When the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering filing (or has filed) an action alleging violations of the federal securities laws, it often is in the public interest to pursue a timely, reasonable and consensual resolution of the matter. The
settlement
Can Blockchain Create a Corporate-Governance Revolution at Public Companies?
In a new paper, we analyze the major disconnect between the theory of corporate governance, its legal expression, and the reality of corporate ownership structures, based on an “indirect holding system” (IHS), which has evolved from complex existing technological …
Video: Inside the NFL Concussion Case
Watch lawyers, scholars, and a federal judge discuss the thorny issues involved in settling the high-profile class action filed by former players against the pro football league. John C. Coffee, Jr., the Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law at Columbia …
Cleary Discusses Settlement Payments Under the New Tax Law
Investigations into potential violations of U.S. and non-U.S. securities laws are often resolved by a settlement requiring the business to make one or more large settlement payments. We have seen settlements paid to the DOJ, the SEC, other U.S. and …
The Rise of Financial Regulation by Settlement
The dramatic escalation in enforcement activity by federal agencies against large financial institutions since the financial crisis is well known. These days the latest multi-billion dollar deal between regulators and Wall Street banks has lost blockbuster status and hardly even …
The Supreme Court Meets Lehman Brothers
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide an unusual, yet important, case brought by investors in bonds issued by Lehman Brothers, the infamous investment bank that collapsed in September 2008. The case, CalPERS v. ANZ Securities, Inc., is not …
Gibson Dunn on SEC Enforcement by the Numbers and the End of an Era
Each year, hot on the heels of the federal government’s September 30 fiscal year end, the Securities and Exchange Commission proclaims that it has once again filed a record (or near-record) number of enforcement actions. But the main event for …
Skadden Discusses Section 16 Settlements
The so-called “short-swing profit rule” under Securities Exchange Act Section 16(b) generally prohibits officers and directors as well as 10 percent shareholders of a U.S. public company from profiting from any purchase or sale (or sale and purchase) of the …
SEC Settlements After Dodd-Frank
On September 23, U.S. District Judge William Pauley refused to approve a settlement between the CFTC and Deutsche Bank covering the bank’s failure to report swaps properly. Instead of rubber-stamping the settlement, the judge asked the parties for additional briefing. …
Taking a Financial Position in Your Opponent in Litigation
Plaintiffs sometimes have significant financial interests in their opponents, interests that extend beyond the boundaries of the lawsuits themselves. In some situations, plaintiffs maintain a “long” financial position. For instance, in securities litigation or direct or derivative litigation alleging a …
Arnold & Porter explains First DOJ/CFPB Joint Redlining Settlement
On September 24, 2015, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), and Hudson City Savings Bank (Bank) entered into a consent order which, if approved by the court, would settle allegations that the Bank …
Morrison & Foerster discusses CFPB’s Proposed Consent Orders Related to Wireless Billing Practices
On May 12, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) filed proposed consent orders in federal courts that would settle allegations that two wireless carriers unfairly permitted their customers to be charged by establishing billing and processing systems that …
The Cost of Suing Business
To listen to the Chamber of Commerce, one would think that class actions are the most significant scourge on business ever conjured up by man. In brief after brief to the Supreme Court, the Chamber of Commerce and other business …