For those of us who spend a lot of time looking at securities class action lawsuits, the cases often have a familiar pattern. Unfortunately, the familiarity may dull sensitivity to the allegations or even to the process itself. So it was interesting to read a layman’s reaction to a recently filed lawsuit, if for no
Corporate Penalties and the SEC
The SEC first acquired the right to impose civil penalties against corporations in the Securities Enforcement Remedies and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990. Since the Remedies Act was enacted, the SEC has struggled with the question of when it is appropriate to obtain money penalties from corporate issuers.
In January 2006, in
Rating Agencies’ Alleged Conflicts of Interest Held Immaterial
In a ruling that may have potential significance for the many claims that have been filed against the rating agencies in the subprime litigation wave, on February 17, 2010, Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed all but one of the claims that had been filed against the individual defendants in the Lehman
Previously Dismissed Credit Suisse Subprime Securities Suit Allowed to Proceed
In an interesting February 11, 2010 decision (here), Southern District of New York Judge Victor Marrero allowed plaintiffs, whose subprime-related securities class action lawsuit Marrero had previously dismissed, leave to file a second amended complaint against Credit Suisse Global and certain of its directors and officers.
Judge Marrero also found the securities
Those Belated Securities Lawsuit Filing Blues, 2010 Edition
One of the most distinctive attributes of the 2009 securities class action lawsuit filings was the prevalence, particularly in the second half of the year, of new lawsuits in which the filing date came well after the date of the proposed class period cutoff. There has been much discussion over the cause of the belated
BofA: Securities Fraud Enforcement and Individual Liability
In a flurry of headline-grabbing events involving Bank of America last Thursday, the SEC announced the renewed settlement of its enforcement suit against the company, while at the same time New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced his office’s initiation of a separate fraud action against the company and two former company officials. These high-profile
Rating Agencies Are Not ’33 Act “Underwriters”
Rating agencies are not susceptible to ’33 Act liability as "underwriters," even if they helped structure the mortgage backed securities at issue, according to February 1, 2010 ruling (here) by Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan in which he dismissed Moody’s and McGraw-Hill (S&P’s parent) from the Lehman Brothers Mortgage-Backed Securities
Dismissal Motions in Thornburgh Mortgage Subprime Securities Suit Denied in Part, Granted in Part
In a 90-page January 27, 2010 opinion (here) District of New Mexico Judge James Browning granted substantial parts of the defendants’ motions to dismiss in the Thornburgh Mortgage subprime securities suit, while also denying the motions to dismiss in connection with certain claims against Larry Goldstone, who served as the company’s President
Vivendi Found Liable in Securities Class Action Trial
According to January 29, 2010 reports in the New York Times (here) and on Bloomberg (here), the jury in the long-running securities class action lawsuit against Vivendi has resulted in a verdict against the company on all 57 of the plaintiffs’ claims. However, the jury also found that the two individual
NERA Releases Annual Canadian Securities Class Action Study
On January 27, 2010, NERA Economic Consulting released its updated annual review of Canadian securities class litigation entitled "Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2009 Update" (here). The report presents an interesting study of the evolution of class action litigation in a jurisdiction outside the U.S.
According to the report, there were