Breaking News from All Over

• France: Boussard & Gavaudan Faces Sanction Over Alleged Insider Trading
  Dow Jones Newswires | Jul 29, 2010

  Firm notified that "alleged breach by BGG of French insider trader regulations" has been referred to the AMF's enforcement arm, relating to a single transaction with a notional value of EUR1.06 million.

• Will Skilling Soon Taste a Bit of Freedom?
  WSJ Law Blog | Jul 29, 2010

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on honest-services fraud led directly to Conrad Black’s being released on bail last week. Might it do the same to former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling, whose appeal led to the high court’s ruling?

• Federal judge hears arguments on allowing wiretaps as evidence in Rajaratnam trial
  NY Post | Jul 29, 2010

  Attorneys for Rajaratnam told US District Judge Richard Holwell that Congress never intended for wiretaps to be used in insider-trading probes because the law that governs phone surveillance never mentions it."Buying or selling a stock is not at all like buying or selling cocaine or discussing a violent crime," said Terence Lyman, a lawyer for Rajaratnam.

• Let The Whistleblowers Trade
  Forbes.com | Jul 28, 2010

  There is a simpler and more effective way to encourage corporate insiders to come forward with information about fraud and corruption. Surprisingly, it is by authorizing conduct that is now illegal: insider trading.

• Does Dodd-Frank Exempt SEC From Most FOIA Requests?
  Enforcement Action | Jul 28, 2010

  A provision of the recently-passed Dodd-Frank legislation that seems to have flown completely under the radar may exempt the SEC from the need to respond to most requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

• Hawk Corp. says SEC won't take enforcement action after probe of stock trading
  AP | Jul 28, 2010

  Hawk Corp. said Wednesday that the SEC has ended an investigation into its stock transactions and will not recommend any enforcement action.

• Bribery as a Business Strategy
  Huffington Post | Jul 28, 2010

  And so you agree to match the competitor's 10% kick-back to the foreign official. You agree to violate US law and the laws of his country to salvage the deal. Suddenly all smiles, the emissary jots down the name of a small company you've never heard of that can be retained quickly ... this afternoon ... as a local "consultant" on the deal for the convenient sum of 10% of the total value. The following morning you return to U.S. headquarters with the signed contract in hand. What have you just bought for you and your company?

• Morrison Precludes F-Squared Cases, Too, Court Concludes
  The D&O Diary | Jul 28, 2010

  The Supreme Court’s decision last month in the NAB case precludes so-called "f-cubed" claims (claims brought by foreign plaintiffs who bought foreign stock on a foreign exchange). An unanswered question is whether Morrison also precludes "f-squared" claims – that is, claims by Americans who bought their shares of foreign companies on foreign exchanges. In a July 27, 2010 opinion, SDNY Judge Victor Marrero ruled in the Credit Suisse Group case that Morrison also precludes the f-squared claims as well.

• China: Journalist hunted after exposing insider trading of listed company
  Global Times | Jul 28, 2010

  A member of the Suichang police confirmed that Qiu is now on the list of wanted people, for allegedly "ruining the company's credibility."

• Is the Number of Securities Fraud Cases Up or Down?
  Enforcement Action | Jul 27, 2010

  Is the number of securities class actions filed recently “up sharply?” Or is the number of cases filed actually decreasing to the point that we are seeing a “real shift” downward in such cases?

• ‘Ungagged.net’ Offers Other Side of Enron Case
  Enforcement Action | Jul 27, 2010

  The site has one primary purpose: to “raise awareness about the problem of prosecutorial abuse in the United States of America,” which it seeks to achieve via a webumentary about the Enron case.

• SEC Files Settled Action Against General Electric and Two Subsidiaries for Alleged FCPA Violations
  SEC Press Release | Jul 27, 2010

  SEC charged GE Co. with violations of the FCPA for its involvement in a $3.6 million kickback scheme with Iraqi government agencies to win contracts to supply medical equipment and water purification equipment.

• Rajaratnam Judge Hears Arguments on Effort to Bar Government Wiretaps
  Bloomberg | Jul 27, 2010

  The prosecution is the first in which the government has used secret intercepts of telephone calls to investigate and prosecute insider trading.

• UBS's Igor Poteroba Pleads Not Guilty in Alleged Insider Trading Scheme
  Bloomberg | Jul 27, 2010

  Poteroba pleaded not guilty today in a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck in Manhattan and waived his right to be charged in an indictment. At his bail hearing in March, prosecutors said Poteroba had admitted he was trading on inside information as late as that month.

• Goldman's penny punishment
  Asia Times Online | Jul 27, 2010

  Now $550 million is a lot of money to mere mortals, that nobody can deny. But to Goldman Sachs? It is equivalent to just 4% of Goldman's net earnings for just one year, 2009 ($13.38 billion); or 3.4% of its bonus pool ($16.2 billion) for 2009. All this in one year, a year while the rest of the world was suffering.

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