On March 12, 2007, in the latest in the apparently never-ending series of big thick reports on the competitiveness of U.S capital markets, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released the Report and Recommendations of its Commission on the Regulation of the U.S. Capital Markets in the 21st Century (here). An Executive Summary of
A New Options Backdating Lawsuit Variation
A shareholder of SafeNet has filed a shareholders derivative lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court, claiming that the SafeNet directors agreed to sell the company to a private equity firm to avoid potential options backdating related liabilities. On March 5, 2007, SafeNet announced (here) that it had agreed to be acquired by Vector
Ohio Joins the Time Warner Opt-Out Settlement Parade
The Ohio Attorney General, Marc Dann, issued a March 7, 2007 press release (here) announcing a $144 million net settlement in the opt-out action filed against the Time Warner defendants on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and five state pension funds. As explained further below, the gross amount of
Why The Tellabs Case Will Matter
In the latest issue of InSights (here), I take a look at the Tellabs case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and discuss why the outcome of the case will matter. As noted at greater length in the article, the case “has the potential to significantly alter the securities litigation landscape for
Pink Sheets Takes AIM
With a conscious nod to London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), Pink Sheets LLC has launched a new designation called OTCQX for domestic and international companies that meet certain criteria. In a March 5, 2007 press release (here), Pink Sheets announced that it had launched the designation for “reputable operating companies that wish to
Dura’s Impact on Lead Plaintiff Selection
In the securities fraud lawsuit arising out of the Comverse Technology options backdating scandal, a federal district judge, applying principles derived from the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in the Dura case, has overturned a magistrate judge’s lead plaintiff ruling, resulting in the Lerach Coughlin firm’s removal lead counsel in the case. (The background on the
Institutional Investors, Lead Plaintiffs, and Opt-Outs
A frequently repeated – but demonstrably false – statement about securities class action lawsuits is that, while public pension funds have served as lead plaintiffs in securities fraud lawsuits, private institutional investors, such as banks, mutual funds, and insurance companies, have not. However, as Adam Savett points out (here) on the Securities Litigation
A Closer Look At Buffett’s Annual Letter
For years, Warren Buffett’s annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders has been a trove of business insight and commercial wisdom, and this year’s letter (here), released on March 1, 2007, is no exception. While the general focus of the letter is a year-end review of the various Berkshire businesses, Buffett still managed to
More Massive Opt-Out Settlements
In recent posts (most recently here and here), I have commented on the worrying trend toward institutional investor opt-out cases and the massive settlements that have followed. In a February 28, 2007 press release (here), the University of California announced the latest of institutional investor opt-out settlement, a $246 settlement on the
Apple, The Big Apple, and “Pay to Play” Plaintiffs’ Lawyers
In a series of recent editorials, the New York Sun has raised some interesting and troubling questions about a New York City’s pension fund’s involvement as lead plaintff in the Apple Computer options backdating securities litigation.
The first Sun editorial on the topic, entitled "New York Versus Apple "appeared on January 25, 2007 (here