In a July 25, 2007 opinion (here), the Tenth Circuit examined whether misrepresentations in financial statements incorporated by reference in a D & O policy application could serve as a basis for policy rescission under Utah law.
The case involved a D & O policy issued to ClearOne Communications in 2002. In early
In a recent post (here), I discussed the recent work of two blue-ribbon groups focused on eliminating “short-termism” and recommending, among other things, the elimination of quarterly earnings guidance. The results of the National Investor Relations Institute’s 2007 Earnings Guidance Practices Survey (press release here, survey results here) suggest that more
In an earlier post (here), I examined recent academic research questioning whether the rating agencies have played a blameworthy role in the subprime lending industry, and speculating on the rating agencies’ possible litigation exposure. On July 19, 2007, the rating agencies potential litigation risk moved from supposition to reality when a shareholder of
In a July 18, 2007 publication entiled "IPO Executive Insights 2007" (here) the Nixon Peabody law firm published the results of its survey of 100 chief executive officers and chief financial officers whose companies conducted initial public offerings in the past three years. The report contains a number of interesting observations, but perhaps
In prior posts (most recently here), I have noted the threat of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations as a growing area of corporate risk. Several recent reports substantiate this concern and help explain why this area of risk continues to grow, and also highlight some of the barriers to antibribery enforcement.
A June
The July 17, 2007 Wall Street Journal reports (here, subscription required) that private equity firm Apollo Management L.P. will (after selling a portion of the firm to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) be listing its shares on the new Goldman Sachs private securities exchange. The Apollo listing follows a couple of months
In a 64-page opinion dated July 16, 2007 (here), U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan granted the dismissal motions of thirteen of sixteen of the individual defendants in the KPMG tax shelter litigation, ruling that he had no choice but to dismiss the charges because prosecutors had violated the constitutional rights of
In early 2006, I nominated (here) the then-beginning wave of options backdating lawsuits as “this year’s model” – that is, the hot litigation trend that was being driven by the business scandal most prominent at the time. We are now well into 2007, but I have only just now determined the 2007 nominee
In a prior post (here), I took a preliminary look at the securities class action filings for the first half of 2007. In a July 10, 2007 press release (here), Stanford Law School and Cornerstone Research released their own mid-year report discussing the year-to-date filings through June 22, 2007. The full