The Kobi Watch: The recent news of the options backdating-related criminal conviction of Gregory Reyes, the former CEO of Brocade Communications, made me wonder what was happening with another former CEO caught up in the backdating brouhaha. When we last checked in on Kobi Alexander (prior post here) the fugitive former head of
A Week’s Worth of D & O News
I was only away one week, but even in that short time there were many interesting developments in stories I have been following on this blog. Here is a news round-up, in no particular order:
NASDAQ’s Private Portal Approved: In an earlier post (here), I discussed the arrival of private securities markets, where
The New Private Securities Exchanges
The July 17, 2007 Wall Street Journal reports (here, subscription required) that private equity firm Apollo Management L.P. will (after selling a portion of the firm to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) be listing its shares on the new Goldman Sachs private securities exchange. The Apollo listing follows a couple of months
Delaware Chancery Court Dismisses Options Backdating Derivative Case
In the options backdating related derivative case pending in Delaware Chancery Court involving Sycamore Networks as nominal defendant, Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr. granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, in an opinion (here) that carefully distinguished the earlier Delaware Chancery Court dismissal denials in the Ryan v Gifford (Maxim Integrated Products) case
Buyout Boom By-Product: Lawsuits
As the number and magnitude of buyout deals has continued to grow, shareholders have become increasingly restive. Shareholders seem increasingly inclined to demand, and in some cases successfully compel, a larger acquisition price for the target company. For example, Biomet shareholders successfully compelled the company’s would-be private equity acquirers to increase their $10.9 billion buyout
Meanwhile, Back in Namibia…
Over the last few days, the papers have brimmed with news about developments in the Apple options backdating investigation (more about which below). But in the meantime, Kobi Alexander, the fugitive former head of Comverse Technology, has been holed up in Namibia. Alexander is free on bail while fighting extradition to the
Notes from Around the Web
Lead Enron Plaintiff Moves to Dismiss Vinson & Elkins: In the serial retelling of the Enron collapse, the company’s outside professionals have been popular scapegoats, and among the most prominent targets has been the company’s former law firm, Vinson & Elkins. According to reports (here), between 1997 and 2001, Enron paid the
Notes from Around the Web
Stock Option Exercise Backdating: To date, the focus of the options timing scandal has been on the backdating of option grant date. But an October 30, 2006 New York Times article entitled “Dodging Taxes is a New Stock Option Scheme” (here, registration required) reveals that a new area of investigatory focus is the
Notes from Around the Web
The D & O Diary has had numerous posts commenting on the possible reasons for the YTD 2006 decline in the number of securities class action lawsuits (most recent post here). D & O maven and prominent coverage attorney Dan Bailey of the Columbus, OH law firm of Bailey Cavalieri has recently formulated his
Individuals’ Settlement Contributions and Other Notes From Around the Web
Individual Settlement Contributions: When the Enron and WorldCom consolidated class action settlements were announced, much was made of the fact that individual directors and officers were compelled to contribute to those settlements out of their own assets without recourse to insurance or indemnity. This occasioned debate about whether the requirement for individuals’ settlement contribution represented