Mutual Fund Investment Adviser Not Liable For Fund Prospectus’s Alleged Misstatements, Supreme Court Finds

An investment adviser that is a legally separate entity from the mutual fund that files an allegedly misleading prospectus cannot be held primarily liable in a private action under Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 for “mak[ing]” a false statement…

Citing Morrison Ruling, Court Narrows Class Suit over Alleged Fraud by France’s Vivendi SA

In a long-awaited ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Feb. 22 significantly narrowed class securities fraud charges against Vivendi Universal S.A. and two former executives who allegedly made material misstatements about the French media conglomerate’s finances, causing its stock to trade at artificially high levels between 2000 and 2002…

Supreme Court Decision in ‘Foreign-Cubed’ Case Could Drive Global Class Actions to Other Jurisdictions

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. could drive transnational class actions to other countries such as…

SEC Prosecution of Goldman Sachs to Have Major Impact on Private Suits, Firm Conduct, Lawyers Say

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s high profile enforcement action against Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS) likely will prompt more shareholder litigation, increase regulatory and congressional…

U.S. Buyers of European Stock Blocked from Suing in U.S. Courts

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the extraterritorial reach of the U.S. securities laws, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled March 26 that a…

Securities Class Action Settlements in 2009 Increased in Total Amounts, Numbers

Securities class action settlements totaled $3.8 billion in 2009, an increase of more than 35 percent compared to the $2.75 billion total in 2008, a new study by Cornerstone Research said.

Supreme Court Decision in Muchnick Case Leaves Some Issues to Be Resolved by District Courts

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the inclusion of authors of unregistered works in a settlement of a class action copyright proceeding does not prevent a federal court from exercising jurisdiction leaves some unanswered questions that federal district courts will have to address in the future, according to participants in a March 22 panel discussion presented by Law Seminars International of Seattle.

ANALYSIS: Pushing the Limits of U.S. Securities Laws: ‘Foreign-Cubed’ Cases

The Supreme Court is poised this Term to address one of the hot issues in securities class-action litigation: the extent to which the U.S. securities laws…

Appeals Court Revives Investment Advisers Act Suit over Mutual Funds’ Sales Practices

The district court erred in dismissing class securities fraud claims that certain Citigroup affiliates made misleading disclosures about…

Supreme Court To Review ‘Foreign-Cubed’ Case Despite SEC, Solicitor General Objections

The U.S. Supreme Court November 30, 2009, agreed to review a lower court decision dismissing a “foreign-cubed” case that raises critical questions about the reach of U.S. federal courts and the U.S. securities fraud laws with respect to…