Will Binance "Escape" its DOJ-Imposed Compliance Monitor?

Binance Nears Deal to Escape Compliance Monitor Imposed by DOJ

Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest crypto exchange, is moving toward a potential deal with the US Justice Department that would allow it to drop a key oversight requirement in its $4.3 billion settlement of allegations that it didn’t do enough to prevent money laundering, according to people familiar with the matter.

Federal prosecutors are in discussions with Binance over a requirement to maintain an outside compliance monitor, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The shift would mark the latest in a softening approach to the use of independent oversight that has seen the DOJ eliminate several monitors that had been appointed by the Biden administration.

Insider Trading Is Not About Fairness

What about here? The banks were trading on material nonpublic information about Archegos. Did they have a duty not to trade on it? Some investors sued to find out, “alleging that they traded in the Issuers’ stocks at the same time the [banks] were selling their Archegos-related positions,” that they lost money to the banks, and that the banks were doing insider trading.

Today they lost in a federal appeals court. Here is the opinion. To be insider trading, the court writes, there has to be evidence that “either (1) Archegos owed a fiduciary or fiduciary-like duty to the Issuers’ shareholders or (2) [the banks] owed a fiduciary or fiduciary-like duty to Archegos.” The first is clearly not true: Archegos was an outside shareholder of its companies, and had no special relationship or inside information.

The second possibility — that the banks had some duty to Archegos not to trade on their information about its collapse — is more plausible, but the court rejected that too….

LimeWire Acquires Fyre Festival Brand – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

LimeWire, one of the most iconic names in early internet music culture, has officially acquired the Fyre Festival brand – bringing together two legendary names from digital history under one roof. Once synonymous with disruption in their own very different ways, LimeWire and Fyre are now poised to begin an entirely new chapter – one grounded in technology, transparency, and a sense of humor. […]

The Fyre brand became one of the most recognizable names in recent internet history – a symbol of viral marketing, ambition, and the consequences of overpromising. Despite its controversial origins, it remains deeply embedded in pop culture and continues to spark conversation years later. LimeWire sees this enduring relevance as an opportunity: not to recreate the past, but to reimagine what Fyre can stand for in the future.

LimeWire’s acquisition is not about repeating past mistakes – it’s about saving one of the internet’s most infamous cultural memes from extinction and turning it into something new.

SEC Charges Wanu Water, Inc. and its Founder Todd O’Gara with Defrauding Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Wanu Water, Inc. (Wanu) and its founder Todd O’Gara with conducting an offering fraud scheme which raised millions of dollars over five years.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from January 2019 through August 2024, O’Gara and Wanu raised at least $10.3 million from more than 50 investors through the offer and sale of securities issued by Wanu. As alleged, O’Gara and Wanu made material misrepresentations to investors by overstating the size of Wanu’s deals with a prominent retailer, falsely claiming that at least two private equity firms had promised large investments, misrepresenting O’Gara’s personal wealth and credentials, and misrepresenting how Wanu would use investors’ money. The complaint further alleges that O’Gara and Wanu used fabricated documents to support their misrepresentations.

Why Trump’s Bid to End Quarterly Earnings Is No Sure Bet

President Trump wants to do away with required quarterly earnings reports for public companies, saying they should only have to report results twice a year.

It might not be that simple.

Investors are likely to put up a fight. Institutional investors such as pension funds and hedge funds typically crave more information on the companies they follow, not less. In other countries where regulators removed quarterly reporting requirements, many companies still report more frequently. […]

One possible outcome could be that Trump gets his win—cutting the red tape of quarterly reports—while little changes for most companies because they opt to continue reporting regularly.

“You’ll see some companies try to distinguish themselves from others by continuing to report quarterly and you’ll see other ones that just say, ‘Hey I’ll take the shade,’” said Jack Ciesielski, owner of the investment research firm R.G. Associates.