Good morning! Here’s what’s up.
Clips ✂️
US to Drop Charges for Alleged $722 Million Crypto Fraudster Justice Department leaders plan to drop charges against the alleged mastermind of a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that prosecutors said defrauded investors of $722 million, reversing course on a 2019 indictment that was nearing trial. The deputy attorney general’s office in Washington recently ordered the New Jersey US attorney’s office to dismiss the prosecution with prejudice, although final terms are still being hashed out before the parties inform the court, said two people familiar with the matter. The reprieve for a Colorado man who, according to court filings, once described his model as built “on the backs of idiots,” comes during President Donald Trump’s retreat on crypto industry enforcement. by Bloomberg Law |
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Insider Trading One thing that happens to me with frankly weird regularity is that I get emails from readers suggesting that it might be a good deal to spend X years in prison if it left you with $Y million when you got out. For instance, I still don’t really understand the whereabouts of Bill Hwang’s money, I have joked that it’s buried in his backyard, and people sometimes email me to be like “see, good trade.” I strongly disagree. My discount rate for prison-now-money-later is nearly infinite and I think yours should be too. I do not think that I would spend a week in prison to get a billion dollars at the end of it, and anyway that trade is not on offer.... by Matt Levine – Bloomberg Opinion |
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The D&O Diary Podcast Series – Episode 3: Securities Class Action Suit Filing Trends The third episode of The D&O Diary Podcast Series is now live. Building on our June 30, 2026, post discussing first-half federal court securities class action lawsuits, this episode explores the factors and trends driving the number of current suit filings. In this podcast, we discuss the overall increase in the total number of federal court securities suits during the first six months of 2026; the continued emergence of AI-related securities litigation; and the significant role that stock manipulation and promotion-related claims in the number of securities suits that have been filed so far this year. We also examine what these developments may mean for public companies, directors and officers, and D&O insurers in the months ahead. by The D & O Diary |
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👉 A link to the podcast is here.
Top Senate Democrats Call for Probes Into Trump Crypto Earnings A group of high-ranking Senate Democrats Friday called on their Republican counterparts to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures pose national security risks. Democrats sharply criticized Trump’s financial disclosure last week showing he generated at least $1.4 billion from crypto ventures, and accused the president of engaging in corruption by unduly profiting off his position. But Friday’s joint statement marked an escalation in scrutiny as the ranking members of several powerful Senate committees called for formal probes. “The disclosures heighten concerns about the President pushing Congress to pass crypto legislation in favor of the very industry he’s cashing in on, the Administration’s moves to exempt cryptocurrencies and service providers from existing financial services regulations, and its steps to weaken enforcement, including by disbanding the Department of Justice’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team,” said Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). by Bloomberg Government |
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Ex-Banker With ‘Boring’ AI Startup Pleads Guilty in Insider Case Arya Bolurfrushan left Wall Street in 2008 to go to Harvard Business School. A decade after graduating the university, where he published a paper on private equity in the Middle East, he founded his own startup, AppliedAI, based in Abu Dhabi. He appeared in interviews, including on Bloomberg Television, where in February he described AppliedAI as the “world’s most boring AI company.” Meanwhile, US prosecutors say he was a member of an international insider-trading ring, making nearly $1 million from confidential tips from an associate, a deal lawyer at some of the top law firms in the country. About a year ago, Bolurfrushan, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to trading ahead of two deal announcements — Orchard Therapeutics Plc’s roughly $387 million acquisition in 2023 by Japan’s Kyowa Kirin and Enstar Group Ltd.’s 2024 takeover by Sixth Street Partners for around $5 billion. The plea was sealed until earlier this week as prosecutors continued to build a case against what they say was an insider-trading scheme involving more than two dozen people built by Bolurfrushan’s friend, Nicolo Nourafchan. by Bloomberg |
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Securities Enforcement Forum Central 2026 is set for Thursday, October 1, 2026 at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago! Join us in person or tune in virtually to hear from 35+ luminaries in the securities enforcement field—including numerous in-house counsel from major corporations, and lawyers and consultants from the best firms in the world.
👉 Until August 6, Daily Update readers can register here with a 25% early-bird discount by using one of these codes. See you October 1 in Chicago!!!
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