Criminal Law

New Ruling, Truth May Not Be a Defense

Posted on February 16, 2009
From Gordon Firemark's Entertainment Law Blog comes  post regarding a First Circuit Ruling, finding Staples liable for distribution of an email regarding a terminated employee that was true!I haven't seen the decision, but I trust Gordon't redention of the facts...

Madoff Settles with SEC

Posted on February 10, 2009
The SEC announced a settlement with Madoff of its civil case. The terms of the settlement, the amount of disgourgement, and the amount of the fine have not been disclosed.The settlement has no direct effect on the criminal case, which is ongoing.Related articles by ZemantaSEC, Madoff agree to settle civil fraud case (msnbc...

Wall Street Goes To Congress

Posted on February 10, 2009
On Wednesday, eight chief executives of big banks will make theirway to Washington to appear at a Congressional hearing in front of the House Financial Services Committee.Tthe guest list will be interesting. The chief executives scheduled to appear are Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs), Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase) John Mack (Morgan Stanley), Vikram Pandit (Citigroup) and Kenneth Lewis (Bank of America)...

$500,000 is SuperWealthy? Not in NYC

Posted on February 08, 2009
Anyone who thinks that the President's plan to cap executive comp at $500,000 for the banks who took bailout funds is a good idea needs to consider who is going to take those jobs when they could earn multiples of that $500,000 at another company. But is $500,000 a reasonable cap? Maybe in Houston, but not in NYC...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Goldman Sachs to Repay TARP Funds Early

Posted on February 08, 2009
While the President's proposal to cap executive comp at $500,000 a year is, IMHO, a seriously misguided attempt to address the financial crisis, it may have some ancillary benefits. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) Chief Financial OfficerDavid Viniar said the bank is keen to avoid restrictions it agreed toafter receiving funds from the U...

Kentucky Seizes Domain Names

Posted on February 04, 2009
Here is an idea that has not been well thought out. Kentucky, which prohibits online gambling, got a judge to issue a forfeiture order to internet registrars, seizing the domain names of gambling sites!Say what you will about online gambling, but how one State believes it has the jurisdiction, or the right for that matter, to seize an internet domain name is beyond all rational thought...

Wachovia- UBS Retail Joint Venture?

Posted on February 03, 2009
Pretty soon we are going to need a scorecard - Wachovia Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services Inc. of New Yorkhave engaged in preliminary talks about a joint venture for theirretail-brokerage units, according to a report in today?s New York Post.

Dreier Partners Liable as Partners?

Posted on February 02, 2009
The status and liability of so called "non-equity" partners in law firms has always troubled me. While I never actually dealt with the issue, my concern has always been, "if you tell the world you are a partner, haven't you made yourself a partner in the eyes of the world, including the firm's creditors?"Unfortunately, Dreier partners may learn the answer to the question, according to the ABA Journal...

More SEC Excuses

Posted on January 27, 2009
?We use virtually all our resources to pursue fires,? theSecurities and Exchange Commission?s enforcement chief, LindaThomsen, said in draft testimony obtained by Bloomberg for aSenate Banking Committee hearing today. ?Additional resourceswould give us the capacity to pursue smoke before it becomes afire...

BigLaw Trying to Change the Rules?

Posted on January 27, 2009
BigLaw has been unable to sustain itself, and the economic decline has uncovered the flaw in the BigLaw business model. Now, BigLaw is crying the blues and has apparently decided to change the rules of the game. In her MyShingle.com article, Carolyn Elefant comments on a movement by BigLaw to change the rules of the game, to suit its own needs...

Wachovia employees whacked by Wells Fargo

Posted on January 16, 2009
Corporate retribution is an understatement. Changing firms is a fact of life in the brokerage industry. Firms offer their competitors' brokers bonuses as forgivable loans to leave, and they all do it. Now Wells Fargo has apparently decided to punish brokers and staff who left Wells Fargo to go to Wachovia...

FINRA Claims No Jurisdiction over Madoff Fraud?

Posted on January 15, 2009
FINRA defends its role in Madoff scandal | Reuters"None of the fraudulent activities that have been alleged deal with the activities of the broker-dealer or come under the jurisdiction of FINRA." Reuters provides this quote which it claims comes from an email from FINRA...

Shapiro to Face Tough Questions at Confirmation Hearing

Posted on January 08, 2009
With the mainstream press finally catching on that FINRA, not the SEC had primary responsibility for the oversight of Madoff's brokerage firm operations and financials, Shapiro is going to have a tough time with her confirmation hearings.Let's hope that Schapiro doesn't decide that giving up her million dollar plus job for the $150,000 that the SEC Chair gets is not worth the aggravation...

SEC Bashing Reality Check

Posted on January 08, 2009
Bruce Carton has a great article that examines the myth of the SEC being too cozy with the industry and reaping huge Wall Street jobs when they leave the Commisssion.Time for a Brief Reality Check in the SEC Bashing

SEC Approves FINRA Ban on Motions to Dismiss

Posted on January 08, 2009
Brokers and brokerage firms have lost additional rights today, as FINRA announced that the SEC has approved FINRA's rule change which will virtually ban all motions to dismiss in FINRA arbitrations.No matter what your legal defense, unless it is eligibility or factual impossibility, you cannot make a motion to dismiss, and you must go to a hearing...

Two Views of Shapiro as SEC Chair

Posted on January 07, 2009
I am a bit ambivalent about Mary Shapiro becoming the SEC Chairman. On one hand, I think she has the experience and ability to do the job, and certainly did a great job as the head of the NASD and FINRA. An added plus is that she has successfully steered the NASD and the NYSE through their merger - and the new SEC Chairman is going to have to deal with something similar...

Mixing Regulatory Failures is Wrong

Posted on January 05, 2009
In an effort to come up with a New Year angle, the LA Times calls 2008 the end of the Masters of the Universe era on Wall Street. Fortunately, the fact that the Bonfire went out in March of 2000, nearly 8 years ago does not undermine the real point of the article - Washington needs to fix this mess...

Cox's Damage to the SEC

Posted on January 05, 2009
We didn't need Reuters to tell us that the SEC has had a rough time during Chairman Cox's reign, but their article yesterday also provides a very detailed examination of the Commission's failings during the last few years.While the problems at any agency or corporation are often placed on the leader of that entity, too much is blamed on Cox, who was not the Chairman during most of Madoff's Mess...

They should have lasted at least a month

Posted on January 05, 2009
Culture Clash: Broker Chief For Merrill Quits BofA - Thain, who wound up as president of the BofA/Merrill wealth management division, announced that Robert McCann, the head of brokerage at Merrill, and then to BofA, is leaving.That raises a ton of questions about the acquisition...

The End of the Financial World as We Know It

Posted on January 04, 2009
Great roundup of the current financial crisis by Michael Lewis in the NYT. I have minor disagreements with minor portions of this op-ed piece, but overall a great summary of what went wrong, and why. Madoff, Freddie and Fannie, Lehman, the SEC, and more...

One Thing BigLaw Gets Right

Posted on January 03, 2009
I don't want to be marked as a BigLaw Basher. Well, I am, but it is the business model as it applies to most work, not the people. Here is something that BigLaw does better than most; pro bono. The National Law Journal's varied pieces on "Pro Bono Awards" points to the pro bono work of BigLaw, and they certainly do a good job in that area...

SEC Investigates More Ponzi Schemes

Posted on January 03, 2009
The SEC is investigating two other potential Ponzi schemes, according to Bloomberg.com On case may involve as much as a billion dollars in losses. Thanks to Securities Docket for the heads up.

Margin Debt Down - ETrade's Doing?

Posted on January 03, 2009
Margin debt in retail investors' accounts has declined 37% from 2007 through the end of November, 2008.The WSJ is attributing it to an intentional move by investors, to reduce margin obligations in light of the recession.I am not so sure. A significant part of that decline must have been caused by the overly aggressive margin liquidations by ETrade, Ameritrade and some of the other online brokers, which wiped out a significant amount of investor assets...

Updated Madoff Investor List

Posted on January 02, 2009
There is stil a lot of double counting in the list, but the WSJ has updated it. And, they are calculating damages from the high point, not the amount of money originally invested.I am not saying that is wrong, but it is. If you invested $500,000, and Madoff told you in account statements that there was 2 million dollars in your account, and now there is zero, you lost two million dollars...

SEC Investigates More Ponzi Schemes

Posted on January 02, 2009
The SEC is investigating two other potential Ponzi schemes, according to Bloomberg.com On case may involve as much as a billion dollars in losses. Thanks to Securities Docket for the heads up.

Madoff Trustee Seeks Broad Subpoena Power

Posted on January 02, 2009
With his 28 million dollar warchest, it looks like Madoff's SIPC Trustee is going to be spending it. According to this article in the NYT, he is asking for extremely broad subpoena power from the court, and given the scope of the fraud, I don't doubt that he will get it...

Madoff Faces Life In Prison

Posted on December 30, 2008
The federal sentencing guidelines in this article appear to be correct. I didn't bother doing the calculation, since 10 years for a 70 year old is effectively a live sentence.If convicted, Bernard Madoff faces life in prison

SIPC Disappointment Down the Road for Madoff Investors

Posted on December 29, 2008
There is such a fundamental misunderstanding of SIPC in the investor community that it is sometimes frightening. SIPC is not a Congressional bailout for investors who lost money. It is not insurance. Its sole function is to protect investors if a brokerage firm goes out of business due to bankruptcy or other financial difficulties and customer assets are missing...

Madoff's Cash Stash

Posted on December 28, 2008
Keep the source of this tidbit in mind, but one newspaper is reporting that investigators believe that Madoff has put millions of dollars offshore, and according to this article, there are accounts at Mellon Bank that appear to have sent and received money from offshore locations...

BigLaw In Trouble

Posted on December 28, 2008
BigLaw does somethings really well. Others, not so much, and running their own shops is one of the things that they are not so good at.First they inflated first year salaries. I'm sorry, first year associates are not worth $165,000 a year, and their older siblings are not worth $200,000 a year...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.