Merrill Lynch

1. MetLife Resolves TQP Data Encryption Patent Suit

Friday, Mar 19, 2010

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has become the latest defendant to settle in TQP Development LLC's wide-ranging patent infringement battle over online encrypted data transmission.

2. '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.

3. 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.

4. 'It Was The Economy, Stupid' — Loss Causation And ARS

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010

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.

5. Trustee Blasts Bankrupt Tribune's Bonus Scheme

Thursday, Mar 18, 2010

The U.S. trustee for the bankrupt Tribune Co. is continuing her opposition to compensation plans put forward by the company, calling them excessive and criticizing Tribune's move to have bonuses paid as administrative expenses rather than as incentive plans.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Dutch Pension Fund Takes Aim At BofA, Merrill Deal

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

Europe's largest pension fund has sued Bank of America Corp. and a score of executives for hiding bonus payouts and "massive" losses during the banking giant's 2008 takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co.

9. Schapiro Says SEC Moving Past Missteps

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

Acknowledging high-profile regulatory mistakes from the past, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said Wednesday that the agency will break down information silos and beef up enforcement staff and technology next year in its attempt to regain public trust.

10. TitleMax Disclosure Statement Wins Court Approval

Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010

A federal judge has approved lending company TitleMax Holdings Inc.'s disclosure statement describing a reorganization plan that would refinance its senior debt while providing full recovery to unsecured creditors.

11. Law Debenture, JPMorgan Spar Over Tribune LBO Fees

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2010

A trustee for Tribune Co. bondholders has asked a court to bar Tribune's nondebtor subsidiaries from continuing to pay millions in bank fees related to a highly contentious 2007 leveraged buyout, saying lenders, including JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, concealed the payments to avoid court oversight.

12. Akin, Wachtell Advise Consol On $3.5B Dominion Deal

Monday, Mar 15, 2010

Consol Energy Inc. inked a deal Monday to purchase Dominion Resources Inc.'s Appalachian exploration and production business for $3.475 billion in cash, scoring the rights to develop nearly 500,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale formation.

13. Petrohawk To Sell La. Natural Gas Field For $320M

Monday, Mar 15, 2010

Petrohawk Energy Corp. has announced plans to sell a Louisiana natural gas field to an unnamed private company for $320 million, the second major sale in March for the Houston-based oil and natural gas developer.

14. Vanderbilt Pay-For-Play Fraud Cost NM $288M: Suit

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

A former New Mexico state official has beefed up his whistleblower lawsuit against a slew of defendants, including Vanderbilt Financial LLC, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Richards Layton & Finger PA and Clifford Chance US LLP, saying the state lost $288 million at the hands of a pay-to-play scheme involving mortgage-backed securities.

15. TQP Hits New York Mellon, Others Over Data Patent

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010

Patent-holding company TQP Development LLC is suing a host of corporate giants, including The Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Delta Air Lines Inc., Walgreen Co., Target Corp., Time Warner Inc., UBS AG and The Allstate Corp., for allegedly infringing its patent for an encrypted data transmission system.

16. Judge Queries Del. Court On Merrill Derivative Suit

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010

A federal judge has requested input from the Delaware Supreme Court in a so-called double derivative suit brought by former shareholders of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., asking whether plaintiffs must have held stock in both Merrill and buyer Bank of America Corp. to bring their claims.

17. Ga.'s Take On Holmes V. Grubman

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010

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.

18. Bondholder Group Sues Banks Over Tribune Buyout

Friday, Mar 05, 2010

A group of Tribune Co. bondholders has filed an adversary case against Citigroup Inc. and other banking giants over their role in a 2007 leveraged buyout that left the news giant saddled with about $9 billion in new debt.

19. UBS Agrees To Buy Back $200M In ARS In Texas Deal

Thursday, Mar 04, 2010

UBS AG has agreed to repurchase $200 million in auction rate securities from certain former clients and to pay a $6.6 million fine to resolve Texas securities regulators' claims that the Swiss bank misled customers about the safety of the investments.

20. 2nd Circ. Cuts Off Merrill Lynch Wire Transfer Case

Thursday, Mar 04, 2010

A federal appeals court has found that a businessman's fraud claims against a Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. financial adviser who allegedly wired $9 million to the accounts of two white collar criminals are barred by a time limit for objecting to wire transfers.