stock trading platform, must face market manipulation claims brought by a class of its investors. [1] The ruling by Judge Cecilia Altonaga of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied Robinhood’s…
The theft of an estimated $190 million in cryptocurrency this week from a blockchain bridge, Nomad, is just the latest in a string of similar heists targeting the crypto sector. Crypto investors are encouraged to remain wary of this and similar threats to their crypto assets as they make investment…
Cryptocurrency proponents tout the technology’s potentially “transformative” nature and its position as an arguably more stable store of value when compared with fiat money. [1] Yet SEC Chairman Gary Gensler cautioned crypto investors against an overly rosy view of the technology during a speech at the Penn Law Capital Markets…
On Wednesday, March 30th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced newly proposed rules and rule amendments governing Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), shell companies, and the projections that these companies make. The aggregate proposed rule is aimed at heightening investor protections for those who choose to invest in SPACs…
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s much-anticipated rules on climate-related disclosures are finally here. [1] On Monday, March 21, 2022, the federal securities regulator announced the release of a proposed rule, broadly referred by the SEC as “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” [2] The proposed rule comes…
With the recent release of the Netflix true crime documentary, “The Tinder Swindler,” public attention to a unique form of financial fraud is growing, as is the number of lawsuits filed against the film’s subject, Simon Leviev. The documentary chronicles the experiences of three innocent victims of the so-called “Tinder…
Early this month, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of five defendants, each of whom have been charged in connection with an $8.4 million “boiler room” and money laundering scheme. [1] In addition to the DOJ’s criminal indictment of the group, the Securities and Exchange Commission…
Electric automaker, Tesla, and its CEO, Elon Musk, made headlines once again this week in connection with a 2018 Twitter post. The tweet in question, posted by Elon Musk, read simply: “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.”[1] At the time the tweet was posted in 2018, the…
The SEC is attempting to broaden the scope of liability under federal insider trading laws, and it just secured its first incremental victory along the way. The win comes as a newly formulated legal theory offered by the SEC survived a motion to dismiss in SEC v. Panuwat, a case…