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'Fly' Swatted With Injunction In Brokerage News Spat
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A federal judge has barred Theflyonthewall.com from issuing immediate online reports regarding equity research recommendations by a group of brokerage firms following her finding that the financial news service misappropriated their “hot news” and infringed their copyrights in prior research reports.
Court Won’t Refer Rothstein Claims To Ch. 11 Trustee
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A district court has refused to refer third-party claims arising from Scott Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme to the bankruptcy court that is overseeing the Chapter 11 proceeding of Rothstein’s law firm.
Ex-Biovail Exec Can't Dodge SEC Fraud Suit
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request by former Biovail Corp. controller John Miszuk to throw out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit accusing him of playing a role in hiding the Canadian pharmaceutical company's losses from investors between 2001 and 2003.
Democratic Fundraiser Cops To $292M Bank Loan Fraud
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A former top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama has pled guilty to charges that he defrauded three large banks of more than $290 million in loan proceeds.
FINRA Enforcement Chief Plans Her Exit
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
Susan Merrill has decided to step down as head of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and return to private practice, the organization said Thursday.
Kerkorian Firm To End Insider Trading Suit For $8M
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
Kirk Kerkorian's private investment firm Tracinda Corp. has agreed to pay $8.1 million in cash, plus interest, to end a long-running insider trading class action by shareholders who accused executives of unloading DaimlerChrysler stock before the price fell in 1999.
SEC Looking Into TheStreet.com's Financials
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
Financial media outlet TheStreet.com Inc. has requested an extension to prepare 2009 financial statements in light of an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into certain of the company's methods of recording revenue.
Pristiq-Related ERISA Suit Against Wyeth Gets Booted
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A federal judge has dismissed a putative class action accusing Wyeth Inc. and certain directors of breaching their fiduciary duty by imprudently steering workers into an investment option heavy on the pharmaceutical firm's stock.
Limits On Analyst-Banker Communications Remain
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A federal judge has rejected a bid by a dozen Wall Street firms and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to ease restrictions on some communications between research analysts and investment bankers prohibited by a 2003 settlement.
Ex-Fieldstone GC's Whistleblower Suit Thrown Out
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A judge has dismissed a retaliation suit filed by Fieldstone Investment Corp.'s former general counsel Cynthia L. Harkness, saying the in-house attorney's actions were not shielded under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
SEC Atty Seeks To Avoid Deposition In Fraud Suit
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to block the deposition of one of its attorneys in the agency's securities fraud case against former Aerokinetic Energy Corp. general counsel Daniel W. Nodurft.
Medtronic ERISA Suit Over $510M IP Payouts Tossed
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A federal judge has dismissed a putative class action brought by current and former Medtronic Inc. employees claiming that the medical device maker's retirement plan suffered steep losses after Medtronic revealed it would pay nearly $510 million in patent settlements.
Panera Shareholder Suit Pared Under Safe Harbor Rule
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
A federal judge has significantly narrowed the scope of a shareholder class action against Panera Bread Co., finding that statements the company made in 2005 and 2006 about business growth were protected by the safe harbor rule of the Securities Exchange Act.
Dismissal Of FINRA Merger Class Actions Appealed
Thursday, Mar 18, 2010
Plaintiffs in a pair of putative class actions alleging misrepresentations about the merger that created the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have appealed the dismissal of their suits.
Holland & Knight Can't Avoid Nadel Malpractice Claim
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010
A Florida judge has reportedly refused to toss a court-appointed receiver's malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty claims in a suit over Holland & Knight LLP's representation of indicted Ponzi schemer Arthur Nadel, while handing the firm a reprieve by agreeing to dismiss two aiding and abetting claims.
Subprime Action Against Canadian Imperial Bank Nixed
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010
A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a putative class action accusing Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and its executives of misleading investors about the bank's exposure to fixed-income securities backed by subprime residential mortgages.
No Quick Trial In Airgas, Air Products Takeover Spat
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010
A Delaware judge has refused to expedite a trial in Air Products and Chemicals Inc.'s tiff with the directors of rival Airgas Inc., whom Air Products sued for rebuffing its hostile takeover bid, saying the issue is developing outside the courtroom.
Forte Ponzi Receiver Points To Investor Red Flags
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010
The receiver appointed in the regulatory actions against $80 million Ponzi schemer Joseph S. Forte has released a list of dubious circumstances that should have tipped off investors, including that the fund never had a losing quarter regardless of market conditions.
FHLB Seeks $19B ARS Refund From BofA, Others
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010
The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has sued several securities dealers — including units of Bank of America Corp., Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG — in a bid to have $19.1 billion of residential mortgage-backed securities refunded.
Madoff Computer Programmers Charged In Ponzi Case
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010
Two former computer programmers at Bernard L. Madoff's fraudulent brokerage firm were indicted Wednesday on charges that they created and maintained software that generated fake records as part of the firm's Ponzi scheme.
'It Was The Economy, Stupid' — Loss Causation And ARS
In the typical 10b-5 case, the “loss causation” requirement means that the plaintiff must show that its injury (usually the decrease in market value of some security it owned) was proximately caused by the defendant’s fraudulent conduct, and not by some other cause. But what does the “loss causation” requirement mean in the context of cases arising out of the collapse of the auction rate securities market? ask Robert L. Schnell Jr. and Leif T. Simonson of Faegre & Benson LLP.
FINRA Priorities And FINRA Results
On March 1, 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority published its examination priorities letter for the coming year. The letter adds transparency and is a helpful tool to promote compliance through education, says Richard G. Wallace of Foley & Lardner LLP.
On The Rise: Corporate Carveouts In The US
The upcoming spinoff of AOL Inc. by Time Warner Inc. may be a harbinger of a new trend for large U.S. public companies to use warming equity markets to raise cash and unload assets. Companies contemplating a spin transaction would be well-advised to resist the temptation to push down accumulated liabilities on the spin company and load it up with debt, says Joris M. Hogan of Torys LLP.
A New Market Access Rule For Broker-Dealers?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed Rule 15c3-5 has the potential to significantly change the practices of many market participants engaged in trading strategies that depend on low-latency access. Many market participants will need to add or improve pre-trade controls for their own trading and/or the trading of their customers, says Janet M. Angstadt of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.
Citizens United: A Congressional Opportunity
A difficult but potentially soluble problem regarding the influence of public corporations having large capital concentrations arises from the Supreme Court’s recent decision on campaign finance laws and the opinion’s explicit recognition of political free speech for corporate organizations in Citizens United, says Fred T. Isquith of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP.
To Cross Or Not To Cross, That Is The Question...
Jurors expect you to deal with every witness called in the case. Your failure to cross-examine will not show strength; it is more likely to be interpreted as weakness, says Trey Cox of Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox LLP.
Case Study: SEC V. Conaway
The recent opinion in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Conaway sheds light on how at least one court addressed three of the issues that arise in determining the penalties that should be imposed on a defendant who is found to have violated the federal securities laws, says Kenneth B. Winer of Foley & Lardner LLP.
Ga.'s Take On Holmes V. Grubman
The Georgia Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in response to three certified questions submitted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stemming from Holmes v. Grubman. The court’s opinion represents a significant departure from existing law, say S. Lawrence Polk and Kurt Lentz of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.