“The little Louisiana pension fund litigation monster”
Fortune reporter Erika Fry profiles the lawyer-allied Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, pronounced “Lampers,” which has been called a “serial plaintiff,” a “frequent filer,” and...
View ArticleSupreme Court and constitutional law roundup
Court agrees to hear case that could be vehicle for reconsidering “fraud on the market” theory embraced in Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 1988, which would spell huge news for securities class actions...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
J.P. Morgan and the Dodd-Frank system: “With Wall Street’s capable assistance, government has managed to institutionalize and monetize the perp walk.” [Michael Greve, related from Greve on the...
View ArticleSupreme Court and constitutional law roundup
SCOTUS to hear case of Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, First Amendment challenge to state laws regulating truth of political speech [IJ/Cato amicus cert brief] Groups of law professors file amicus...
View ArticleFinancial and banking roundup
Following vindication, Mark Cuban begins transcribing transcripts of other SEC trials on his blog [Blog Maverick, background] “Why Settling With The SEC Can Be Worse Than Losing At Trial” [John J....
View ArticleHalliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc.: SCOTUS considers shareholder...
Andrew Grossman reports on yesterday’s oral argument in Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund, which “may be the biggest business case of the term. …Basic [Basic v. Levinson, 1988, in which the Court...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
Loan servicers prepare to throw large sums at making “forced placed insurance” class actions go away [Kevin Funnell] How Are Small Banks Faring Under Dodd-Frank? [Hester Peirce, Ian Robinson, Thomas...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
Divided D.C. Circuit panel partially overturns SEC conflict minerals law [Bainbridge, more, more, Adler, earlier] Dodd-Frank vs. small banks, cont’d [Todd Zywicki] A failing grade for new Financial...
View ArticleLoser-pays by consent in corporate governance?
“Delaware’s Supreme Court has ruled that corporations can adopt bylaws requiring an investor who sues and loses to pay the company’s legal costs, potentially upending the economics of a booming type of...
View ArticleThe Court’s missed opportunity in securities law
In yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Halliburton v. Erica P. John Fund, the Court unanimously agreed to narrow procedural relief for the corporate defendant, but declined 6-3 to revisit its 1988...
View ArticleAndrew Pincus on Halliburton
The Supreme Court’s refusal to revisit the fraud-on-the-market presumption in securities litigation leaves intact an economically irrational system that mostly benefits lawyers. “Indeed, the Court’s...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
Federally run consumer complaint database at CPSC has been unfair and unreliable mess, so naturally CFPB wants one of its own [Kevin Funnell] Los Angeles, Miami, Providence, and Cook County among...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
SEC regs suppress small business capital formation and that’s a shame [Commissioner Daniel Gallagher via Bainbridge] Federally sponsored gripe site for financial institutions not likely to end well...
View Article“Should the SEC be prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner?”
Prof. Bainbridge flags this disturbing Wall Street Journal piece: The Securities and Exchange Commission is increasingly steering cases to hearings in front of the agency’s appointed administrative...
View ArticleAn agenda for financial regulation
Steve Bainbridge has a wish list for reforms to financial and securities law in the new Congress, especially the damaging Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley laws. Included: repeal of conflicts minerals...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
“How Operation Choke Point Hurts the Unbanked” [former FDIC chairman William Isaac, American Banker] A nation of snitches: “U.S. rules would expand white collar crime informers” [Reuters] Courts...
View ArticleFor real liability reform, try freedom of contract
Six months ago the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the right of an enterprise to include a loser-pays provision in its bylaws, specifying that losing shareholder-litigants would have to contribute...
View ArticleHilary Kramer, TV stock picker, and her class action suits
A Reuters investigation: “No one has filed more challenges to M&A deals since 2011 than Hilary Kramer. She says she’s acting in the interest of shareholders, but they haven’t received a penny....
View ArticleSupreme Court roundup
In a new Cato podcast, I talk with Caleb Brown about the Court’s pending case on “disparate impact” liability in housing and finance, Texas Dept. of Housing vs. The Inclusive Communities Project...
View ArticleBanking and finance roundup
Cato Book Forum tomorrow (Wednesday, May 13): Paul Mahoney, “Wasting a Crisis: Why Securities Regulation Fails” [register or watch online] “When The SEC Pays Your Lawyer For Informing On You, Is That...
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