Sheridan Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (MSCP) have completed a recapitalization of SpendMend, according to a news release.

SpendMend, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., provides tech-enabled solutions intended to optimize the cost cycle. Founded in 1993, the company serves healthcare organizations including hospitals, pharmacies and suppliers.

Through the recapitalization, Morgan Stanley…

Tu Le et al. v. Prestige Community Credit Union, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on February 18, 2022, is the second putative class action filed in connection with a church-based investment scheme propped up by Ponzi-type payments, this time targeting the bank that housed the schemers’ accounts.

Plaintiffs Tu Le, Geneva Nguyen, and Mai T. Ly are individuals who invested in a scheme run by entities related to a now-defunct church and its pastor, convicted felon Kent R.E. Whitney (the “Whitney Schemers”).  The scheme targeted individuals by misrepresenting that their funds would be used to open investment accounts earning over 10% interest, but very little of investor funds actually went into trading accounts. Defendant Prestige Community Credit Union (“Prestige”) is the credit union purportedly used by the Whitney Schemers.  Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of all individuals who invested and lost money with any of the Whitney Schemers, as well as a sub-class of all such class members who were residents of California and over 65 years old at the time of investment.

The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to propose rules at a rapid pace. Three of the most recent proposed rules would significantly impact investment advisers by:

  • Requiring documentation of registered investment adviser compliance reviews;
  • Establishing cybersecurity risk management and reporting requirements for investment advisers, investment companies and business development companies;
  • Updating and accelerating beneficial ownership

    • …

    In two recent decisions, the Texas Supreme Court defined the limited parameters in which Texas courts can look beyond the “four corners” of the complaint against the policyholder and the “four corners” of the insurance policy (i.e., the “eight-corners rule”) when determining whether an insurer’s “duty to defend” is triggered.
    Permitting exceptions to the “eight-corners…

    Bui v. Nguyen was filed in California Superior Court on December 30, 2021, claiming relief for civil damages. Specifically, the complaint alleges claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, promissory fraud, constructive fraud, fraudulent concealment, and conversion.

    Plaintiffs are three individuals who invested funds with Defendants The Church for the Healthy Self a/k/a CHS Trust (“Defendant Church”), its pastor Kent Whitney (“Whitney”), other individuals touting the alleged scheme, and various television stations.

    On February 17, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the first Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) settlement of the year. Seoul-based KT Corporation (KT Corp.), South Korea’s largest telecommunications operator, will pay $6.3 million to resolve charges that it violated the FCPA by providing improper payments for the benefit of government officials in Korea and Vietnam. Of the $6.3 million, approximately $2.8 million is disgorgement while the remaining $3.5 million is a civil monetary penalty. This settlement follows on the heels of South Korean authorities having indicted 14 KT Corp. executives for the same conduct in November 2021.

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    Over the last several days, the United States and allies in North America, Europe, and Asia have announced a sweeping expansion of the sanctions levied against Russia and affiliated entities and individuals in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  The additional sanctions target Russia’s largest financial institutions; impose further prohibitions related to new debt and equity for significant state-owned enterprises; and block transactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, and additional Russian elites and their family members.  The U.S. Commerce Department similarly implemented stringent export control restrictions that will severely restrict exports to Russia of critical U.S.-origin technologies, as well as certain foreign direct products (FDPs) of such technologies.

    Update: Pain Management or Pill Mill? Supreme Court Hears Arguments Regarding Standards for Prosecutions of Practitioners Prescribing Narcotics (March 11, 2022)

    Introduction

    Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a pair of cases that may reshape the landscape of legitimate prescribing under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA” or “the Act”). In companion cases Ruan v. United States and Kahn v. United States, the Court is expected to resolve a circuit split over the availability and scope of acting in “good faith” as a defense for medical practitioners charged with unlawfully distributing narcotics under the CSA.

    Caduceus Capital Partners has announced it has completed an investment in ScriptDrop.

    ScriptDrop, based in Columbus, Ohio, is a developer of a prescription delivery platform. The technology allows pharmacies to electronically request delivery on behalf of patients, with the company using a courier network to take prescriptions from the pharmacy to patients.

    Caduceus, based in Brentwood,…