Banking & Finance

Ten Key Issues in Addressed Lease Agreements for Companies

Insight
An understanding of the unique features of equipment lease contracts should help a company work with its bank to structure and document a mutually acceptable lease agreement, according to a Steptoe & Johnson post.

K&L Gates Under Fire from Texas Company in Malpractice Suit

News
Bloomberg Law reports that K&L Gates LLP is facing a $100 million legal malpractice suit from a Texas semiconductor company, Quantum Materials Corp., over an alleged conflict of interest.

HSBC to Pay $765 Million in Settlement Over Pre-Crisis Mortgage Bonds

News
Housing Wire is reporting that HSBC will pay $765 million to the federal government as part of a settlement that covers the bank’s mortgage bond activities in the run-up to the housing crisis.

Contract Roulette: The Top Five Agreements That Get Businesspeople into Trouble

Insight
You can do a lot of damage with a signature, warns Jack Garson of Garson Law LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. You can go broke.

Elon Musk’s SEC Settlement Could Have Gone So Much Worse

News
The SEC’s initial suit sought to bar the CEO from becoming an officer or director for any public company, perhaps for life, according to Wired.

Three Charged in $364M Scheme That Paid for Splurges on Diamonds, Bugattis and Mansions

News
A federal grand jury has indicted three men for what officials describe as a $364 million Ponzi scheme to defraud investors, reports The Dallas Morning News.

Former Locke Lord Partner Indicted on Charges Related to Alleged Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme

News
According to the indictment, Mark S. Scott was part of a conspiracy to conceal the source of $400 million in process from an alleged pyramid scheme involving a purported cryptocurrency, OneCoin.

Citigroup Pays $12 Million to Settle Dark Pool Probe

News
The bank will pay a penalty of $6.5 million and disgorgement and prejudgment interest totaling $5.4 million, while its affiliate, Citi Order Routing and Execution, will pay a penalty of $1 million.

SEC Says Biotech Billionaire CEO Took Part in Pump-and-Dump Schemes

News
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, the SEC alleged OPKO Health chairman and CEO Phillip Frost took part in three pump-and-dump schemes between 2013 and 2018, according to MedCity News.

JPMorgan Chase Will Pay $24 Million to End Lawsuit From Black Advisers

News
The company will also put $4.5 million into a fund that will back recruitment, bias training, a review of branch assignments and a coaching program for black advisers.

Judge Rejects Ex-Bank Executives’ Bids for Acquittals, New Trials

News
Judge Richard Andrews refused to enter judgments of acquittal or set new trials for the former Wilmington Trust executives.

Ex-Biglaw Partner Gets 18 Months in Prison for Role in Shkreli Fraud

News
The former lawyer who helped “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli defraud investors landed just one and a half years in prison for his role in the crime.

Circuit Split – Allowing Receiverships by Contract

News
A post on Bryan Cave’s website discusses a circuit split on the weight courts give contractual provisions allowing the appointment of a receiver in loan documents.

Special Receiver Appointed in Federal Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo in Texas Case

News
The SEC alleges defendants were operating a Ponzi scheme, with limited returns paid to investors from monies raised from other investors.

Automatic Renewals of Consumer Contracts: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask

Insight
Automatic renewals of consumer contracts should be used with care, particularly in light of recent changes to state automatic renewal laws and increased scrutiny from government officials and class action lawyers, warns a recent post on the website of Drinker Biddle & Reath.