( August 14, 2025, 1:32 PM EDT) -- PASEDENA, Calif. — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s finding that the fractured interests in life settlements were investment contracts under federal securities laws and therefore an investment firm’s sales agents violated federal law by selling unregistered securities and not being registered as broker-dealers, noting that the company’s control of the selection of policies and the fractional nature of the interests satisfy the Howey test....