By Porter Wright on The participants in the Citigroup litigation did not take much of a break during the holidays. As discussed here, on December 27, 2011, Judge Rakoff denied the SEC’s request to stay the litigation. As it turns out, the Commission did not even wait for that order – it appears that the SEC’s Motion for an … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today, the Federal Securities Litigation Blog continues its with its larger-than-usual blog entry examining the Top 10 securities litigation stories that were the most intriguing in 2011. As mentioned yesterday, like any sort of Top 10 list, not everyone will agree. Other bloggers will have their own lists with different stories. But on a personal … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Today and tomorrow, the Federal Securities Litigation Blog will take a break from discussing the most recent events and, with a larger-than-usual entry, examine the Top 10 securities litigation stories that were the most intriguing in 2011. Undoubtedly, others will be preparing similar lists and this is not intended to be a definitive or complete … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Wednesday, December 28, 2011, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the SEC’s case against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (which is before Judge Rakoff in New York). The appellate court received an emergency motion for a stay after Judge Rakoff denied the request made at the District Court level. That emergency motion is to … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Friday, December 16, 2011, the SEC filed a Motion in front of Judge Jed Rakoff, asking him to stay to proceedings which the Commission had brought against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. while the SEC’s appeal is pending before the Second Circuit. On December 20, 2011, Citigroup filed a memorandum joining in the SEC’s Motion. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a 135-page report issued entitled "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: A Roadmap for Transformational Reform" issued on December 14, 2011, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness expanded on the incremental changes it proposed in a 2009 report, saying that "extraordinary steps are needed to achieve change." The Report, which was … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Friday, December 16, 2011, the House Committee on Financial Services announced that it "will hold a hearing next year to examine the practice by the Securities and Exchange Commission of settling cases with defendants that neither admit nor deny complaints made by the SEC." The decades-long practice has garnered a great deal of attention … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Thursday, December 15, 2011, the SEC appealed the Opinion and Order issued on November 28, 2011 by Judge Jed Rakoff rejecting the SEC’s proposed settlement with Citigroup Global Markets for $285 million (previously discussed here). In a statement, the Director of the Division of Enforcement, Robert Khuzami said that Judge Rakoff "committed legal error … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a December 9, 2011 Opinion, the D.C. Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision that the SEC was not required to produce the notes of its staff members taken during an investigation of two individuals who were subsequently Government witnesses in a criminal prosecution of another individual. The Court found that notes were privileged under … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on An article from Lina Saigol and Kara Scannell in the Financial Times this morning (December 12, 2011) reports that the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance has sent letters to at least a dozen companies instructing them to "disclose business activity in and with Syria, Iran and others deemed ‘state sponsors’ of terror by the State … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on According to media reports (here and here, for example), SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, in a letter dated November 28, 2011 to Senators Jack Reed and Larry Crapo, has requested a series of statutory changes which would allow the Commission to impose stricter financial penalties for certain securities law violations, as well as greater penalties for … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Following yesterday’s sharply worded Opinion from Judge Rakoff rejecting the $285 million settlement with Citigroup Global Markets (discussed here), Robert Khuzami, the SEC Director of the Division of Enforcement, issued a statement (available here) claiming that Court "ignore[d] decades of established practice throughout federal agencies and decisions of the federal courts." Mr. Khuzami stated that … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a scathing Opinion and Order issued on Monday, November 28, 2011, Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the SEC proposed settlement with Citigroup Global Markets for $285 million, suggesting the SEC was hoping for "a quick headline" and finding "that the proposed Consent Judgment is neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest." … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A Thursday, November 24, 2011 article from Bob Van Voris on Bloomerg.com states that Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. may have to pay more than the proposed $285 million settlement with the SEC to satisfy Judge Jed Rakoff that the accord is fair. The article hints that Judge Rakoff may be displeased with the settlement because … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Tuesday, November 22, 2011, the SEC struck the latest blow in its long-standing dispute with Mark Cuban by filing a Motion to Compel, asking the Court to order Mr. Cuban to produce a privilege log of documents (from the period the SEC was investigating him) which were withheld on privilege grounds. According to the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Tuesday, November 16, 2011, six SEC Directors appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment to provide a progress report on Management and Structural Reforms at each of their respective divisions at the SEC (their testimony is available here). The witnesses acknowledged the comments made … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The SEC’s Office of Whistleblower has released its first Annual Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program for Fiscal Year 2011. The Report (available here) points out that because the Final Rules became effective August 12, 2011 (discussed here), there were only seven weeks of whistleblower tip data available for fiscal year 2011. The Report includes an … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on According to an article by David Hilzenrath in the Saturday, November 12 edition of the Washington Post (here), the SEC disciplined eight employees for their handling of the investigation of Bernie Madoff. The punishments imposed included suspensions, pay cuts and demotions.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Wednesday, November 9, 2011, the SEC issued a Press Release announcing that it had filed 735 enforcement actions in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, touting it as the "most enforcement actions filed in a single year." The Commission also highlighted the fact that "more than $2.8 billion in penalties and disgorgement [was] … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Monday, November 7, 2011, the SEC filed its Brief in response to questions posed by the Court regarding the proposed settlement in SEC v. Citigroup, No. 11-cv-7387 (S.D.N.Y.). In answering the Court’s questions, the Commission emphasized that "[t]he proposed consent judgment embodying this settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable, and should be entered by … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on According to an article by Lisa Uhlman on the Law360 website, the Department of Justice will not investigate whether David Becker, the SEC’s former General Counsel, violated ethics laws during the SEC’s handling of issues related to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. As described here, the SEC’s Office of the Inspector General had previously referred the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, the SEC’s Inspector General ("Inspector General or "OIG") released its report regarding the investigation into the SEC’s policy of destroying documents gathered in pre-investigation inquiries known as Matters Under Inquiry ("MUI"), as well as statements made by the Commission to the National Archives and Records Administration ("NARA") regarding that policy. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Thursday, October 27, 2011, New York federal Judge Jed Rakoff issued an Order in the SEC’s case against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (previously discussed here), scheduling a hearing for November 9, 2011. In the Order, Judge Rakoff said "[t]he Court is required to ascertain whether the proposed judgment is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a report released last week, the SEC’s Office of Inspector General ("OIG") stated that it "did not find sufficient evidence to substantiate any allegations of misconduct" by the SEC Division of Enforcement during its investigation of Mark Cuban. The OIG’s Report (which is dated August 22, 2011, but not available until last week and … Continue Reading
