Restraint has never been Donald Trump’s strong suit. The former President seemingly lashes out at any perceived slight within earshot, leading to countless public feuds with everyone from Pope Francis to C-list celebrities to the mainstream media. To the surprise of no one, the revelation of the distressing state of his latest venture, Trump Media & Technology Group, set the stage for the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee to go on the offensive. The latest quarterly report from the company indicated TMTG generated a $4 million in revenue last year. As a result, the company lost n ..read more

Is the Intelligize team clairvoyant? We’re obviously not, however, we must note that our recent M&A report states that oil and gas is an industry primed for consolidation. And then, as if on cue, oilfield services giant SLB on April 2 announces a $7.8 billion deal to buy ChampionX. Our report discusses five different factors that we suggest will influence the M&A market in 2024 and beyond. Among them, we discuss the oil and gas sector as particularly ripe for dealmaking, noting that “[s]ky-high profits have left the biggest names among oil companies rolling in cash to spend on acquisit ..read more

How much would your teenage children pay to stay on their favorite social media apps? One thousand dollars? Ten thousand? More? If you think their addiction is bad, console yourself with the example of the country’s largest financial institutions. Over the last few years, they have paid well over $1 billion in penalties for using unapproved communications platforms like iMessage, Signal, and other personal text and messaging apps. And yet, they apparently can’t stay off them. Most recently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced settlements with U.S. Bank and Oppenheimer related to ..read more

So-called forum shopping is a time-tested strategy of zealous litigators. Looking for the legal equivalent of home-field advantage, they file lawsuits in jurisdictions where they feel they will find a sympathetic ear on the bench. The power of forum shopping was apparent in a 2022 judicial decision to strike down the FDA’s longstanding approval of the abortion drug mifepristone. Activists chose the venue of Amarillo, Texas, with the specific intent to get the case in front of Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, an abortion opponent who handles almost all cases in the district. Rightwing interest group ..read more

As President Joe Biden approaches the end of his first term in office, vigorous enforcement of antitrust law has become a hallmark of his administration. In the most ambitious move yet, the Department of Justice is pursuing antitrust action against technology behemoth Apple for exerting what the government views as excessive control over the iPhone and its related products. Last week, DOJ joined more than 15 states and the District of Columbia in suing Apple for “broad-based, exclusionary conduct,” alleging the company has built an ecosystem of applications adjacent to the iPhone that prevent ..read more

You’ve heard of greenwashing and sports-washing. Let us introduce you to AI washing. In what is believed to be a first for the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency recently settled charges against a pair of investment advisors for allegedly glamming up their expertise in artificial intelligence. Apparently, the SEC took exception to a claim by investment firm Global Predictions that it was the “first regulated AI financial advisor.” The firm also got dinged for touting “expert AI-driven forecasts,” which regulators weren’t buying. The SEC reprimanded Toronto-based firm Delphia (USA ..read more

When Martha Stewart teamed up with Skechers to launch her own line of branded footwear last year, the partnership seemed to fit like your favorite pair of slip-on sneakers. “Martha’s style is all about blending form and function,” noted an article on her website announcing the lifestyle guru was joining her friend Snoop Dogg among Skechers celebrity spokespeople. Is it a coincidence that the shoemaker has now run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission just one year after joining forces with the most famous insider-trading perpetrator in history? In fact, according to the SEC, the acti ..read more

Special purpose acquisition companies – more commonly known as SPACs – have seemingly disappeared from the investing scene in recent years. And when they do make the news, it’s usually news of the wrong kind. After a tidal wave of SPACs washed over the public markets in 2020 and 2021, they quickly fell out of favor with investors. Sponsors use SPACs to bypass the usual steps required to hold an initial public offering. The SPACs are listed on exchanges as shell companies to amass capital for acquisitions of private companies. Once these acquisitions go final, the acquired companies have effect ..read more

A constitutional ruling by an Alabama judicial body has the rest of the country wondering about its potentially widespread implications. Sound familiar? We’re not talking about the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos created through IVF are children, but another recent decision. This one, by an Alabama federal court, found the Corporate Transparency Act to be unconstitutional. And like other recent legal challenges, it has placed the business community in a state of limbo. The CTA requires reporting companies to disclose information about their so-called beneficial owners to the Fin ..read more

Though the world may be coming together on unified climate disclosure standards for corporations, sparring over the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new reporting rules demonstrates that it’s happening at a glacially slow pace. After an arduous codification process, the climate disclosure rules adopted by the SEC this month included many of the basic points that had been under discussion for years. Among them, publicly traded companies must disclose: Climate-related risks that have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on the company’s business strategy. Results of operat ..read more