NY AG Brings ... an Insider Trading Case?!

New York Sues Former C.E.O. of Covid Vaccine Maker Over Insider Trading

Attorney General Letitia James of New York filed an insider trading lawsuit on Thursday against a former biotech chief executive, accusing him of turning a $7.6 million profit on the sale of the company’s stock before the public learned that millions of doses of a Covid-19 vaccine were contaminated.

Filed in a New York State court, the lawsuit said that Robert G. Kramer, who was the chief executive of Emergent BioSolutions, knew of the systemic problems involving a vaccine it was helping AstraZeneca produce as part of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed when he exercised his stock options.

Why Crypto Lawsuits Are Unlikely to Stop Soon

At the same time, another source of legal risk has become more prominent: private litigation.

As regulatory enforcement receded, plaintiffs’ lawyers have stepped into the vacuum, pursuing claims that extended far beyond what had been brought against traditional defendants. Longo pointed to the multidistrict litigation arising from the collapse of FTX as a preview of what may lie ahead.

FTX, once one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after a liquidity crisis exposed allegations of widespread fraud. In the MDL, plaintiffs did not limit their claims to FTX’s executives. They sued investors, law firms, accountants and celebrities who appeared in promotional materials—anyone who could plausibly be linked to the alleged harm.

The case illustrated a broader shift moving into 2026, attorneys said. As crypto markets mature, so does the crypto plaintiffs’ bar. And as statutory clarity reduces some forms of uncertainty, it creates others, such as how wide liability can spread when things go wrong.

White-Collar Enforcement Sinks Under Trump, Public Citizen Says

The Trump administration canceled at least 162 corporate enforcement actions and halted 14 more in its first year back in office, according to progressive advocacy group Public Citizen.

The Ralph Nader-founded group said in a report issued Thursday that the administration’s retreat had allowed at least 18 corporations to avoid paying $3.1 billion in penalties for misconduct. Public Citizen said that some of the companies had donated to or had other ties to President Donald Trump. […]

Some of the cases cited by the group involved cryptocurrency, an area where the Justice Department has said it is scaling back enforcement. Others were cases in which the president pardoned executives convicted of fraud. Public Citizen also pointed to cases brought by the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which the administration has been trying to shut down.

Why the Supreme Court Should Side With the SEC Fraudster

No one wants to come down on the side of people who commit fraud. But last week, the US Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the Securities and Exchange Commission might have gone too far in punishing one. And in this unusually fraught political moment, we would do well to ponder the possibility that the fraudster should prevail.

The case in question is Sripetch v. the Securities and Exchange Commission, which, on its face, raises only the technical question of under what circumstances a person who commits securities fraud can be made to disgorge the profits from the fraud. As a matter of practical ethics, “always” might seem the obvious answer. In general, I’d agree. But read on.

Coinbase, the Biggest U.S. Crypto Company, Asserts Its Power in Washington

A major cryptocurrency bill was headed for a committee vote in the Senate on Thursday after months of negotiations, a crucial step in the legislative process.

Then came a social media post from the top executive of Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto company.

“Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written,” Brian Armstrong, chief executive of Coinbase, posted on X on Wednesday evening. “This version would be materially worse than the current status quo. We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.”

Within hours, the Senate vote was canceled.