SEC Probing Municipal Bond Sale that Suffered $30 Million Theft from Cyberattack

SEC Probes Cyberattack of Detroit Suburb’s $30 Million Bond Sale

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a municipal-bond sale by a Detroit suburb that was hacked last year by cyber criminals, resulting in the theft of about $30 million of proceeds.

The SEC is probing whether the bond issue, which was supposed to close in November, violated securities law, according to a March 11 bond-offering supplement. The community of 32,000 plans to sell $29 million of bonds after the cyberattack forced it to cancel last year’s issue to finance the construction of a civic center.

On the day of the initial sale’s closing in November, criminals impersonated a township official after gaining access to the municipality’s email, according to an offering document for the upcoming sale. The hackers then directed Robert W. Baird & Co., the investment bank that bought the bonds, to wire the purchase price to an account they set up.

The Message from the SEC is Undeniable: There Will be Less Enforcement

The message from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is undeniable: there will be less enforcement, and what enforcement occurs will be more targeted at traditional fraud with retail investor harm. The most recent addition to the pile of evidence is a final rule, not subject to public comment or hearing, removing the delegation of authority to the Director of the Division of Enforcement to issue formal orders of investigation. In the future, all formal orders of investigation will be issued by the commissioners of the SEC themselves.

What does this mean? Enforcement will not have the power to issue subpoenas until the commissioners of the SEC have voted in favor of issuing a formal order. This is obviously a one-directional gate keeping function–it can only serve to reduce the number of formal orders issued and delay their issuance….

Hedge Funds Paying Up to $1 Million for Weather Modelers

When Alex Goldstein was just 7 years old, he says, he was drawn to extreme weather. Within 10 years, he convinced his father to take him storm chasing and hasn’t stopped since.

Now, at 35, he leads a small group of data scientists and meteorologists who help teams of traders at one of the world’s largest hedge funds position themselves in commodities markets.

Millennium Management’s Goldstein and other specialists like him who can help model weather patterns in an increasingly volatile climate have become one of the most sought-after groups for hedge funds and trading firms.

They’re not your typical hedge fund employees, like traders who easily expect to make $1 million by the time they’re in their mid-30s. If they weren’t at hedge funds, many weather experts would make a fraction of that amount working in a less adrenaline-fueled environment such as a university or federal agency.

The SEC Has a Lone Democrat, Caroline Crenshaw

Ms. Crenshaw, who has worked at the S.E.C. for more than a decade, suddenly has become the agency’s loyal opposition. It’s a role that may not have an impact on the S.E.C.’s immediate rulings, but can help shape securities regulation over the long term.

Ms. Crenshaw’s dissenting view on the agency’s authority to regulate memecoins is the first of several contrary policy positions she has taken in the six weeks since Mark Uyeda, a Republican, became the acting chair of the S.E.C. She has taken issue with Mr. Uyeda’s overall hands-off approach to regulating crypto and his move to kill a newly enacted climate change disclosure rule for public companies. […]

“I hope to be a voice of common sense during this race to deregulate,” Ms. Crenshaw said in a recent interview. “Yes, businesses may see some cost savings, but at what price to investors and our markets?”

Top Law Firms Defend Overhaul of America’s Business Court

As Delaware lawmakers prepare to hold hearings tomorrow about a bill that could reshape corporate America, some of the biggest corporate law firms are coming out in favor of it.

On Tuesday, 21 law firms — including Simpson Thacher and Bartlett; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison — will publish a letter strongly supporting legislation that would override a series of decisions by the Delaware Court of Chancery. These rulings have prompted backlash from companies and led many, including Meta, to contemplate moving their incorporation outside the state.

The bill is “an important step in maintaining Delaware’s status as the jurisdiction of choice for sophisticated clients when they create companies,” the law firms write.