Here are some upcoming events of interest to the securities law community. Unless otherwise noted, all times are local, and court appearances are virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Monday, May 17
10:00 a.m. – The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York will hear Danske Bank shareholders’ bid to revive a proposed class action alleging the bank defrauded investors by covering up anti-money laundering failures at its Estonian branch. The bank has admitted to anti-money laundering lapses in Estonia but said its statements to investors were not misleading.
The case is Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 773 et al v. Danske Bank A/S et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-3231. For Danske Bank: Brian Frawley of Sullivan & Cromwell. For the investors: Carol Villegas of Labaton Sucharow.
Tuesday, May 18
10:00 a.m. – Investors who bought and sold Korean stock index futures in off-market hours will argue before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that a Manhattan federal judge erred in tossing a lawsuit against Tower Research Capital. The suit claimed that the firm violated the Commodity Exchange Act through spoofing. The investors have said the judge created “an unprecedented loophole” in finding that the trades, which were made on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Globex platform and settled on the Korea Exchange the following day, were not subject to the Act.
The case is Myun-Uk Choi et al. v. Tower Research Capital LLC et al., 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-1648. For Choi: Michael Eisenkraft of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. For Tower: Noah Levine of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
10:00 a.m. – The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in Washington, D.C., will hold its annual conference. Staff at the Wall Street self-regulatory organization and industry participants from Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others will address topics including ensuring compliance in a remote work setting and gamification in trading. For more information, visit FINRA’s website.
Wednesday, May 19
10:00 a.m. – Investors will urge the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to revive a proposed class action alleging that U.S. and foreign banks violated antitrust law by rigging the government agency bond market from 2009 to 2015. The claims against the foreign defendants were dismissed on jurisdictional and venue grounds; the domestic defendants won a ruling that the investors had failed to state a claim.
The case is Alaska Department of Revenue et al. v. Credit Agricole Corporate et al., 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 20-1759. For Credit Suisse: David Januszewski of Cahill Gordon & Reindel. For Citigroup: Karen Hoffman Lent of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. For the investors: Daniel Brockett of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
Friday, May 21
2:00 p.m. – U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan will hold a hearing on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s bid to compel cryptocurrency company Ripple to disclose its communications with lawyers about its digital token XRP. The regulator alleges XRP sales amounted to a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering, and says Ripple waived its attorney-client privilege by arguing that the company lacked notice that XRP was a security under U.S. law. According to the SEC’s filing, Ripple has retained 10 law firms including Perkins Coie and Paul Hastings since 2012, most of whom advised the firm on XRP, and shared legal memos raising the possibility that the token was a security with third parties.
The case is SEC v. Ripple Labs Inc et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 20-cv-10832. For Ripple Labs Inc.: Mary Jo White and Andrew Ceresney of Debevoise & Plimpton.
Know of an event that could be included in Week Ahead in Securities? Contact Jody Godoy at jody.godoy@thomsonreuters.com
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