Securities Law

Judge Complains of ‘First-File Olympics’ in Wal-Mart Suits over Bribery Report

A Delaware judge criticized lawyers for two public pension funds Monday for basing their shareholder lawsuits against Wal-Mart on a New York Times story rather than their own investigation. Judge Leo Strine, chief judge of Delaware’s Court of Chancery, told lawyers there was no hurry, report Reuters and the Associated…

Jul 18, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Unhappy with Del. Derivative Case Settlement, Lead Plaintiffs Post $13.25M Bond to Keep Litigating

In the latest development in an unusual shareholder derivative suit that seemingly had concluded with a ruling by a Delaware Chancery Court judge that a proposed $13.25 million settlement is fair, the lead plaintifffs, who say it is too small, have come up with the money to continue fighting the…

Jul 11, 2012 10:25 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Nixes SEC Suit, Says SIPC Not Liable for Bank CDs Bought by Victims of Stanford Swindle

A federal judge district court judge in Washington, D.C., has sided with the Securities Investor Protection Corp. in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort to provide some reimbursement to the victims of the $6 billion to $7 billion Ponzi scheme overseen by R.…

Jul 3, 2012 5:12 PM CDT

Peter Madoff, Compliance Chief for Brother’s Securities Firm, to Take 10-Year, $143B Plea Deal

Peter Madoff, an attorney who served as chief compliance officer for his brother’s now-infamous securities firm, has reportedly agreed to take a plea in a criminal case related to Bernard Madoff’s record-breaking Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors said Peter Madoff will be charged and plead guilty on Friday in federal court in…

Jun 27, 2012 9:15 PM CDT

Law Prof Sees Securities Issues in Proposal to Finance Education Through Stake in Grads’ Future Pay

A University of Chicago law professor is pointing out some securities problems in a proposal to finance education with a venture capital model. The proposal by University of Chicago professor Luigi Zingales is for investors to finance college education in exchange for a fraction of students’ future incomes—or perhaps a…

Jun 25, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Greenberg Traurig, Quarles to Pay $88M to Settle Suit by Mortgage Investors

Greenberg Traurig and Quarles & Brady have agreed to pay $88 million to settle a suit by investors who claim losses in an alleged $900 million Ponzi scheme run by a mortgage company. Greenberg will pay $61 million and Quarles will pay $26.5 million, report Reuters and the Milwaukee Journal…

Jun 22, 2012 11:34 AM CDT

Ex-McKinsey Chief Rajat Gupta Is Guilty in Insider-Trading Case Linked to Hedge Fund Head Rajaratnam

A 63-year-old former managing partner of McKinsey & Co. was convicted Friday in a high-profile insider trading case by a federal jury in Manhattan. Rajat Gupta, who is also a former director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., was accused by prosecutors of passing along boardroom…

Jun 15, 2012 7:22 PM CDT

7th Circuit Nixes ‘Feeble’ Sears Class Action, Says Its ‘Only Goal’ Is Fees for Plaintiffs Lawyers

Saying that a shareholder derivative suit’s “only goal” appeared to be generating fees for the plaintiffs counsel, a federal appeals court on Wednesday not only held that a federal district judge had erred in refusing to permit an objector to intervene in a shareholder derivative suit but directed the judge…

Jun 14, 2012 4:42 PM CDT

Cardozo Law Student Gets Unexpected Lesson from Federal Judge at Gupta Insider-Trading Case Hearing

Not having a job lined up for the summer, a student at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law has been spending her time watching proceedings in the high-profile Manhattan insider-trading case of Rajat K. Gupta Benula Bensam also wrote several letters to U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff,…

Jun 6, 2012 9:45 PM CDT

Former BigLaw Associate Gets Record Sentence in Insider Trading Case

A former associate who admitted giving confidential deal information to a stock trader has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, the longest-ever sentence in an insider trading case. Matthew Kluger, 51, was sentenced Monday, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), the Am Law Daily and the Associated Press.…

Jun 5, 2012 11:33 AM CDT

Judge Scolds Robbins Geller for Expenses, Including $100-a-Person Dinner and First-Class Airfares

A federal judge Spokane, Wash., has warned securities class action firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and two of its partners that he intends to sanction them for claiming inaccurate and unreasonable expenses in a settled case. U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush told partners Joy Bull and John Grant that…

May 30, 2012 12:59 PM CDT

Suit Claims Facebook and Underwriters Failed to Disclose Slow-Revenue Forecasts

An investor lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court today alleges Facebook and its underwriters failed to disclose negative forecasts in advance of the company’s initial public offering. The would-be class action suit alleges Mark Zuckerberg and other defendants concealed forecasts of weakened revenue growth, according to Reuters, the Wall Street…

May 23, 2012 6:32 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Pleaded Guilty to $20 Million Securities Fraud Gets 7-Year Sentence

Jeanne Rowzee, an Irvine, Calif., securities lawyer who pleaded guilty to taking more than $20 million from securities investors, recently received an 87-month federal sentence. Authorities say she carried out the scam with James Halstead, whom she previously represented on a securities criminal defense matter, the Los Angeles Times reports.…

May 22, 2012 8:02 PM CDT

Ex-Baker Partner Pleads Guilty in Stock Scheme, Escrow Switch

A former partner at Baker & McKenzie pleaded guilty on Monday as he was about to go on trial in Brooklyn federal court for earning $1.3 million in interest on $30 million that was supposed to be placed in escrow. Martin Weisberg, 61, pleaded guilty to money laundering in the…

May 22, 2012 11:37 AM CDT

Reports: DOJ Has Joined SEC in Looking at JPMorgan Chase After $2B Trading Loss

Updated: The U.S. Department of Justice has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission in taking a look at what’s been happening at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the aftermath of what could be a $2 billion trading loss by the bank in a relatively short period. Citing unidentified sources, the…

May 15, 2012 3:44 PM CDT