HIGH PROFILE CASES
• SEC files charges
against 2 former Apple officers over options
• Scrushy Settles
SEC Lawsuit for $81M
• Ex-Qwest CEO Nacchio convicted on 19 counts of
insider trading
NEWS
• US lawmakers
vote to give shareholders advisory vote on executive pay
• Krispy
Kreme CFO Michael Phalen leaving, announces general counsel
• NBC president
says decision to air Cho video 'good journalism'
• Clear Channel
sells TV group to private firm for $1.2 billion
• ABN Amro
defends proposed merger with Barclays in SEC filing
• U.S.
securities regulators warn investors against scams touting huge
profit from 'China' stocks
THE BANKRUPTCY
FILES
• Lawyers Cope With Bankruptcy Law
Online
RECENT CASE SUMMARIES
•
FleetBoston Fin. Corp. v. US
• Nimbus Techs., Inc. v. SunnData
Prods., Inc.
• Gatz v. Ponsoldt
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HIGH PROFILE CASES:
SEC
FILES CHARGES AGAINST 2 FORMER APPLE OFFICERS OVER
OPTIONS
(AP) - The Securities and Exchange
Commission filed civil charges Tuesday against two former Apple Inc.
officers over their alleged roles in backdating stock options. One
of them immediately settled the case and cast some blame on Apple's
CEO Steve Jobs. Read
more...
Related Resources
• See
the Complaint (S.E.C. v. Nancy Heinen and Fred Anderson)
SCRUSHY
SETTLES SEC LAWSUIT FOR $81M
(AP) - Fired
HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy reached an $81
million settlement to end a government lawsuit in a huge accounting
fraud, but he will pay less than $10 million - maybe much less - as
his attorneys contend he is running out of money. A federal judge on
Monday approved the settlement of the lawsuit filed by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which billed the financial deal
as one of the SEC's largest against an individual. Read
more...
Related Resources
• See
the Final Judgment (S.E.C. v. Richard Scrushy)
EX-QWEST
CEO NACCHIO CONVICTED ON 19 COUNTS OF INSIDER
TRADING
(AP) - Joe Nacchio, a former AT&T
executive tapped to transform Qwest Communications into a major
telecommunications competitor, was convicted of 19 of 42 insider
trading charges after one-time top executives described his
relentless drive to meet revenue projections without revealing
financial risks. Read
more...
Related Resources
• Nacchio's
Defense Counsel
NEWS:
US
LAWMAKERS VOTE TO GIVE SHAREHOLDERS ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE
PAY
(AP) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted
Friday to give shareholders at public corporations a voice in
executive pay packages that typically equal 500 times the salaries
of workers at those companies. The shareholder vote under the bill
would be advisory only. But Democratic backers of this provision
said that investors need a say when companies losing money or laying
off workers are paying executives eight- and nine-figure salaries
and retirement packages. Read
more...
KRISPY
KREME CFO MICHAEL PHALEN LEAVING, ANNOUNCES GENERAL
COUNSEL
(AP) - Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. on
Tuesday said that its chief financial officer is leaving the
doughnut chain to return to investment banking. Michael Phalen has
been CFO since January 2004 and will return to investment banking in
Baltimore. Read
more...
Related Resources
• Krispy
Kreme's New GC
NBC
PRESIDENT SAYS DECISION TO AIR CHO VIDEO 'GOOD
JOURNALISM'
(AP) - The head of NBC News said the
decision to air images, writings and video of Virginia Tech shooter
Seung-Hui Cho was "good journalism" and the network showed restraint
by paring down what would be made public. NBC News President Steve
Capus, who appeared with "NBC Nightly News" anchorman Brian Williams
on Tuesday's broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," acknowledged
images that "wallpapered" the media were uncomfortable to view.
"Sometimes good journalism is bad public relations," Capus said. Read
more...
CLEAR
CHANNEL SELLS TV GROUP TO PRIVATE FIRM FOR $1.2
BILLION
(AP) - Clear Channel Communications Inc.,
the largest U.S. operator of radio stations, said Friday it agreed
to sell its 56 television stations to a private equity firm for $1.2
billion. The company had announced it would sell the stations last
November, part of a divestiture that includes the possible sale of
448 radio stations. Read
more...
Related Resources
• Media
& Entertainment Counsel Center
ABN
AMRO DEFENDS PROPOSED MERGER WITH BARCLAYS IN SEC
FILING
(AP) - The board of Dutch bank ABN Amro NV
Tuesday defended its decision to accept an all-share takeover offer
from Britain's Barclays PLC worth US$90.7 billion, saying it
believed the deal was preferable to a potentially higher hostile
bid. Read
more...
Related Resources
• M&A
Counsel Center
U.S.
SECURITIES REGULATORS WARN INVESTORS AGAINST SCAMS TOUTING HUGE
PROFIT FROM 'CHINA' STOCKS
(AP) - Securities
regulators are warning investors to be wary of faxes, e-mails and
text messages sent by cell phone that promise huge profit from
so-called "China" stocks of companies that often are unrelated to
the country or its stock markets. The National Association of
Securities Dealers, the brokerage industry's self-policing
organization, issued an investor alert Monday regarding "pump and
dump" scams touting bogus stocks with promises of astronomical
returns. Read
more...
THE BANKRUPTCY FILES:
LAWYERS
COPE WITH BANKRUPTCY LAW ONLINE
Patrick McMahon, a
consumer-bankruptcy lawyer in San Francisco, had only a couple of
days to help a client file for bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure on
his home. There was just one problem: a new bankruptcy law that took
effect in 2005 obligated the client to take a credit counseling
class first. McMahon directed the client to a Web site that offered
the class online. The client took it "at midnight," McMahon said.
The foreclosure was stopped. Read
more...
Related Resources
• FindLaw's
Bankruptcy Law Index
RECENT CASE SUMMARIES:
FLEETBOSTON
FIN. CORP. V. US
(U.S. Federal Circuit) - A judgment
finding that corporate taxpayer had to pay interest on the full
extent of certain deficiencies is affirmed where the trial court
correctly concluded that an amount of tax is "paid" within the
meaning of 26 U.S.C. section 6601(a) only by funds in the taxpayer's
account for that tax year, and that the interest attributable to the
underpayments resulting from credit elects for 1984 and 1985 was
properly calculated for each taxable year from the March 15 due
dates for the succeeding years' income taxes. Read
more...
NIMBUS
TECHS., INC. V. SUNNDATA PRODS., INC.
(U.S. 11th
Circuit) - In dispute involving an LED tooling purchase agreement,
summary judgment for defendants on plaintiff's claim for intentional
interference with business relations, and holding that plaintiff may
not hold one of defendants accountable for judgment against
non-party creditor by piercing the corporate veil, are affirmed as:
1) under Alabama law, a plaintiff may not pierce the corporate veil
against a creditor; and 2) plaintiff cannot establish an essential
element of its intentional interference claim. Read
more...
GATZ
V. PONSOLDT
(Del. Supreme Court) - In an action
brought by minority public stockholders setting forth claims arising
out of several corporate transactions that occurred between 1992 and
2004, dismissal of stockholders' action is reversed and remanded
where, contrary to the court of chancery's conclusions, the claims
at issue were not exclusively derivative and could be brought
directly. Read
more...
