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Insider Trading Evolving Beyond Just Securities As DOJ Targets NFTS and Crypto
No federal statute defines "insider trading." Instead, the common law crime of securities "insider trading" has evolved from a convoluted collection of fact-specific court decisions, leaving significant uncertainty regarding the line between permissible and prohibited conduct across the constantly developing contexts to which the doctrine has been applied. Insider trading generally encompasses corporate insiders, or those who receive information from corporate insiders, trading securities on material non-public information. Historically, prosecutors have most often brought insider trading cases under §10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act. Increasingly, however, insider trading also is charged under the broader, more general fraud statutes contained in Title 18. Now, prosecutors have undertaken a further evolutionary step: the application of "insider trading" theories in cases that do not necessarily involve securities.
In two recent notable cases involving NFTs and cryptocurrency markets — United States v. Chastain and United States v. Wahi — the Department of Justice has brought insider trading charges under the wire fraud statute without claiming that any securities were involved. These cases demonstrate the substantial flexibility federal prosecutors have — or at least believe they have — in charging insider trading and underscore the oft-recognized need for a federal statute expressly addressing insider trading.
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Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.