Legal attacks slow SEC rulemaking

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By Maya Nandhini

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Rulemaking at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which hit a record pace early in President Joe Biden's administration, has slowed significantly as the agency navigates aggressive legal pushback.

Adverse court decisions over the past two years have blocked the SEC from overseeing the $27 trillion private funds industry, have criticized its economic justification for new share buyback disclosures, and have curtailed its powers to punish bad actors.

As a result, SEC officials are rethinking rulemakings and some enforcement actions to help ensure they can survive legal attacks, according to four people familiar with the matter. Read more.

A new lawsuit pitting veteran class action law firms against each other is offering a rare window into how plaintiffs lawyers divide up legal fee awards, our colleague David Thomas reports in this week's Legal Fee Tracker.

Scott + Scott sued Robins Kaplan in state court in Manhattan, demanding $5 million it said it was promised in connection with a $5.6 billion antitrust class action settlement.

Class action fee awards are public because they must be approved by a judge. But how firms agree to split such awards, including with firms that did not secure a coveted class counsel appointment, is rarely disclosed. Read more.

Legal Fee Tracker is a weekly feature. Read last week's here.

A federal judge in California has found Latham & Watkins in civil contempt for "flagrant violations" of a protective order shielding discovery produced by short seller Muddy Waters in a securities class action against Banc of California. Alison Frankel unravels the convoluted story behind the newly-unsealed opinion.

Check out other recent pieces from our columnists: Alison Frankel and Jenna Greene

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Additional writing by Sandeep Shekhar Ghoshal.

caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com

@ctrembz

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