Practice Areas
Banking
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February 22, 2012
FLSA Collective Action Rights Can Be Waived: Citigroup
A judge erred when he refused to compel arbitration in an overtime suit against Citigroup Inc. and held that an arbitration agreement couldn't waive the right to proceed collectively under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Citigroup told the Second Circuit on Tuesday.
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February 22, 2012
Swiss Banks Under Pressure To Help Collect Foreign Taxes
The Swiss government on Wednesday outlined a plan to force its secretive banks to do a better job ensuring that foreign clients pay taxes in their home countries, three weeks after the country's oldest bank was indicted for tax fraud in the U.S.
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February 22, 2012
Citi, Levant Bag $100M Stake In Saudi Supermarket Chain
Investment funds advised by Citigroup Inc.'s venture capital arm and Dubai-based Levant Capital Ltd. have closed a $100 million deal to jointly acquire a controlling stake in one of Saudi Arabia's biggest supermarket chains, the companies said Wednesday.
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February 22, 2012
Bill Would Spur Lenders To Speed Up Short Sales
A bipartisan trio of U.S. Senate lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill that would require banks and other mortgage lenders to respond to prospective short sale homebuyers within 75 days, expediting the process for underwater homeowners who are struggling to unload their properties.
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February 22, 2012
Watchdog Chides FHFA Over $100M Fannie Legal Fees
A federal watchdog agency on Wednesday expressed concern over mounting legal fees reaching $100 million in taxpayer money used to defend ex-Fannie Mae executives facing securities fraud allegations.
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February 22, 2012
UBS Can't Blame Highland Affiliates For $686M In Losses: Atty
A Highland Capital Management LP attorney urged a New York state appeals court Wednesday to dismiss its affiliates from UBS AG's $686 million lawsuit claiming the affiliates tricked UBS into restructuring a debt securities agreement, then made repayment impossible.
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February 22, 2012
Stanford Receiver Targets 2 Law Firms Over $1.8B
Robert Allen Stanford receiver Ralph S. Janvey hit two Louisiana law firms with a lawsuit last week alleging they helped the Ponzi schemer fraudulently obtain state approval for one of his companies, referred clients in exchange for benefits and misappropriated more than $1.8 billion.
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February 22, 2012
Former WaMu Execs Balk At Plan For D&O Claims
A number of former Washington Mutual Inc. executives objected Wednesday to the bankrupt bank's refusal to set aside cash reserves to cover their existing and potential indemnification claims.
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February 22, 2012
6th Circ. Revives GM Workers' ERISA Suit Against State Street
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday reversed a lower court's dismissal of a putative class action alleging State Street Bank & Trust Co. violated federal employment law by allowing General Motors employees to invest in the company's stock even after GM's impending bankruptcy became public knowledge.
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February 22, 2012
Sealink Hits BofA, Citi, Others With $949M RMBS Claims
Irish financial firm Sealink Funding Ltd. on Tuesday hit a group of big banks including the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Citigroup Inc. with a summons claiming they misrepresented the credit ratings of $949 million worth of investments in residential mortgage-backed securities.
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February 22, 2012
Gupta Tries To Get Insider Trading Charge Wiped Out
Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director Rajat Gupta sought to dismiss one of the six securities fraud counts against him Tuesday, arguing prosecutors had neglected to identify the specific trades he allegedly influenced by sharing inside information with imprisoned Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.
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February 22, 2012
German Bank Takes RBS To Court Over $71M In RMBS
German bank Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg sued Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and affiliated entities in New York state court Tuesday over alleged misrepresentations connected to the securitization and sale of $71 million in residential mortgage-backed securities.
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February 22, 2012
CFPB Launches Checking Account Overdraft Fee Probe
The nation's consumer financial services watchdog on Wednesday launched a wide-ranging probe into how banks' checking account overdraft programs are affecting consumers, opening up a potential battle over one of the financial industry’s leading profit engines.
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February 21, 2012
Fund Objects To $70M Bank Settlement In Rothstein Case
CBM Capital LLC on Tuesday opposed a $70 million settlement between Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust and bankruptcy trustees over Gibraltar's alleged involvement in a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by former attorney Scott Rothstein.
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February 21, 2012
Wells Fargo To Buy BNP Paribas Energy Loan Unit
Wells Fargo Bank NA has agreed to buy BNP Paribas SA's reserve-based energy lending business, which has about $9.5 billion in loan commitments and $3.9 billion in outstanding loans, the banks said Tuesday.
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February 21, 2012
Picard's $59B Racketeering Claims Against UniCredit Axed
A New York federal judge on Tuesday tossed racketeering claims against UniCredit SpA and an affiliate in a $59 billion suit lodged by Bernard L. Madoff's bankruptcy trustee, ruling that they had been insufficiently pled.
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February 21, 2012
General Maritime's Ch. 11 Plan Omits Crucial Info: BNY Mellon
General Maritime Corp. indenture trustee The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. said Tuesday that the bankrupt oil tanker operator's disclosure statement left out important information that could significantly reduce payments owed to the noteholders the bank represents.
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February 21, 2012
Morgan Keegan To Pay Sports Agent In Bond Investment Case
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel on Friday awarded the co-founder of a prominent sports agency — whose client roster includes quarterback Tim Tebow — $400,000 over allegations that Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. deceptively spurred investments in bond funds laden with mortgage-backed securities.
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February 21, 2012
FHFA Lays Out Plan To Cut Down Fannie, Freddie
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a report to Congress on Tuesday that it wants to develop a unified mortgage-packaging system that can outlive both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as part of a broader strategic plan to reduce the mortgage giants' presence in the market.
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February 21, 2012
Stanford Investors Protest Proskauer's Bid To Pause Suit
Plaintiffs in one of six lawsuits claiming Proskauer Rose LLP protected accused Ponzi schemer Robert Allen Stanford's bank protested a motion to stay the suit Monday, calling it a ploy to prevent the court from remanding the suit before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reaches a decision.
Expert Analysis
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The Aftermath Of Assured Guaranty V. JP Morgan
With its elimination of the Martin Act preemption defense to common-law claims, the New York Court of Appeals decision in Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd. v. J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. presents a new opportunity for plaintiffs in New York securities litigation, and ushers in new burdens for defendants, say attorneys with Jones Day.
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The Irredeemable Relevance Of SEC Enforcement Action
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a cease-and-desist order against Fifth Third Bancorp that, despite unusual circumstances, is relevant to any company that plans to redeem any of its publicly held securities, such as utility or other energy companies that commonly have redeemable debt securities or preferred stock outstanding, say attorneys with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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Ramping Up For 'Ring-Fencing'
Central to the many recommendations contained in the recent Vickers Report is the proposal that U.K. retail banking operations be "ring-fenced" in a separate subsidiary within the broader banking organization. Such requirements can be expected to add to the cost of running a retail banking business in the U.K., say Michael Hatchard and Sven Mickisch of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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Review: Recent Securities Litigation, Rising Trends
While credit crisis-related litigation continued in 2011, it has extended beyond the securities class action realm, as evidenced by a recent surge in mortgage-backed securities actions. Another trend has been the increase in M&A-related securities litigation, something we expect to continue in the coming year, say attorneys with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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Law School, Meet Litigation PR ...
The single most important thing law schools can do to manage their reputations in the face of litigation is apply the lessons learned from Wall Street during the recent financial crisis and strive for transparency in all communications. One need only look to Goldman Sachs’ woes or the struggles of Jon Corzine’s MF Global as examples of the catastrophic results of a campaign based on anything but complete honesty, says Spencer Baretz of Hellerman Baretz Communications.
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Chinese Property — Bubble Trouble?
The view that China’s red hot property market is in for a severe correction has been fueling fears of a hard landing for the entire economy. Why all the doom and gloom? Perhaps because Western speculators have billions riding on a bet that China’s economy will sour, says Ian Devereux of Stephenson Harwood.
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2012 Regulatory Watch List: Commodity ETF Industry
Due in large part to the Dodd-Frank Act and increased scrutiny by regulators of the financial and commodities markets, 2012 promises to bring a host of new regulatory requirements and issues for the commodity exchange-traded-funds industry, say attorneys with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
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Implications Of Magner On The Loose
It is possible that, due in part to Magner v. Gallagher being pulled from the U.S. Supreme Court docket, select district and circuit courts will be inclined to restrict disparate impact theory in the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act context, thus setting up an opportunity for the Supreme Court to revisit the issue, say Stephen Harvey and Matthew Silver of Pepper Hamilton LLP.
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The EU Proposal For Financial Transactions Tax
The European Commission has announced a proposal for a financial transactions tax, a measure with a specific financial regulatory objective and revenue-raising goals that has genuine potential to become law in the near future and would produce profound global impacts on financial transactions, says James Anderson of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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Fewer Corporate Prosecutions: A More Effective Approach?
While both empirical and anecdotal evidence suggest a decrease in corporate prosecutions in favor of alternative resolutions, there is ample reason to believe that this approach may be more effective in investigating and deterring corporate crime than charging corporations, say John Nathanson and Casey O’Neill of Shearman & Sterling LLP.