Next Monday, March 3, 2014, the Hong Kong New Companies Ordinance will go into effect. The Hong Kong Legislative Council enacted this overhaul of the existing companies laws provisions in July 2012, and on October 25, 2013, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury published the requisite notice to implement the upcoming March 3
FDIC: Banks Improve, Number of Problem Institutions Continues to Decline
The commercial banking industry is continuing its rebound from the subprime meltdown and the global financial crisis. According to the FDIC’s latest Quarterly Banking Profile for the period ending December 31, 2014 (here), the industry’s overall earnings continue to improve, largely as a result of reduced loan-loss provisions. However, operating revenue declined during
U.S. Supreme Court: SLUSA Does Not Preempt Stanford Ponzi Scheme Victims’ State Law Claims
The state law fraud claims of certain victims of the Stanford Ponzi scheme against various law firms and brokerage firms are not precluded under the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (“SLUSA”) and plaintiffs therefore may pursue their state law class actions against the defendants, according to a February 26, 2014 decision from the U.S. Supreme
Guest Post: Inside Litigation Financing
One of the most interesting and noteworthy litigation developments recently has been the rise of litigation finance in the United States. The nascent litigation finance industry has attracted a number of new entrants, and many of the latest entrants are attempting to establish their own particular niche. In the guest post below, my good
Why Did the Bank Fail?: Defending Failed Bank Directors and Officers
Since the early stages of the financial crisis, nearly 500 banks have failed across the U.S., and even though we are now well past the peak of the financial crisis, banks continue to fail. Yet during the same time as scores of banks were failing, many more banks did not fail – which raises the
Growing Global Threats of Economic Crime
More companies – both inside the U.S. and globally – are experiencing economic crimes, and as companies expand their international operations and their reliance on the Internet and mobile technologies, economic crime increasingly has become a “borderless threat,” according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recent survey of global companies. The survey report, entitled “Global Economic Crime Survey 2014,”
NERA: Canadian Securities Class Action Filings Steady in 2013
There were ten securities class action lawsuits filed in Canada in 2013, the same number as were filed in 2012 and only slightly below the annual average number of 11. 6 filings during the period 2006-2012, according to a February 19, 2014 report from NERA Economic Consulting entitled “Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2013
NY Court of Appeals Reverses Itself, Holds Insurer’s Breach of Duty to Defend Doesn’t Waive Coverage Defenses After All
In an unusual development in a closely watched case, K2 Investment Group, LLC v. American Guarantee & Liability Ins. Co., the New York Court of Appeals has reversed its own June 2013 ruling in the case in which it held that a legal malpractice insurer that breached its duty to defend is barred from
RBS Settles Harborview MBS Securities Suit for $275 Million
In a reminder that litigation from the credit crisis is still kicking around and that there are still some significant credit crisis cases that are yet to be resolved, Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to settle the Harborview Mortgage-Backed Securities litigation for a payment of $275 million dollars. The settlement is subject to documentation
What Are the Bad Guys Up to Now? Hacking Health-Care Records, Apparently
As if it were not bad enough that hackers are attacking retail businesses like Target and Neiman Marcus to obtain consumer credit card information, it turns out that the bad guys are also targeting health-care records. According to sources cited in a February 18, 2014 Wall Street Journal report entitled “Nursing Homes Are Exposed to