The SEC’s recent enforcement settlement involving a fund manager highlights the SEC’s focus on an investor’s “control purpose” triggering the requirement to file on a Schedule 13D as opposed to a short-form 13G. At issue was HG Vora Capital Management’s 5% interest in a public company, and whether it had

On August 24, 2023, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued its much-anticipated decision in Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, holding that the syndicate term loans at issue were not securities. As noted in our earlier blog post, the SEC declined the court’s request to file an amicus brief, forgoing the opportunity to provide its views on the issue and influence the outcome of the appeal.[1]

Participants in the syndicated loan markets may have been relieved last month when the SEC declined to file the amicus brief requested by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank. In an unusual turn of events, the SEC choose not to weigh in on whether the syndicated term loans at issue are securities. In a July 18, 2023 letter to the court, the SEC explained that “despite the best efforts to respond to the court’s request, the Staff was not in a position to file a brief on behalf of the Commission.” Id. Whatever the reason, the SEC’s decision leaves the Second Circuit panel without the agency’s views, and to speculate over the agency’s reasons for its clearly very deliberate decision not to act.

The SEC suffered a significant loss last week in its ongoing legal battle with Ripple over the XRP digital token. While the District Court held that Ripple’s initial sales of XRP to institutional investors constituted the sale of unregistered securities, it was a Pyrrhic victory as the court held

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 third-party company that was not involved in the deal. The January 14, 2022 decision in SEC v. Panuwat (N.D. Cal.) marks the first time a court has considered the theory of “shadow trading,” which involves trading the securities of a public company that is not the direct subject of the material, nonpublic information (“MNPI”) at issue.

The Panuwat ruling does not appear to break new ground under the misappropriation theory of insider trading under the particular facts alleged. But the “shadow trading” theory warrants attention because it can have wide-ranging ramifications for traders, including hedge funds.

The SEC recently charged a former employee of a biopharmaceutical company with insider trading in advance of an acquisition but with a unique twist: Trading the securities of a company unrelated to the merger. The employee, Matthew Panuwat, did not trade his own company’s or the acquiring company’s securities, but

Last week, the Second Circuit upheld a criminal conviction for insider trading, holding that signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with a target company created a sufficient duty of trust and confidence to support a conviction. The defendant in United States v. Chow, an executive at a foreign private equity

The Third Circuit recently issued an important decision for private fund advisors who serve on corporate boards.  In a precedential decision on a matter of first impression, the Third Circuit distinguished the role of nonvoting board observers from the function of formal corporate directors.  And while the decision was issued in the context of liability for alleged violations of the securities laws, the Third Circuit suggested the analysis may apply more broadly to other situations involving board observers.

The case, Obasi Investment Ltd. v. Tibet Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al, began in New Jersey federal court as a class action lawsuit alleging Tibet Pharmaceuticals failed to disclose certain information about its financial health prior to its IPO.  Two of the defendants, Downs and Zou, claimed they were merely observers to Tibet’s board and therefore should not be found liable for any misconduct of the company board.  The trial court judge granted summary judgment in the duo’s favor on all counts except a violation of Section 11 of the 1933 Securities Act, stating that the question presented a novel issue ripe for an appellate court.

On appeal, the Third Circuit threw out the last remaining Section 11 claim against the two defendants stating that board observers are not the same as directors.  A claim under Section 11 can be brought against any person “named in the registration statement as being or about to become a director, person performing similar functions, or partner.”  The issue before the Third Circuit was whether the board observers were “person[s] performing similar functions” to directors.