Category Archives: Securities law

Scrap the SEC

That’s basically the position that Professor Larry Ribstein takes. Market forces (including the media) are more effective in ferreting out and punishing wrongdoing than the folks who somehow missed the Bernie Madoff scam. As usual, I agree with Ribstein

Subway Founder Loses NASD Arbitration – Not a Big Surprise

The co-founder of Subway recently lost his NASD arbitration claim, in which he alleged the UBS caused him $193 million in damages by improperly investing funds held by trusts he controlled in tech stocks before the 2001 market implosion. As Mr. Deluca discovered, NASD arbitration panels are not usually very investor friendly, especially when the…

Bad Day for Prosecutors in Brocade Backdating Case

Friday was a bad day for the federal prosecutors handling the options backdating related securities fraud case against former Brocade CEO Gregory Reyes, and tomorrow does not promise to be any better. The federal judge presiding over the case has ordered the prosecutors to file a response to the defense team’s motion for acquittal by…

SEC Will Not Appeal Fee Based Account Ruling

The SEC recently announced that it would not appeal a recent federal court decision banning certain kinds of fee based accounts, in a  reversal of a decade old policy.

Credit Suisse Banker Charged With Insider Trading

A Credit Suisse investment banker was charged today in an insider trading scheme linked to acquisitions involving nine publicly traded United States companies that netted a co-conspirator more than $7 million. The banker, Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem, a 37-year-old Pakistani who worked for Credit Suisse’s Global Energy Group in New York, has been charged with…

The Government’s Never Ending Enron Jihad

According to news reports the SEC on Wednesday filed charges against two former Enron in-house lawyers. The SEC filed its complaint 7 years after the occurrence of the events out of which the claims arise, and more than 5 years after Enron’s stock tanked. One has to wonder whether there will ever be an end…

Bad News at Dell

Dell computer announced yesterday that an internal investigation of company finances had revealed evidence of misconduct, accounting errors and insufficiency of financial controls. The SEC and the US Attorney’s office are investigating. Can the shareholder lawsuits be too far behind? Not a good day for Dell.

More on the Stockman Indictment

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog, more info is available on today’s indictment of former Budget Director David Stockman on securities fraud charges. Both Stockman and his attorney have issued statements. For Mr. Stockman’s sake, I hope he fares better than the last high profile client that the Morvillo firm represented on securities…

David Stockman Charged With Securities Fraud

The New York Times is reporting that former Reagan Administration budget director and wunderkind David Stockman has been charged with securities fraud. More as this story develops.

Judge Dismisses Part of Enron Class Action

Judge Melinda Harmon has granted the Plaintiffs’ motion voluntarily dismiss Houston based law firm Vinson & Elkins and several former Enron executives, including the estate of former CEO and Chairman Ken Lay, from the massive class action currently scheduled to go to trial in April. The Texas Lawyer has a few more details on the…