SEC Charges Southlake Oil Firm with Fraud
The Fort Worth Regional Office says Guardian Oil and Gas and its principal, Rick D. Mullins, raised $6.5 million in an allegedly illegal oil and gas offering fraud.
Dallas Federal Judge Tosses Whistleblower Claims Against BB&T
A lawsuit by a North Texas businessman who alleged that North Carolina banking giant BB&T Co. was involved in a scheme to defraud an arm of the federal government out of millions of dollars has been thrown out of court.
Energy Companies Concerned About Jump in Investigations and Regulatory Matters
Energy company general counsel face significantly different litigation issues than the corporate legal departments in other business sectors. Norton Rose Fulbright's 10th Annual Litigation Trends Survey found that 56 percent of energy GCs faced litigation over contract disputes during the past year. Personal injury and environmental/toxic tort litigation were the next, followed closely by labor and employment.
Norton Rose Fulbright’s Litigation Trends Survey Reveals an Increasingly Active Regulatory Environment
Regulatory/investigations are near the top of the list of litigation concerns for senior in-house counsel, and more time is being spent on government or regulatory investigations in company legal departments.
Good as Gold: Jury Gives Dillon Gage Nod in Art Gallery Spat
A federal jury has nixed an attempt by a Los Angeles art gallery to do an end-run around the Robert Allen Stanford receivership claims process and recover nearly $3 million that it provided the imprisoned Houston billionaire’s empire for the purchase of 100 gold bars.
SEC v. The Wylys: Insider Trading Trial Goes Way Beyond Texas
Dallas billionaire investor Sam Wyly wrote in his book 1,000 Dollars and an Idea that “the world owes a debt of gratitude” to junk bond king Michael Milken. Wyly is now on trial in the very same federal courthouse in New York where Milken pleaded guilty 24 years ago this month to financial fraud and insider trading. The SEC accuses Wyly and the estate of his deceased brother, Charles Wyly, of profiting more than $550 million from an elaborate fraud that violated insider-trading laws through the use of offshore trust accounts. Securities lawyers in Texas say the SEC has a lot riding on the outcome of the trial.
The Behind-the-Scenes Story in Mark Cuban’s Insider Trading Trial
As Tom Melsheimer gave his closing argument to the jury last October, his client slipped him a piece a paper. “He wanted me to tell something to the jury,” Melsheimer said. “He’s Mark Cuban, so I told it to the jury.” Melsheimer’s comments were part of a 90-minute CLE program hosted Thursday evening by The Texas Lawbook, SMU Dedman School of Law and the General Counsel Forum. The program, which also featured Cuban Companies General Counsel Robert Hart, litigation consultant Jason Barnes, Bell Nunnally white-collar defense expert Jeff Ansley and SMU Dedman law professor Linda Eads, focused on behind-the-scenes moments involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s insider trading trial against Cuban.
The Ends Do Not Justify the Means: Pre-trial Asset Freezes Increasingly Paralyze the Defense
Imagine you are a respected businessman or licensed professional but you suddenly learn through media reports that you are under investigation for fraud. Nothing has been proven but the federal government, without warning, convinces a judge to freeze all of your and your family’s assets.
SEC v. Cuban Shows Importance of U.S. Jury System
(December 12) – While trials before a jury of one’s peers are increasingly rare as big business interests push mandatory arbitration clauses and tort reform measures are narrowing access to courts, it’s important to note that Cuban’s case shows that the jury system, although battered, remains a powerful public resource that is alive and well in the 21st century.
SEC: Texans Rank Fourth in Snitching on Business Fraud
The SEC received 135 tips in 2013 from Texans blowing the whistle on bosses or business partners for possible fraud.
SEC Examiners Invade Houston
Twenty-five agents of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission invade Houston next week to conduct dozens of financial examinations of broker-dealers and investment advisors that either haven’t been audited in many years or, in many instances, ever. The SEC is launching a weeklong Houston initiative in an effort to raise the agency’s profile by holding open door educational seminars and meet-and-greet opportunities with senior SEC leaders, as well as conducting as many as 40 intensive in-person examinations.
Home-Court Advantage: How the SEC’s Intention to Bring More Administrative Proceedings Could Affect You
(October 25) – Senior U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials said recently that the agency will increase its use of administrative law proceedings in lieu of federal district court actions. The SEC's success rate before ALJs is statistically higher than in federal enforcement actions. Skeptics would point out that this is hardly surprising, given that the ALJs are employed by the SEC.