Parmalat

1. BofA Fraud Claims Canned In $300M Parmalat Deal

Thursday, Feb 18, 2010

A federal judge has dismissed fraud and other claims leveled against Bank of America Corp. by two special purpose entities created specifically for a failed $300 million purchase of stock in Parmalat SpA's Brazilian unit.

2. Deloitte, Grant Thornton To Settle Parmalat Suit

Thursday, Nov 19, 2009

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton International have agreed to cough up $15 million to settle with a class of Parmalat SpA stockholders in a suit stemming from the Italian dairy giant's collapse.

3. Banca Intesa Hit With $24M Verdict In Parmalat Case

Thursday, Oct 22, 2009

A unit of Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo Group has been ordered to pay Bank Hapoalim BM $24 million following a New York jury's ruling that the Italian bank committed fraud in selling promissory notes linked to Parmalat SpA's South American unit in 2003.

4. Parmalat CEO Takes Grant Thornton Suit To 2nd Circ.

Thursday, Oct 22, 2009

The CEO of Parmalat SpA has appealed a federal judge's dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that auditing firm Grant Thornton International helped Parmalat insiders orchestrate a massive securities fraud that ultimately led to the Italian dairy giant's 2003 bankruptcy.

5. Chadbourne Snaps Up Restructuring Attorneys

Friday, Sep 25, 2009

Chadbourne & Parke LLP has pulled in two insolvency attorneys — one from Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP and another from Kirkland & Ellis International LLP — to ramp up its bankruptcy and financial restructuring team.

6. Parmalat Suits Against Grant Thornton, BofA Nixed

Friday, Sep 18, 2009

A district judge has tossed suits against Bank of America Corp. and auditing firm Grant Thornton International relating to the 2003 bankruptcy of Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA.

7. Questions For International Accounting Firm Networks

Thursday, Aug 20, 2009

International accounting firm networks historically have relied on their structures to contain liabilities for the acts of member firms, usually with success. Earlier this year, certain rulings in the litigation arising from the collapse of the Italian dairy conglomerate Parmalat Finanziaria SpA raised questions as to whether this trend may be ending, says Thomas M. Beshere of McGuireWoods LLP.

8. BofA Settles Parmalat Action With $100M Payout

Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009

Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday that it would pay nearly $100 million to settle allegations stemming from the 2003 collapse of Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA.

9. Italy Passes Law To Allow Limited Class Actions

Friday, Jul 10, 2009

A new Italian law will reportedly allow groups representing consumers to bring a limited form of class action against corporations accused of unlawful or anti-competitive conduct, with individual consumers joining the suit on their own and being exposed to potential penalties if the action is rejected.

10. Gibson Dunn Adds 4th Clifford Chance Partner

Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009

Securities litigator George Schieren has become the latest partner to join Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP from Clifford Chance LLP, following on the heels of the Magic Circle firm's former global litigation chair Mark Kirsch.

11. Deutsche Bank Execs To Face Trial Over Parmalat

Monday, Jun 08, 2009

Four Deutsche Bank executives have reportedly been ordered to stand trial in Italy over allegations they contributed to the 2003 demise of dairy giant Parmalat SpA.

12. Q&A With Weil Gotshal's Marcia Goldstein

Monday, Jun 08, 2009

The next wave of bankruptcy cases will likely involve the commercial real estate market, the paper and pulp industry — and the related newspaper industry — and commodities, says Marcia Goldstein, chair of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's business finance and restructuring department.

13. Citibank, BofA, Thornton Parmalat Docs Unsealed

Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009

A federal judge has granted a motion to unseal previously confidential discovery documents and deposition transcripts from Bank of America, Citigroup and Grant Thornton that emerged from litigation over the fall of Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA.

14. Intesa Units To Pay $27M To Parmalat

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Units of Italian bank Intesa SanPaolo Group have agreed to shell out €20 million ($27 million) to Parmalat SpA to resolve allegations stemming from the Italian dairy firm’s collapse into bankruptcy in 2003.

15. Auditor's Spoliation Claims Nixed In Parmalat MDL

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

The judge overseeing securities litigation against Parmalat SpA has tossed counterclaims by auditor Grant Thornton LLP alleging that employees of the Italian dairy giant destroyed evidence in the days leading up to and following the appointment of Enrico Bondi as CEO in 2003.

16. Pleading Auditor Fraud After Tellabs

Thursday, Apr 16, 2009

It is the competing inferences component of the Tellabs scienter analysis, coupled with the fact that courts continue to apply difficult standards for pleading auditor fraud, that appears to have tilted the scales more toward an auditor defendant in the securities context over the past two years, say Patricia A. Gorham, Amelia Toy Rudolph and Juanita Passyn of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.

17. Judge OKs $20M Stock Deal In Parmalat Fraud Case

Tuesday, Mar 03, 2009

A federal judge has signed off on a second settlement worth about $20 million in stock in a securities fraud class action against bankrupt Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA and its financial and accounting advisers, on top of a $50 million agreement approved a year and a half ago.

18. DTT Denied Interlocutory Appeal In Parmalat Case

Monday, Mar 02, 2009

A judge has squashed the hopes of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and its U.S. subsidiary for an interlocutory appeal in a securities fraud class action against bankrupt Italian dairy giant Parmalat SpA and its financial and accounting advisers.

19. Judge Keeps Grant Thornton In Parmalat MDL

Thursday, Feb 26, 2009

A judge has refused to dismiss Grant Thornton International Ltd. from the Parmalat SpA securities multidistrict litigation though the financial advising firm claims it is not liable for its Italian subsidiary, which allegedly did not adequately audit the Italian dairy giant before its collapse.

20. Greenberg Traurig Nabs Cadwalader Bankruptcy Guru

Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009

Greenberg Traurig LLP has scooped up shareholder Gary D. Ticoll from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, along with four associates who have joined the firm's business reorganization and bankruptcy practice with him.