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☆ Sam Bankman-Fried FTX fraud victim tells judge: 'My whole life has been destroyed'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, US - JANUARY 03: Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the court in New York, on January 03, 2023. The victim, who wrote that 30 years worth of savings had been deposited into FTX three months before the exchange collapsed, is part of a last-minute push by prosecutors to sway Judge Kaplan ahead of the sentencing. For months, Judge Kaplan has been weighing the appropriate punishment for Bankman-Fried's crimes related to the implosion of his $32 billion crypto empire. Damaging testimonyBankman-Fried was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against lenders to sister hedge fund Alameda Research, as well as conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The defense team has argued that Bankman-Fried's sentence should reflect the potential that FTX customers will be paid back in part or in full.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Fatih Aktas, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, FTX, Kaplan, Yesha Yadav, Dean, Judge Kaplan, David Weinstein, Jones Walker, Weinstein, Mark Bini, Bini, Reed, Caroline Ellison, Yadav, Neama Rahmani, Tre Lovell, isn't, Lovell, he's, it's Organizations: Anadolu Agency, Getty, Department of Justice, U.S, District, Prosecutors, Vanderbilt University, CNBC, Alameda Research, Bloomberg, Southern, of, Los Locations: New York, Manhattan, of New York, SBF, Los Angeles

☆ Fatal Houthi rebel attack may be a ‘red line’ in Red Sea shipping crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The deadly strike marks a significant escalation of the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and and comes despite a US-led naval coalition to protect the crucial waterway. Fewer ships appear to be transiting through the Red Sea and adjoining Suez Canal after the latest attack, according to maritime risks analytics company Windward. According to Windward, the number of bulk carriers anchoring outside ports to the north and south of the Suez Canal surged 225% Wednesday compared with the previous day. Windward data shows that last month the number of bulk carriers in the Red Sea was already at its lowest level in two years. Just 30% of the usual shipping capacity — including container ships, bulk carriers, car carriers, and tankers carrying oil and liquefied natural gas — is still passing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, according to Sand.

Persons: Ami Daniel, ”, Peter Sand, “, Hapag Lloyd —, Christine Lagarde, CMA CGM, Stephen Cotton, Cotton, David Ashmore, Reed Smith, John Stawpert, ” Maisie Linford Organizations: London CNN, Liberian, ” Windward, CNN, Maersk, MSC, European Central Bank, Drewry, CMA, International Transport Workers ’ Federation, International Chamber of Shipping Locations: Red Sea, Iran, Suez, Africa, Windward, Red, Norway, Sand, “, London, Good, Gulf, Aden and Red, Aden

☆ European travel giant Tui will leave the London Stock Exchange
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Tui, one of the world’s largest travel agencies, will leave the London Stock Exchange in June — the latest blow to the British capital’s longstanding reputation as the undisputed leader of Europe’s stock markets. Shareholders in the German company, which is dual-listed in London and Frankfurt, voted Tuesday to delist the firm from the London Stock Exchange. The company expects to cancel its shares on the London Stock Exchange in late June. A Tui cruise ship in Malaga port in June 2021. Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty ImagesHeadquartered in Hanover, Tui owns more than 400 hotels, 16 cruise ships, five airlines and 1,200 travel agencies.

Persons: London CNN —, Tui, Mathias Kiep, “, ”, Delphine Currie, Reed Smith, Jorge Guerrero, “ It’s, ” Kiep, Sebastian Ebel Organizations: London CNN, London Stock Exchange, Shareholders, ARM Holdings, …, Getty, Revenue, Canaries Locations: London, Frankfurt, United Kingdom, Germany, New York, “, Amsterdam, Paris, Malaga, AFP, Hanover, Tui, Israel, East, Egypt, Cape Verde, Mexico, Thailand, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Red Sea, Yemen

After many companies were wrongfooted by the speed and breadth of prohibitions on Russia, banks are drawing up contingency plans in case geopolitical tensions between the West and China escalate, seven finance industry sources said. The U.S. Treasury Department, which runs the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Britain's Foreign Office and Barclays did not respond to requests for comment. Three senior London-based bankers, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said their boards had discussed the possibility of stronger Western sanctions on China in future. Scenarios from major cyber-attacks through to a military intervention in Taiwan could potentially trigger further prohibitions on China, one lawyer who advises banks said. One of the bankers said sanctions on Russia had "removed naivety" among businesses and prompted the industry to think more deeply about China risks.

Persons: Neil Whiley, Whiley, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Leigh Hansson, Reed Smith, Banks, Biden, Sinead Cruise, Stefania Spezzati, Lawrence White, Michelle Price, Catherine Evans Organizations: Banking, UK Finance Bank, British, Reuters, UK Finance, HSBC, Barclays, JPMorgan, U.S . Treasury Department, Office, Communications, Standard Chartered, Standard, London underwriters, Thomson Locations: China, Western, Britain, U.S, Russia, West, Taiwan, Beijing, London, Ukraine, United States, British, Asia, Washington

☆ Hollywood is bracing for a 'land grab' for production studios and a scramble to restart films and TV shows once the strikes end
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some Hollywood studios have long-term leases in place at soundstages and can control what they film and when, but most producers book stages for specific productions. And until the strikes are resolved, it's difficult to plan ahead, so most productions are waiting to move forward. But several high-level studio execs, studio investors, and producers told Insider the gears are starting to turn, with some productions beginning scenario planning. Of course, no one's expecting spending on new entertainment to be what it once was once the strikes end. Some projects were ready to start production, with sets already built, or were in mid-production on a TV series.

Persons: that's, Elsa Ramo, Ramo, Hal Rosenbluth, he's, Atlanta's, Steve Greenberg, Christian Simonds, Reed Smith, they'll, Rosenbluth, it's, They're, Alison Brower Organizations: Hollywood, Guild of America, Alliance, Television Producers, SAG, Kaufman Astoria Studios, New York's, Netflix, Warner Bros, Wall Locations: soundstages, Hollywood, New

☆ Some advertisers are requiring their agencies to disclose when they use generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some big advertisers want to know exactly when their agencies are using generative AI. And in its current form, generative AI can create derivative content. And WPP ad agency Ogilvy is advocating for advertisers and social media platforms to disclose the use generative AI in influencer campaigns, The Financial Times reported. "You need to sit down with your agency and ask how they are using generative AI." He said he's in active conversations with the heads of all the agencies the alcohol giant works with about how they are experimenting with generative AI tools.

Persons: Reed Smith, Ruben Schreurs, Schreurs, — Andrew Robertson, —, Ogilvy, Keri Bruce, Bruce, L'Oréal, we've, Asmita Dubey, Edward Pilkington, Lesley Klein Organizations: BBDO, Ad, WPP, Financial Times, of National, Diageo, Diageo North Locations: Diageo North America

☆ Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather can’t evade EMax crypto investors’ claims, judge says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Pierce, who allegedly received nearly $250,000 in EMax tokens as payment for touting the investment, paid $1.4 million in February to settle the SEC’s allegations of deceptive securities promotion. The new ruling, Masson said, should serve as a blueprint for crypto investors who contend they were duped by celebrity promoters. The beefed-up amended complaint convinced the judge that investors had plausibly accused the celebrity influencers of doing just that: exerting influence over their followers by endorsing EMax tokens. Fitzgerald’s previous decision dismissing claims against Kardashian and the other EMax promoters, Masson said, might have created an impression that celebrities can’t be held responsible for allegedly deceptive crypto touting. “You cannot get away with this.”Read more:Kim Kardashian, other celebrities beat EMax crypto investors' lawsuitKim Kardashian pays $1.26 million fine for paid crypto ad, SEC saysOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kim Kardashian, Michael Fitzgerald, Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, famer Paul Pierce, Mayweather, Pierce “, ”, Fitzgerald, Hyping, you’ve, Scott, “, ” Fitzgerald, Michael Rhodes, Cooley, Pierce, Joel Weiner, Katten Muchin Rosenman, James Sanders, Reed Smith, influencer Logan Paul, Paul, King & Spalding, Sean Masson, Scott —, Kardashian —, EMax, Masson, ’, can’t, ” Masson, ” Read Organizations: District, Los, NBA, famer, U.S . Circuit, Securities, Exchange Commission, King &, SEC, Thomson, Reuters Locations: California, “, Florida

Law Firms Reed Smith LLP FollowWASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday halted the execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, whose case has drawn support from the state's Republican attorney general after an investigation shed new light on evidence relating to the 1997 murder Glossip was convicted of commissioning. A separate independent investigation conducted last year by the law firm Reed Smith at the request of Oklahoma lawmakers also raised serious concerns about Glossip's case and conviction. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on April 20 upheld Glossip's murder conviction, rebuffing Drummond's request. Sneed confessed to carrying out the killing and said Glossip, a manager at the motel, had hired him to do it. Glossip has pending petitions for appeal before the Supreme Court challenging his conviction on grounds including that prosecutors failed to hand over evidence about Sneed to Glossip's defense counsel.

[1/2] The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File PhotoLaw Firms Reed Smith LLP FollowWASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday halted the scheduled execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, whose cause drew support from the state's Republican attorney general after an investigation shed new light on evidence relating to the 1997 murder Glossip was convicted of commissioning. "We are very grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court for doing the right thing in stopping Richard Glossip's unlawful execution," Knight said. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on April 20 upheld Glossip's murder conviction, rebuffing Drummond's request. Glossip has pending petitions for appeal before the Supreme Court challenging his conviction on grounds including that prosecutors failed to hand over evidence about Sneed to Glossip's defense counsel.

Programming note: The full interview with Richard Glossip will air Friday, May 5, on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” which starts at 4 p.m. Lea Glossip, left, wife of death row inmate Richard Glossip, listens with death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean, right, during a news conference on Thursday, May 4, in Oklahoma City. Sneed admitted to killing Van Treese, but at trial, prosecutors portrayed the killing as a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Glossip. Ultimately, Reed Smith concluded “that no reasonable juror hearing the complete record would have convicted Richard Glossip of first-degree murder,” said Stan Perry, a partner at the firm. The Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, where Richard Glossip is set to be executed, is seen in 2015.

April 26 (Reuters) - With more and more lawyers at major law firms using fast-advancing generative artificial intelligence tools, legal AI startup Harvey said Wednesday that it raised $21 million in fresh investor cash. Sequoia Capital, which is leading the Series A fundraising round, said more than 15,000 law firms are on a waiting list to start using Harvey. The company says it builds custom large language models for law firms. Technology companies and investors have rushed to embrace large language model-based generative AI since Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT debuted in November. Casetext in March released its AI legal assistant product, CoCounsel, which uses GPT-4 to speed up tasks like legal research, contract analysis and document review.

They said they plan to share the footage with the Justice Department. The main entrance to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Mississippi Department of CorrectionsThe crisis in state prisons had become so acute that Gov. Some changes were already in the works under new leadership, the Justice Department said at the time, with cooperation coming from state officials. The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for further comment.

☆ Congress considers crypto consumer protection bill that Sam Bankman-Fried backed before FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The shocking collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has increased the urgency in Congress to understand what went wrong and pass legislation to try to prevent another debacle that would affect hundreds of thousands of investors. One bill, the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act, introduced in August, gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority to regulate digital commodities like FTX. The bill arrived before FTX's collapse ignited fresh debate over how to protect consumers in the relatively young and untamed crypto industry. Bankman-Fried was charged in a U.S. indictment with eight criminal counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, individual charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations. Nor does it make the CFTC the 'primary' crypto regulator," Stabenow said during an agriculture committee hearing Dec. 1.

☆ Lawyers Open up About Depression and Suicide, Saying It's Key to Saving Others
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-30 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

His doctor had prescribed him antidepressants, but he was starting to realize that his mental health issues needed additional care. They said that doing so could alleviate the struggles of others, and that it's important for law firm attorneys to understand they aren't alone. He also co-founded the Lawyers Depression Project, a support network of some 900 legal professionals around the world, an endeavor he has found meaningful. "I didn't feel like I could keep surviving in an environment that played into the worst aspects of my own mental health," Alexander said. For lawyer-specific inquiries, you can find confidential, live assistance through Lawyer Assistance Programs offered through your state bar, as well as through the Lawyers Depression Project.

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