The recent news about the eleventh hour award of nearly $4 billion in bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees is only the latest in a series of events exciting enthusiasm for "clawbacks" of allegedly excessive or undeserved Wall Street bonuses. Reports that New York City financial firms disbursed $18.4 billion in cash bonuses is 2008 added
A Comprehensive Look at FCPA Settlements
A recurring theme on this blog has been the growing threat of civil litigation following in the wake of increased Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement activity. (Refer for example, here.) A recent study both establishes both the overall scale of FCPA enforcement activity and quantifies the magnitude of the FCPA follow-on securities litigation.
2008: The Year in Review
2008 was a remarkably eventful year, from the dramatic developments during the fall that rocked the financial markets to the changing of the guard in the Presidential election. Many of the events had a profound impact in the world of D&O insurance. In all likelihood, significant developments will continue to emerge during 2009 that will
Banco Santander Offers Madoff Victims Compensation, While Investors File Suit
Banco Santander, the Spanish bank whose customers may have suffered as much as $3.1 billion in Madoff-related losses, is reportedly offering some clients compensation for their losses. Reports of this compensation proposal follow one day after investors filed a securities class action lawsuit against Banco Santander and related entities in federal court in Miami.
Lawsuits Against Mortgage Securities Issuers: Damages Issues Ahead?
Among the many lawsuits that have flooded in as part of the subprime and credit crisis litigation wave has been a profusion of lawsuits against the mortgage-backed securities issuers and their securities offering underwriters. These lawsuits, typically filed under the ’33 Act and alleging misrepresentations in the offering documents, claim that investors who purchased securities
NERA Releases 2008 Canadian Securities Class Action Trends Study
As a result of recent legislative changes, Canadian securities litigation filings increased substantially in 2008, according to a January 26, 2009 Report by NERA Economic Consulting entitled "Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 1997-2008" (here). A January 26, 2009 press release describing the report can be found here.
According to the
Bank Woes: Worse and Worrisome
In recent days, all eyes have been on two of the world’s largest banks. Commentators have questioned, for example, whether Citigroup should be nationalized (refer here) or if the Merrill Lynch-related losses might cost Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis his job (refer here). These institutions’ enormous size makes their problems predominant.
The BofA/Merrill Deal: Losses, Disclosures and Lawsuits
As has been well-publicized, within a matter of weeks of closing its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, Bank of America announced previously undisclosed 4Q08 operating losses at Merrill of $21.5 billion that required BofA to obtain an emergency $20 billion cash injection from the U.S. Treasury, as well as an additional $118 billion asset backstop. BofA’s
D&O Insurance: Are Subpoenas “Claims”?
The question of coverage for fees and costs incurred in connection with responding to subpoenas is a perennial D&O insurance issue. Policyholders are sometimes surprised and disappointed when their D&O insurer takes the position that their policies do not cover these amounts.
Whether or not there is coverage for fees incurred in connection with a
Merrill Lynch Enters Massive Subprime Securities Lawsuit Settlements
They aren’t the first subprime lawsuit settlements, but the two massive settlements Merrill Lynch announced this past Friday are unquestionably the largest subprime subprime securities lawsuit settlements so far, and they certainly suggest the enormous stakes that may be involved in the mass of subprime and credit crisis-related litigation cases that remain pending.
In a