Trump Administration Sued Over Suspension of Critical Hudson River Tunnel Funding 
Singapore Budget 2026 Set for Fiscal Prudence as Growth Remains Resilient 
Vietnam’s Trade Surplus With US Jumps as Exports Surge and China Imports Hit Record 
Japan Economy Poised for Q4 2025 Growth as Investment and Consumption Hold Firm 
Panama Supreme Court Voids Hong Kong Firm’s Panama Canal Port Contracts Over Constitutional Violations 
Supreme Court Tests Federal Reserve Independence Amid Trump’s Bid to Fire Lisa Cook 
Uber Ordered to Pay $8.5 Million in Bellwether Sexual Assault Lawsuit 
Silver Prices Plunge in Asian Trade as Dollar Strength Triggers Fresh Precious Metals Sell-Off 
Gold and Silver Prices Rebound After Volatile Week Triggered by Fed Nomination 
Asian Stocks Slip as Tech Rout Deepens, Japan Steadies Ahead of Election 
U.S. Stock Futures Slide as Tech Rout Deepens on Amazon Capex Shock 
Trump Endorses Japan’s Sanae Takaichi Ahead of Crucial Election Amid Market and China Tensions 
Trump Family Files $10 Billion Lawsuit Over IRS Tax Disclosure 
New York Judge Orders Redrawing of GOP-Held Congressional District 
Global Markets Slide as AI, Crypto, and Precious Metals Face Heightened Volatility 
Federal Judge Signals Possible Dismissal of xAI Lawsuit Against OpenAI 
Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration Unlawfully Halted EV Charger Funding 
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that six Chinese banks weren't liable for $150 million in sanctions due to the failure of Next Investments LLC to freeze the assets of hundreds of Nike counterfeiters.
Next, which acquired the $1.8 billion default award from Nike Inc, had failed to enforce the freeze against the banks for nearly six years before asking the court to hold them in contempt, said US Circuit Judge Michael Park for a unanimous three-judge panel.
In 2015, Nike and its Converse Inc unit won the default judgment against over 600 Chinese entities and individuals in the Manhattan federal court.
US District Judge Shira Scheindlin also restrained the defendants and everyone acting in concert or in participation with them from transferring their assets.
Nike sold its interest in the judgment to Houston-based Next Investments LLC in 2017.
Next subpoenaed six Chinese banks with New York branches where the counterfeiters allegedly had accounts and filed contempt charges against them in 2019 for failing to comply with the asset restraining orders, asking $150 million in compensatory damages.
Senior US District Judge Colleen McMahon rejected Next's motion in 2020 as US branches of foreign banks are separate legal entities.
The separate entity rule also kept the court from enforcing the freeze as to assets in China.
On appeal, Next insisted that the separate entity rule shouldn't enable counterfeiting, among other things.
Park, Senior Circuit Judge Jon Newman, and Circuit Judge Steven Menashi declined to hold the banks in contempt or enforce the order.
On top of its failure to enforce the orders against the banks for nearly six years, Nike and Next "explicitly disclaimed" that they would invoke the ruling against four of the banks.
The court also said that there was a "fair ground of doubt" about the orders' applicability to the banks due to the separate entity rule.
Adam Hoffinger, who represented the Agricultural Bank of China, said the decision reaffirmed that his client had done nothing wrong.
