The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has decided that the Federal Housing Finance Agency can begin the discovery process in its lawsuit over $190 million in mortgage-backed securities that were sold to Freddie Mac (FMCC) and Fannie Mae (FNM.MU) through several hundred securitizations. FHFA is suing financial…
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has ruled that plaintiffs can go ahead with their Nevada breach of fiduciary duty claims involving a reverse stock split that left Major Automotive Companies Inc.’s chief executive officer as the concern’s only shareholder. The case is Gardner v.…
Citigroup (C) has agreed to pay $590 million settle a shareholder class action collateralized debt obligation lawsuit filed by plaintiffs claiming it misled them about the bank’s subprime mortgage debt exposure right before the 2008 economic collapse By settling, Citigroup is not admitting to denying any wrongdoing. A federal judge…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has made its first award to a whistleblower under its new program created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Informants who give the commission “original information” leading to action resulting in $1 million or greater in penalties are entitled to receive…
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District has issued an order giving Irving Picard, the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC liquidation trustee, permission to issue a second interim distribution to the victims of the Madoff Ponzi scam. Picard had asked to add $5.5 billion to the customer fund…
Merrill Lynch (MER) has arrived at an “agreement in principle” to resolve the class action lawsuit filed by John Burnette and Scott Chambers over deferred compensation that they contend that the brokerage firm refused to pay them after it merged with Bank of America (BAC) in 2008 and they left…
According to a study by The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and Blue Vault Partners LLC, most non-traded real estate investment trusts underperform compared to benchmarks. The study was released on June 1 and compared 17 “full-cycle” non-traded REITS that experienced liquidity events between 1990 and…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has decided that ex-Federal National Mortgage Association executives do have to contend with a Securities Exchange Commission enforcement lawsuit over their alleged role in underplaying just how exposed the company was to high risk loans. Ex-Fannie Mae (FNM) CEO…
In a divided 2-1 ruling, the Illinois Appellate Court has decided that Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund LP can sue the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Options Clearing Corporation for allegedly telling certain traders about a downward adjustment made to the price of certain mutual fund options. The ruling…
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ‘s lead arbitrator recruiter, the self-regulatory organization is taking active steps to create a roster of arbitrators that is not only larger than its current one, but also more professionally and culturally diverse. Barbara Brady spoke at a Practicing Law Institute seminar this…