According to a study conducted by UCLA psychologist Shelley Taylor, one reason that older adults may be more easily prone to being deceived is that there appears to be less activity in the part of their brains that processes subtle danger and risk. She wanted to find out how well…
Ralph Janvey, the Stanford receiver based in Houston, has filed a putative class action lawsuit against Hunton & Williams LLP and Greenberg Traurig LLP, two law firms accused of playing roles that allowed R. Allen Stanford to execute his $7B Ponzi scam. The securities complaint, which was filed in the…
MLB player Douglas DeCinces has been indicted by a federal grand jury In California with 42 counts of securities fraud (including insider trading and tender offering fraud charges) related to the 2009 acquisition by Abbott Laboratories (ABT) of Advanced Medical Optics Inc. His friends Fred Scott Jackson, David Parker, and…
The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has rejected Goldman Sachs & Co.’s (GS) bid to arbitrate its dispute with the city of Reno, Nevada. The financial firm had sought to stop a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority proceeding over its underwriting of $210 million in ARS. Per Judge…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has refused the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request to reinstate its antifraud claim against Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS) executive Fabrice Tourre for alleged misstatements related to a collateralized debt obligation connected to subprime mortgages. Judge Katherine Forrest said…
For the third time in two years, the US Supreme Court has stood up for arbitration agreements, overturning yet another decision by a state court. The case is Nitro-Lift Technologies v. Howard. The Oklahoma State Court had ruled that the non-compete provision in an employment arbitration agreement was unenforceable because…
According to Securities and Exchange Commission Stephen Cohen, when an entity self-reports possible wrongdoing, the “tone” of the SEC investigation into the matter may be impacted in a manner that benefits that party. Cohen, who spoke while participating at a Securities Docket’s Securities Enforcement Forum panel in DC last month…
SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro announced this week that she plans to vacate the position on December 14. According to The New York Times, she leaves behind a stronger SEC that underwent an overhaul because of her focus on “detail and meticulous preparation.” Schapiro became SEC chairwoman following the tenure of…
Almost a year and a half after US District Judge William Duffey Jr. dismissed the SEC’s lawsuit accusing Morgan Keegan & Co. of misleading thousands of auction-rate securities investors about the risks involved with these investments, he must now rule on the same case again. This latest trial in federal…
According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority EVP Susan Axelrod, the SRO’s examiners are reporting an increase in how many brokers appear to be taking part in questionable actions outside their firms or improperly selling securities. Speaking at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s complex products forum, she pressed brokerage…