Securities Law

Shareholder Suits in Uphill Battle Due to Current Financial Crisis

Despite predictions that the current U.S. economic crisis will bring more business to a number of lawyers, it is also likely to mean more work and less pay for others. Among those for whom the United States financial situation is creating an uphill battle is plaintiffs lawyers in shareholder suits,…

Sep 29, 2008 9:27 PM CDT

House Nixes $700B Bailout; What’s Next for Regulators?

Developing: In a U-turn from initial predictions last week that emergency financial bailout legislation proposed by Bush administration officials would soon be enacted, the House today defeated the package by a 228-205 vote, creating, at least for the moment, a brave new world for federal regulatory agencies. U.S. Treasury Secretary…

Sep 29, 2008 8:20 PM CDT

Feds Seize & Sell WaMu; Biggest Bank Failure in US History

Moving fast in the midst of an extraordinarily troubled U.S. economy, federal regulators seized—and sold—the troubled Washington Mutual bank last night. “Regulators simultaneously brokered an emergency sale of virtually all of Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan, to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion, averting another potentially huge taxpayer…

Sep 26, 2008 7:28 PM CDT

US Financial Crisis Sparks Harsh Criticism of Regulatory Efforts

As officials in the Bush administration put on a full-court press this week to persuade Congress to enact emergency financial rescue legislation at a price tag that reportedly exceeds the cost of the Iraq war, the situation has sparked a firestorm of criticism concerning regulatory efforts, past and present. A…

Sep 25, 2008 10:00 PM CDT

Firing Wasn’t on GC’s List of Possible Penalties for his Backdated Stock

Former McAfee general counsel Kent Roberts gave company executives a list of possible actions they could take against him for a date change on his stock options grant. The list, neatly written on hotel stationery, included alternatives such as terminating his stock options, reducing his bonus or even demoting him,…

Sep 25, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

$700B Bailout Alternative: Another Great Depression, Officials Say

Updated: Despite warnings that the alternative is an economic tailspin, as well as an agreement today by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to limit top executive pay as a condition of providing aid to struggling U.S. financial institutions, it isn’t clear that Congress is ready to approve extraordinary emergency bailout…

Sep 24, 2008 8:39 PM CDT

More Regulation Likely Will Mean More Legal Work

With the federal government apparently on the verge of a major regulatory overhaul of the nation’s financial institutions, as part of an effort to prevent an economic debacle, the upsurge in oversight could well mean more work for lawyers. A $700 billion government bailout of struggling banks and Wall Street…

Sep 24, 2008 5:56 PM CDT

FBI Investigates Four Companies at Center of Wall Street Storm

The FBI is expanding its corporate fraud inquiries to include four financial giants at the center of Wall Street’s recent turmoil. The agency has opened preliminary investigations into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and the American International Group, the Washington Post reports, citing two anonymous sources. They are among…

Sep 24, 2008 3:33 PM CDT

Wachtell Memos Urge ‘Bold’ SEC Action to Protect Market Integrity

Several memos written last week by the law firm that advised the Treasury Department on the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to take actions to maintain investor confidence and protect the integrity of the markets. The memos by lawyers from Wachtell, Lipton,…

Sep 23, 2008 3:17 PM CDT

SEC’s Chief was MIA as US Markets Swooned, Some Say

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were the men of the hour last week, stepping in with a viable emergency plan as the U.S. economy appeared to be on the verge of a massive meltdown following a year of ongoing bad news. But where was…

Sep 22, 2008 6:35 PM CDT

SEC Temporarily Bans Short-Selling Stock of 799 Financial Companies

Lending credence to concerns that short-selling may have contributed to the sudden downslide of several major names on Wall Street during recent market turmoil, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has temporarily banned the practice concerning shares of 799 financial institutions. “The SEC said today that it will halt short-selling…

Sep 19, 2008 4:15 PM CDT

Did a Short-Selling Conspiracy Spark the Stock Market Debacle?

Short-selling of a bank’s stock isn’t illegal. But when investors who are betting that a company’s share price will fall fuel the stock’s downslide with false rumors about the company, that can be a different story. So the New York’s attorney general announced today that he is launching an investigation…

Sep 18, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

As Banks Reel, Regulation is Suddenly a Hot Topic

It has been less than a decade since the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed, and it is now becoming increasingly clear why we may have needed it. Enacted after banks failed in the Great Depression because of reckless investment in nontraditional areas, it restricted commercial banks from the kind of lending…

Sep 18, 2008 6:34 PM CDT

Judge Says ‘Heads Have to Roll’ Over Late-Disclosed McAfee E-Mails

A San Francisco federal judge is demanding that lawyers for McAfee Inc. appear at a hearing today to explain why 18 pages of corporate e-mails weren’t disclosed until the eve of the backdating trial of the company’s former general counsel. The e-mails were turned over at 10:40 p.m. Tuesday after…

Sep 18, 2008 11:44 AM CDT

Ex-CEO of Brocade Sues Company for $7M in Unpaid Legal Fees

The former CEO of Brocade Communications has racked up more than $53 million in legal fees defending backdating charges, and $7 million of them have not been paid by the company, a lawsuit contends. Ex-CEO Gregory Reyes claims his criminal conviction in August 2007 didn’t negate the company’s obligation to…

Sep 17, 2008 12:06 PM CDT