My primary objective on this blog is to address important developments in with world of directors’ and officers’ liability as they occur. From time to time, however, readers contact me with more fundamental questions about executive liability and protection, particularly regarding the basics of indemnification and D&O insurance. In response to these recurring questions, I
Developments Worth Watching on the Anti-Corruption Front
If you are one of those people who still need persuading that the increasing crack-down on corrupt behavior is a big deal, you will want to take a look at The FCPA Blog’s recent breakdown of the top ten Foreign Corrupt Practice Act settlements, which can be found here. As Dick Cassin, the
O.K., F-Cubed Claims Are Out, But What About F-Squared Claims?
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month in the Morrison v. National Australia Bank case made it clear U.S. securities laws do not allow so-called "f-cubed" cases — securities claims against foreign domiciled companies and brought by foreign-domiciled claimants who purchased their company shares on foreign exchanges — in U.S. courts. The securities laws, the
There’s Just One Little Problem About That $725 Million AIG Securities Suit Settlement
When Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced this past Friday that he had entered a massive $725 million settlement on behalf of three Ohio pension funds in the long standing securities class action lawsuit against AIG, he definitely accomplished his objective –his announcement made the front pages of all the newspapers in Ohio (it was
A Closer Look at the Goldman Sachs SEC Enforcement Action Settlement
In a striking series of developments late yesterday afternoon, the Senate passed the financial reform bill and the SEC announced its record-setting settlement of the enforcement action it filed against Goldman Sachs last April. The Goldman settlement drew extensive coverage in the mainstream media, primarily focused on the sheer size of the $550 million
Advisen Releases Second Quarter Securities Litigation Analysis
Overall levels of corporate and securities litigation increased during the second quarter of 2010, according to a new study released on July 15, 2010 by the insurance information firm Advisen. A copy of the report can be found here.
Preliminary Notes
The litigation analyzed in the Advisen report includes not only securities class
Law Firm Memo Round-Up
Corporate Scienter: One of the recurring issues in securities litigation is the question of what is required to establish that the corporate defendant acted with scienter. The question was squarely presented by the Vivendi trial verdict, where, as discussed here, the jury found that the corporation was liable, even though the two individual defendants
Dismissal Motion Denied in Massive Citigroup Subprime-Related Bondholder Action
On July 12, 2010, in one of the more high-profile investor actions filed as part of the subprime securities litigation wave, Southern District of New York Judge Sidney Stein substantially denied in part the defendants’ motions to dismiss in the Citigroup Bond Litigation. A copy of the opinion can be found here.
As
FDIC Files First D&O Suit of Current Failed Bank Wave
On July 2, 2010, in what is as far as I am aware the first suit by the FDIC against former directors and officers of a failed bank as part of the current wave of bank failures, the FDIC as receiver of IndyMac filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California against four former
Securities Litigation Web Notes and Updates
Suit Against Auction Rate Securities Investor Dismissed: When plaintiff investors first sued Mind M.T.I. and certain of its directors and officers in the Southern District of New York in August 2009, I noted at the time that the new suit seemed to reflect two securities class action lawsuit filing trends: first, the case presented an