‘Enforcement 40’ for 2020
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Join the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group on LinkedInFlow of SEC Fair Funds Distributions Turns to Torrent
by Bruce Carton Two months ago we speculated here that while it was too early to declare a trend based on just two announcements, it sure looked like money was starting to flow to investors from the SEC’s newly created Office of Collections and Distributions. In the past two weeks, that flow has turned into […]
SEC Opens Informal Inquiry Into West Penn Allegheny Health System’s Write-Down
West Penn Allegheny Health System told investors yesterday that it is cooperating with an SEC probe of the hospital network’s recent $73 million revenue write-down. Pittsburgh Business Times reports that according to the company, the SEC is conducting an “informal inquiry with regard to West Penn Allegheny Health System and the $73 million balance sheet […]
UK Advisory Group Recommends Introduction of US-Style Class Actions
The Civil Justice Council, a UK advisory body, has issued a report encouraging the government to introduce a class action system similar to the one in the United States. The report entitled “Improving Access to Justice through Collective Actions” makes 11 recommendations to the Lord Chancellor, including the introduction of a system of collective action […]
Australia: Aristocrat Securities Class Action Settled for Record $144.5 Million
Australia’s “largest shareholder class action” has been settled for $144.5 million. Yesterday in the Federal Court, plaintiffs’ law firm Maurice Blackburn and defendant Aristocrat Leisure jointly asked the court to approve the settlement agreement the sides struck in May. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the $144.5 million settlement is Australia’s largest ever, exceeding the […]
Alexander and Razmilovic Listed Among Top 10 Most Wanted White-Collar Fugitives
After consulting with law enforcement agencies, Forbes.com has created a list of the top 10 most wanted white-collar fugitives. The list, published today, includes notable securites fraud defendants Jacob “Kobi” Alexander and Tomo Razmilovic. Alexander, the former CEO of Comverse Technology, a software company in Woodbury, N.Y., has fled to the African country of Namibia. The U.S. […]
SEC Voluntarily Dismisses Manipulation Claim Against Masri
Nine years after alleging that Mexican business owner Moises Saba Masri engaged in the manipulation of securities, the SEC has decided to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit against him with prejudice. According to a presss release yesterday, the stipulation was initiated voluntarily by the SEC, and came in the absence of any settlement agreement. Roger Crane, Masri’s counsel […]
ARS Settlements With States May Undercut Private Litigation
The last couple of weeks have seen numerous announcements concerning major brokerage firms agreeing to buy back billions of dollars worth of outstanding auction-rate securities to settle regulatory investigations. According to an article in the Legal Times by defense lawyers Michael Rivera and Erik Frias of the Fried Frank law firm, these agreements may effectively shut down […]
Mel Weiss’ Deal with Milberg
Melvyn Weiss, former founding partner of the Milberg Weiss law firm, must report to prison on Thursday after pleading guilty in June to charges that he paid kickbacks to investors who served as plaintiffs in securities class action lawsuits. He is slated to serve 30-month prison sentence at a minimum-security camp in Morgantown, West Virginia. […]
Ohio Federal Court Dismisses Diebold Securities Class Action
On August 22, 2008, Judge Peter Economus of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio dismissed the securities class action against Diebold, Inc. and numerous Diebold executives. Plaintiffs claimed that the defendants made a series of allegedly false statements regarding the financial health of Diebold and that those statements materially misled the investing […]
Xethanol Corp. Settles Securities Class Action for $2.8 Million
New York-based Xethanol Corp. has reportedly agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a securities class action lawsuit. The Gazette reports that the settlement has received preliminary approval from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to lead counsel Kahn Gauthier Sevick LLC. The class is reportedly all shareholders who bought the company’s […]