Posts Tagged ‘ securities settlement ’

10 Biggest SEC Securities Settlements So Far This Year

September 20th, 2012. By AbiK

If you’ve been wondering what the largest SEC securities settlements have been for the first half of the year, the National Economic Research Associates, Inc., (NERA) recently released it’s mid-year update. NERA has a proprietary database of SEC settlements and judgments going back to July 21, 2002, and they track SEC settlement trends each year.

According to the NERA report for the first half of 2012, there are some interesting trends to keep an eye on:

• The SEC is on pace to settle with more defendants in FY12 than it has in any year since FY05.

• This increase is being driven by heightened settlement activity with individuals, particularly for allegations related to insider trading and Ponzi schemes; the SEC is on pace for a record number of insider trading settlements in FY12.

• The median settlement value with individuals continued to follow the upward path observed since FY10, while the median value of settlements with companies declined after reaching a record value in FY11.

• The largest settlements in 1H12 are the highly publicized settlements with Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. ($285 million), still under appeal after being rejected by Judge Jed Rakoff, and Raj Rajaratnam ($92.8 million).

The 10 largest SEC securities settlements for the first six months of the year were:

	Settling Defendant	Announcement Date	Settlement  Amount	Allegation
	1. Citigroup Global Markets Inc.	10/19/11	$285M	Financial Services Misrepresentation to Customers
	2. Raj Rajaratnam, Galleon Management, LP	11/8/11	$92.81M	Insider Trading
	3. Magyar Telekom	12/29/11	$90.80M	FCPA
	4. George David Gordon, Attorney	2/16/12	$50.51M	Market Manipulation
	5. Wachovia Bank N.A.	12/8/11	$46.08M	Trading Violations
	6. Pentagon Capital Management	3/30/12	$42.05M	Market Timing/Late Trading
	7. GE Funding Capital Market Services	12/23/11	$24.90M	Market Manipulation
	8. MAAA Trust1	12/22/11	$24.75M	Insider Trading
	9. Aon Corporation	12/20/11	$14.55M	FCPA
	10. Joseph F. Skowron III, Portfolio Manager, FrontPoint Partners, LLC	11/17/11	$13.37M	Insider Trading
	1Settlements that included a jointly liable individual.
	Read the full NERA Report here.

Tags: AON, Citigroup, FrontPoint, Galleon Management, GE Funding, George David Gordon, Joseph F Skowron, MAAA Trust, Magyar Telekom, NERA, Pentagon Capital, Raj Rajaratnam, SEC, Securities Fraud, securities settlement, Wachovia
Posted in Emerging Issues, Insecurities, Securities | No Comments »

InSecurities: Securities Fraud Roundup 7.5.11

July 5th, 2011. By LucyC

Top Securities Fraud Stories

By now you know the script. InSecurities takes a look at some of the latest securities fraud happenings—where folks who thought they’d made some secure investments have found those investments, well, a bit insecure due to fraudulent—or alleged fraudulent—activity. So be prepared for those omnipresent words and phrases—like “materially false and misleading statements”. They tend to pop up here with some regularity, as you’ll see…

New Securities Lawsuits Filed

Our first Madoff Meter contender is Deutsche Bank AG. And DB brings us another of those omnipresent securities fraud phrases: “mortgage-backed securities” (you’ve heard that one before, right?)…

 

Company:                                        Deutsche Bank AG

Ticker:                                             DB

Class Period:                                  Jan-3-07 to Jan-16-09

Date Filed:                                      Jun-21-11

Lead Plaintiff Deadline:                  Aug-20-11

Court:                                             Southern District of New York

Madoff Meter:                      

The Allegations:

Not to be left out of the fray, Deutsche Bank (DB) is facing a securities class action brought on behalf of an institutional investor. Details above, and we’re talking big bucks, allegedly lost on ordinary shares during the period between January 3, 2007 and January 16, 2009 (the “Class Period”).

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, DB issued materially false and misleading Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Insecurities, Investment Broker, securities, Securities Fraud, Securities lawsuit, securities settlement, Stock Fraud, Stockbroker Fraud
Posted in Insecurities, Securities | No Comments »

InSecurities: Securities Fraud Roundup 6.7.11

June 7th, 2011. By LucyC

Top Securities Fraud Stories

So here we go…another roundup of all the securities fraud lawsuits that’ve recently cropped up and have hit our Madoff meter. So without further ado, let’s get straight to them…

New Securities Lawsuits Filed 

What was that Eurythmics Song?—Here Comes That Sinking Feeling Again…ok, so maybe Annie was singing about rain and whatever it represents and not about quicksand. But you can bet your bottom dollar that the folks who invested in WMS Industries during the class period here were probably feeling a bit under the weather with this one: WMS Industries Inc. Securities Fraud…

Company:	WMS Industries Inc
Ticker:	WMS
Class Period:	Nov-1-10 to Apr-11-11
Date Filed:	May-25-11
Lead Plaintiff Deadline:	Jul-24-11
Court:	Northern District of Illinois
Madoff Meter:

The Allegations:

WMS Industries, which designs, manufactures and distributes both video and mechanical slot machines and video lottery terminals, got hit with a securities class action in the latter half of May alleging materially false and misleading statements. Yes, that old chestnut.

The allegations state that WMS has not been successful in living up to claims that it would continue to post sales revenue and margin gains “without the benefit or need for the recovery of overall demand or the casino gaming replacement cycle.”

For those of us not following the ups and downs of the electronic gaming industry—it’s in a down Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Duke Energy, Insecurities, Logitech International, Madoff Meter, Oclaro Inc, Securities lawsuit, securities settlement, Tellabs, Urban Outfitters, WMS Industries
Posted in Emerging Issues, Insecurities, Securities | No Comments »