Securities Claims Against Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Underwriters Are Dismissed The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has thrown out the California Corporations Code claims made against the underwriters of two offerings of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. debt securities per the precluding of the 1998 Securities…
Investor Lawyers Blog
GAO Says Most Financial Regulators Don’t Have the Procedures/Policies to Coordinate Dodd-Frank Rules
According to a recent Government Accountability report, the majority of regulators don’t have the formal procedures and policies needed to coordinate with each other on the interagency rules that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is requiring. As of earlier this month, regulators had reportedly coordinated on…
Dismissal of Double Derivative Delaware Securities Lawsuits Over The Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Merger is Affirmed by the Second Circuit
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of Lambrecht v. O’Neal and Sollins v. O’Neal, two double derivative actions that were brought under Delaware law for Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and its subsidiary Merrill Lynch & Co. The cases were brought by Merrill…
Reviving Antifraud Lawsuit Over Alleged Market-Timing Practices From Over Five Years Ago is Not the Answer, Say Ex-SEC Officials
In their amicus curiae brief, a number of ex-SEC Commissioners and top officials told the U.S. Supreme Court that the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to revive the agency’s antifraud cases against investment advisory officials Bruce Alpert and Marc Gabelli was a mistake. The…
McGraw Hills, Moody’s, & Standard & Poor’s Can’t Be Held Liable by Ohio Pension Funds for Allegedly Flawed MBS Ratings, Affirms Sixth Circuit
This month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit refused to revive statutory and common law MBS claims made by five Ohio pension funds: The Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the Ohio Public Employees…
SEC’s Investment Management Division Considers Applying 1940 Advisers Act to Private Fund Advisors
According to Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Investment Management Director Norm Champ, consideration is being given toward how the 1940 Investment Advisers Act might be applicable to private fund advisors. Champ spoke at an American Law Institute-Continuing Legal Education Group in New York earlier this month. One reason for…
Alleged Cherry-Picking Scam Leads to SEC Charges Against California Hedge Fund Manager
Investment advisory firm Aletheia Research and Management, Inc. and its owner hedge fund manager Peter J. Eichler, Jr. are facing Securities and Exchange Commission charges over their alleged involvement in a cherry-picking scam. They are accused of directing winning trades to their trading acocunts, giving preferences to some clients at…
Morgan Keegan Founder Faces SEC Charges Over Mortgage-Backed Securities Asset Pricing in Mutual Funds
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Morgan Keegan founder Allen Morgan Jr. and several other former mutual fund board members for allegedly failing to supervise the managers accused of inaccurately pricing toxic mortgage-backed assets prior to the financial crisis. According to Reuters, this is a…
District Court in Texas Dismisses Securities Fraud Case Against Sports Franchisor
Judge Sam A. Lindsay of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has thrown out a securities fraud lawsuit accusing sports franchisor Brent L. Coralli of inducing investor Lee Purser to put $400K into an “emerging lottery” game operation in Peru. Other defendants in the case: Jet…
Some Private Fund Advisers are Exercising Inadequate Controls, Says SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter
According to Securities and Exchange Commissioner Elise Walter, examinations of newly registered private fund advisers has already revealed numerous instances of poor controls by a number of members, especially when expenses and fees are involved. Some of these instances, she reports, are on the border of misconduct. Walter, who President…