Hedge Fund Hardball Update: In an earlier post (here), The D & O Diary commented on the new game of "hedge fund hardball," drawing on a Wall Street Journal article (here, registration required) with that title. As discussed in the prior post, hedge funds are demanding, when the companies in which
September 2006
Options Backdating Litigation Update and Other Web Notes
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in Options Backdating
The D & O Diary’s running tally of options backdating lawsuits (which can be found here) has been updated to include new securities lawsuits that have been filed against Meade Instruments and Michaels Stores; a new ERISA action against Home Depot; and several new shareholders’ derivative actions.
With the addition of the…
Fastow’s Sentence, Future Civil Litigation, and D & O Insurance
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in D & O Insurance, Enron
On September 26, 2006, U. S District Judge Kenneth Hoyt sentenced former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow to six years’ imprisonment, a reduction from the ten-year term to which Fastow had agreed in his January 2004 plea agreement. According to news reports (here and here), apparently among the factors that Judge Hoyt relied upon…
Criminal Sentencing Perspective on Plaintiffs’-Style Damages Calculations
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in Securities Litigation
On September 22, 2006, Judge Sim Lake of the United States District Court in Houston re-sentenced former Dynegy tax executive and lawyer Jamie Olis to six years in prison for securities fraud, upon reconsideration after Olis’s initial sentence of 24 years that had been reversed on appeal. (Press reports of the resentencing may be found…
An FCPA Enforcement Case Study and Other Web Notes
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The D & O Diary has previously written (here and here) about the recent revival of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the potential implications for D & O risk. PricewaterhousCoopers’ Summer 2006 Solutions newsletter (here) has an interesting article entitled “ABB Ltd and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act” taking…
Securities Lawsuit Filings Are Down, So What About D & O Rates?
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in D & O Insurance
SEC Settles First SOX Case Filed Against a Foreign Issuer
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in SOX (Generally)
A continuing debate surrounding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been the extent to which the Act may be discouraging foreign companies from listing their shares on U. S. securities exchanges. (Prior D & O Diary post on the topic may be found here and here.) Enforcement activity against foreign issuers undoubtedly will influence the relative…
Board Turmoil and D & O Risk
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in Corporate Governance, D & O Insurance
Within the last few days, we have witnessed the feuding, dysfunctional H-P Board struggling with the turmoil and adverse publicity arising from its flawed investigation of media leaks. Last week we also saw the forced ouster of Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Peter Dolan. These events follow the removal of the CEOs of some of the…
Comment on the “Milberg Effect”
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in Plaintiffs' Bar
On September 12, 2006, the Wall Street Journal carried an editorial entitled “The Milberg Effect,” (here, subscription required) commenting on the possible impact of the Milberg Weiss indictment on the decline in the number of securities lawsuits in 2006. (To see the Cornerstone Consulting data about the decline, refer here.) The Journal…
Four Things to Watch in the World of D & O
By Kevin LaCroix on
Posted in D & O Insurance
The world of directors’ and officers’ liability often seems as if it is in a state of constant change — and it is no wonder, because so many factors affect it: legislation, litigation, volatile securities markets, and the ever-changing global economy. With so many shifting factors and varying dynamics, it can sometimes be difficult to…