Article: BLM Threatens Legal Action Against One Of Their Own Activists After Call For Probe Into Finances

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BLM Threatens Legal Action Against One Of Their Own Activists After Call For Probe Into Finances

TYLER DURDEN, 15 April 2021

As we highlighted yesterday, Hawk Newsome, who heads up a Black Lives Matter group in Greater New York City, made the call for an investigation, telling the New York Post “If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes.”

Newsome said “black firms and black accountants” should conduct an audit on BLM Global Network Foundation to “find out where the money is going.”

“It’s really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that it’s the people that carry this movement,” Newsome added. Continue reading “Article: BLM Threatens Legal Action Against One Of Their Own Activists After Call For Probe Into Finances”

Article: Mass. Regulator Wants Robinhood Barred From State

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Mass. Regulator Wants Robinhood Barred From State

Chris Villani, 15 April 2021

Massachusetts’ top securities regulator said Thursday he wants Robinhood LLC barred from doing business in the Bay State, citing the stock trader’s “cavalier” approach to enticing inexperienced investors into risky bets.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin is seeking to amend an administrative complaint he filed against the California-based company in December, saying the original fine and change of practices he was seeking was no longer sufficient. That was the first enforcement action brought under the state’s new fiduciary rule, which is stricter than regulations imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Continue reading “Article: Mass. Regulator Wants Robinhood Barred From State”

Article: Bursor & Fisher Makes Play To Lead Robinhood MDL

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Bursor & Fisher Makes Play To Lead Robinhood MDL

Nathan Hale, 15 April 2021

Bursor & Fisher PA touted its experience in class actions and multidistrict litigation as well as multiple clients with significant financial interest as it made a bid Wednesday to lead multidistrict litigation over stock-trading app Robinhood’s decision to block users from buying certain volatile stocks including GameStop.

The boutique firm, which has offices in California, Miami and New York, filed its motion to serve as lead counsel alongside a request from six clients — Eric Quat, Aaron Fassinger, Mike Ross, Igor Kravchenko, Michael McFadden and Tenzin Woiser — to serve together as lead plaintiffs for the dozens of cases against Robinhood Financial LLC and other entities that were centralized earlier this month in the Southern District of Florida. Continue reading “Article: Bursor & Fisher Makes Play To Lead Robinhood MDL”

Article: Libor Contracts Caught in Limbo Spur Calls for Congressional Fix

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Libor Contracts Caught in Limbo Spur Calls for Congressional Fix

Alexandra Harris, 15 April 2021

President Joe Biden’s administration and the Federal Reserve are pushing for U.S. lawmakers to ease Wall Street’s transition away from the London interbank offered rate and help head off legal headaches for many contracts that risk being left in limbo under present plans.

In testimony set to be delivered at a House Financial Services subcommittee meeting Thursday, officials from both the Treasury Department and the Fed will voice support for federal legislation that would allow for an orderly way to shift existing financial products from the discredited set of reference rates, which currently underpins trillions of dollars in securities, derivatives and other contracts. Continue reading “Article: Libor Contracts Caught in Limbo Spur Calls for Congressional Fix”

Article: Ever Given Operator Questions $916M Claim Over Grounding

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Ever Given Operator Questions $916M Claim Over Grounding

Martin Croucher, 15 April 2021

The operator of a giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for a week after running aground last month has said that the Egyptian authorities “lack any detailed justification” for demanding almost $1 billion in compensation.

Evergreen Line, the Taiwan-based operator which chartered the Ever Given that blocked traffic in the Suez Canal when it became wedged across the busy sea lane on March 23, said on Wednesday that it is investigating the scope of an Egyptian court order for the vessel to be seized by authorities in Cairo. Ever Given caused a logjam of approximately 200 ships in the canal Continue reading “Article: Ever Given Operator Questions $916M Claim Over Grounding”

Article: Rippling Cyberattacks Force Corporate Boards to Rethink Risk

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Rippling Cyberattacks Force Corporate Boards to Rethink Risk

Andrea Vittorio, Jake Holland, 15 April 2021

Corporate boards, in the wake of cyberattacks on software providers SolarWinds Corp. and Microsoft Corp., are seeking out expertise from consultants, lawyers and associations that offer cybersecurity training—an oversight boost that could cushion them legally in the event they’re sued or penalized by regulators after a breach.

The recent hits have forced boards of directors to rethink cybersecurity challenges and their potential ripple effects as companies face mounting legal and reputational risks from costly hacks. The attacks also show how cyber incidents in a connected system can quickly spread to contaminate thousands of companies at once. Continue reading “Article: Rippling Cyberattacks Force Corporate Boards to Rethink Risk”

Article: Einhorn: “The Market Is Fractured And In The Process Of Breaking Completely”

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Einhorn: “The Market Is Fractured And In The Process Of Breaking Completely”

TYLER DURDEN, 15 April 2021

In many ways, David Einhorn’s Greenlight appears to be back to its “new normal” – in a letter sent to investors, Einhorn writes that Greenlight again underperformed the market and returned -0.1% in the first quarter, badly underperforming the 6.2% return for the S&P 500 index, before proceeding to bash the Fed, broken markets, Chamath and Elon, the basket of short stocks and much more.

That said, even though as Einhorn writes Greenlight made only a handful of portfolio changes and essentially broke even, “a lot happened. In general, the investment environment – especially from mid-February through the end of the quarter – was favorable as value outperformed growth, and interest rates and inflation expectations rose.” Continue reading “Article: Einhorn: “The Market Is Fractured And In The Process Of Breaking Completely””

Article: Hedge funds rethink after GameStop pain

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Hedge funds rethink after GameStop pain

Laurence Fletcher, 15 April 2021

Hedge funds are to revise the way they monitor risk after retail investors sent the price of stocks such as GameStop soaring — triggering big losses for the fund managers that bet against them. Investors co-ordinating their purchases on Reddit’s WallStreetBets message board were able to drive up the share price of Gamestop, the US video game retailer, from less than $20 at the start of the year to more than $480 by late January, while the prices of some other beaten-down stocks also soared. For some hedge funds, that proved painful.

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Article: Apple Gets New Damages Trial After $506M Patent Verdict

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Apple Gets New Damages Trial After $506M Patent Verdict

Caitlin Simpson, 14 April 2021

A Texas federal judge ruled Wednesday that Apple is entitled to a new damages trial after a jury found in August that it infringed PanOptis’ standard-essential 4G wireless patents and must pay $506 million, saying there is “serious doubt” about the reliability of the verdict.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap declined to order a new trial on any other issues that Apple raised. As for the damages, he said that because the dispute centers on standard-essential patents, or SEPs, they must be licensed on terms that are fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory, or FRAND, but the parties decided to leave the FRAND issues to a bench trial after the jury trial. Continue reading “Article: Apple Gets New Damages Trial After $506M Patent Verdict”

Article: Global Derivatives Cling to Libor Even as Its Retirement Nears

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Global Derivatives Cling to Libor Even as Its Retirement Nears

William Shaw and Alex Harris, 14 April 2021

Anyone hoping Libor’s death notice would accelerate the shift of hundreds of trillions of dollars worth of derivatives toward replacement benchmarks will be sorely disappointed.

In the U.S, just 4.7% of contracts traded in March were pegged to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, the benchmark slated to replace the London interbank offered rate, according to data from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association released Wednesday. That’s down from 5% in February. Continue reading “Article: Global Derivatives Cling to Libor Even as Its Retirement Nears”

Article: McDermott Can’t Ditch CB&I Merger Suit, Texas Judge Says

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McDermott Can’t Ditch CB&I Merger Suit, Texas Judge Says

Craig Clough, 14 April 2021

A Texas federal judge explained Wednesday that McDermott International Inc. must face a securities fraud suit over its acquisition of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., denying its motion to dismiss and finding that stockholders sufficiently pled that proxy statements from McDermott were made “with actual knowledge that they were misleading.”

U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. already denied McDermott’s motion to dismiss on March 31 in a one-page order, and issued his full opinion behind the order on Wednesday that said McDermott cannot escape the allegations it concealed material problems with the integration of CB&I’s business and the likelihood that its projects would incur higher-than-expected costs. Continue reading “Article: McDermott Can’t Ditch CB&I Merger Suit, Texas Judge Says”

Article: Carlyle’s $396M Oil Loss Row With Excess Insurers Revived

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Carlyle’s $396M Oil Loss Row With Excess Insurers Revived

Caitlin Simpson, 14 April 2021

A New York appeals court has reversed a ruling that Carlyle Group affiliates can’t tap into excess insurance to cover part of $396 million in losses when a Moroccan oil refinery was seized, finding factual disputes remain about whether the policy’s coverage for theft was triggered.

A four-judge Appellate Division panel for the First Department on Tuesday reversed Justice O. Peter Sherwood’s July order that had granted underwriters at Lloyd’s of London’s motion for summary judgment and had rejected Carlyle’s assertion that its oil was essentially stolen by refinery operator Societe Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie du Raffinage, or SAMIR. Continue reading “Article: Carlyle’s $396M Oil Loss Row With Excess Insurers Revived”

Article: Debt Settlement Co. Agrees To Pay $1.4M To End CFPB Claims

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Debt Settlement Co. Agrees To Pay $1.4M To End CFPB Claims

Emilie Ruscoe, 14 April 2021

Online debt-settlement company SettleIt Inc. has agreed to pay $1.4 million to end U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claims that the company charged its customers for negotiating settlements with two creditors it was secretly affiliated with and steering the consumers into expensive loans with those companies.

The terms of a proposed judgment and order, filed Tuesday in California federal court, would require SettleIt to set aside about $647,000 to pay back the performance fees the company collected from consumers and pay a proposed $750,000 civil monetary penalty. The company neither admits nor denies the CFPB’s allegations. Continue reading “Article: Debt Settlement Co. Agrees To Pay $1.4M To End CFPB Claims”

Article: Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Uses Call Options To Buy Microsoft Ahead Of Big Govt Contract

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Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Uses Call Options To Buy Microsoft Ahead Of Big Govt Contract

TYLER DURDEN, 14 April 2021

Legalized Insider Trading
It is OK for members of Congress to trade on inside information including government contracts before deals are announced.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did just that, rather, her husband did.

Purchase of Stock Via Call Options
Barron’s reports Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Bought Roblox, Microsoft Stock

The Barron’s article is behind a paywall. Fox News also reports the same thing: Pelosi’s Husband Bought $10M in Microsoft Shares Through Options. Continue reading “Article: Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Uses Call Options To Buy Microsoft Ahead Of Big Govt Contract”