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Securities
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February 4, 2013
Bold DOJ Goes All-In With Suit Over S&P Ratings
After years of silence and inaction, the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to sue Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC over its alleged role in the financial crisis, suggesting the government is supremely confident it can finally score a high-profile victory against a credit rating firm.
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February 4, 2013
Goldman Execs Hid 'Structured Exits' Scheme, Investor Says
A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shareholder filed a derivative suit against a slew of Goldman executives in New York federal court Friday, saying they concealed the fact that the company’s “structured exits,” designed to transfer risk of losses in long-term investments, like mortgage-backed securities, conflicted with clients’ interests.
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February 4, 2013
JC Penney Sues To Block 'Invalid' $326M Bond Default
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. on Monday filed suit in Delaware state court to block a group of its bondholders from declaring a default on $326 million in debt, denying that the department store chain has taken on new debt in violation of the bonds’ indenture.
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February 4, 2013
DOJ Will Sue S&P Over Crisis-Era Ratings
The U.S. Department of Justice intends to file civil claims against Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC over its credit ratings for doomed mortgage securities in 2007, the company said Monday, marking the first government suit over a credit rating firm's role in the financial crisis.
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February 1, 2013
Shook Hardy Accused Of Aiding $930M Ponzi Scheme
The bankruptcy trustee for imprisoned Ponzi schemer and ex-University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro's former company has sued Shapiro's childhood friend Marc Levinson and his firm Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, alleging they helped Shapiro keep his $930 million scheme alive.
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February 1, 2013
FINRA Panel Awards US Airways $30M In ARS Dispute
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel on Thursday awarded U.S. Airways Group Inc. $30 million in its dispute with Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. in which the airline sought to force the investment firm to buy back over $250 million in auction rate securities.
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January 31, 2013
MAP Pharma Investor Sues To Stop Allergan's $958M Buy
A MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc. shareholder launched a putative class action Thursday in Delaware challenging Allergan Inc.’s proposed $958 million purchase of the company, saying the deal stiffs investors just as MAPP’s marquee migraine drug is about to take off.
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January 31, 2013
Investor Aims To Shut Down $162M Pervasive Software Buy
A Pervasive Software Inc. investor launched a putative class action Wednesday aimed at stopping its announced acquisition by rival Actian Corp., claiming the $162 million deal shortchanges shareholders of the profitable, debt-free company but rewards the directors who approved it.
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January 31, 2013
American Realty Hit With Shareholder Suit Over $2.2B Deal
A shareholder of American Realty Capital Trust III Inc. lobbed a proposed class action at the trust in New York state court Thursday, alleging its $2.2 billion merger with American Realty Capital Properties Inc. seriously undervalues the company.
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January 30, 2013
Ex-BP NGL Trader Says He Was Fired To Allow Market Scheme
The former head of natural gas liquids trading for BP Energy Co. on Wednesday launched a suit in Texas court alleging he was fired in violation of his employment contract so the company could engage in a market manipulation scheme.
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January 30, 2013
Israeli Bank Hits UBS, Goldman With $220M In RMBS Claims
Bank Hapoalim BM, Israel's largest bank, slapped UBS AG and Goldman Sachs & Co. with fraud suits seeking a combined $220 million in New York state court on Tuesday that accuse the banks of making misrepresentations over allegedly risky residential mortgage-backed securities.
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January 30, 2013
SEC Targets Real Estate Execs Over $300M Ponzi Scheme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday sued five former executives of a defunct Florida real estate firm for allegedly running a $300 million Ponzi scheme and using the proceeds to purchase airplanes and boats and invest in a rum distillery.
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January 29, 2013
Trustee Sues Deutsche Bank Unit Over $89M In MBS
The trustee for holders of more than $89 million in residential mortgage-backed securities sued a Deutsche Bank AG affiliate in New York state court Monday for allegedly failing to inform the certificate holders of the underlying loans' failure to meet basic standards.
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January 28, 2013
Morgan Stanley Didn't Buy Back Bad Loans, FHFA Suit Says
The Federal Housing Finance Agency sued a Morgan Stanley unit in New York state court on Friday, alleging it failed to repurchase faulty residential mortgage loans pooled into securities sold to troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac in 2007, breaching an agreement governing the securities.
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January 28, 2013
Ex-Jefferies Trader Arrested For TARP Fraud
A federal grand jury in Connecticut on Friday indicted former Jefferies & Co. Inc. managing director Jesse C. Litvak for allegedly committing securities fraud and Troubled Asset Relief Program fraud in a scheme that defrauded customers on residential mortgage-backed securities trades.
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January 28, 2013
Patent Holders Sue Patton Boggs, Cummins For Malpractice
Two British mobile technology patent holders on Thursday accused Patton Boggs LLP and Cummins & White LLP of bungling their $26 million racketeering and securities case against a mobile advertising company, resulting in added litigation and an unfavorable settlement.
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January 25, 2013
Nielsen's $1.3B Arbitron Buyout Is A Flop, Shareholder Says
An Arbitron Inc. investor launched a putative class action Thursday aimed at stopping the announced $1.26 billion buyout of the radio ratings company by Nielsen Holdings NV, alleging the disjointed sale process favored the buyer and failed to maximize shareholder value.
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January 25, 2013
Okada Sues To Block Vote On Wynn Resorts Board Ouster
Billionaire Kazuo Okada opened a new front in his ever-escalating battle with casino mogul Steve Wynn on Thursday, filing a lawsuit in Nevada federal court claiming Wynn trumped up foreign bribery allegations to try to oust him from the Wynn Resorts Ltd. board of directors.
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January 24, 2013
Ex-NFL Player Charged With Running $2M Ponzi Scheme
A former NFL kicker was arrested in Texas on Thursday on charges that he stole $2 million through a Ponzi scheme that involved fake investments in fine art and foreign bearer bonds, according to federal prosecutors.
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January 24, 2013
Wells Fargo CDO Goofs Cost Investors $160M, Suit Claims
A German public agency responsible for winding up the assets of dissolved bank WestLB AG sued Wells Fargo Bank NA in New York federal court Wednesday, claiming the bank's mismanagement of a WestLB collaterized-debt obligations vehicle led to more than $160 million in losses.
Expert Analysis
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Know Your Swap Reporting Rules Before April 10
On April 10, 2013, commercial end-users must begin reporting and maintaining records on all swaps to which they are counterparties under the Dodd-Frank Act. These new regulations will have significant impacts on firms’ swaps businesses as they not only apply to new swaps but also to historical swaps and certain physical transactions, say attorneys with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
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Where Privilege Protection Ends In Internal Investigations
Internal investigations by counsel into potentially illegal corporate conduct are generally considered to be protected by the attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product doctrine. It is less clear whether work that is unconnected or tangentially connected to such an investigation, including internal audits or anti-corruption risk assessments, may be conducted in a way that preserves privilege protections, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.
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7 Reasons To Do Pro Bono Work
Research shows that helping others and cultivating social relationships makes us happier and that generous people live longer, healthier lives. These are just a few of the countless reasons to create time in our busy schedules to do pro bono and charitable work this year, says Anne Brafford of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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On The Verge Of Fraudulent Transfer Litigation
The Boston Generating LLC litigation — like the Tribune and Lyondell bankruptcy cases — will pose the basic question of whether clever structuring by insolvency professionals can enable disappointed creditors to evade the safe harbor provided by Bankruptcy Code Section 546(e) for those that participate in the securities markets, say Harold Horwich and Sabin Willett of Bingham McCutchen LLP.
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The Full Impact Of FATCA
One misperception about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is that it only applies to banks or insurance companies. But a foreign financial institution for FATCA purposes includes non-U.S. banks, investment funds, investment managers and many insurers. Passive investment entities that are not per se funds but are professionally managed can be caught, says John Taylor of King & Spalding LLP.
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Avoid The Top 10 Pitfalls In A Jury Charge Conference
It can be a challenge even for experienced trial lawyers to keep one eye on the present trial and one eye on the future appellate record, as the charge conference requires. But being aware of the major pitfalls of the conference, and how to avoid them, will pay big dividends later, say Dawn Solowey and Lynn Kappelman of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
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And Now A Word From The Panel ...
One of the most fascinating facets of watching the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is trying to guess not simply whether an MDL will be created, but where it will be located. Take, for example, In re Mirena IUD Products Liability and Marketing Litigation, slated to be heard at the March 21 hearing, says Alan Rothman of Kaye Scholer LLP.
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A London Stock Exchange Rewrite For Tech Cos.
Following a similar U.S. regime for emerging growth companies under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, the London Stock Exchange has introduced a section to its main market catering specifically to high growth companies looking for a transitional route to the official list. But for London to truly rival New York as an attractive place to list technology shares, it will require a much wider maturation of the market, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.
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SEC Still Quiet On Rule 144(i) Evergreen Requirement
Despite the strong negative reaction in the securities community to the so-called Evergreen Rule, and despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s admission that the effect of the amendment on shell companies in reverse mergers was unintended, there has been no change to the rule to address these effects, says Julie Holden of TroyGould PC.
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What Litigators Must Know About Va.’s 'Rocket Docket'
Do not be lulled into a false sense of complacency by the formality, civility and, in some cases, old-fashioned Southern charm of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Cases usually move with lightning speed, handled by efficient, polite, but no-nonsense jurists and courtroom deputies. There are many traps for the unwary, say Robert Tata and Wendy McGraw of Hunton & Williams LLP.