Law Reports

Susan M. Greenwood | Bloomberg Law Altman v. SEC, No. 11-01067, 2011 BL 319244 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 16, 2011) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a petition for review of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opinion and orderpermanently denying attorney Steve Altman “the privilege of appearing or practicing” before [...]

Sarah Jane Leake | Bloomberg Law Final Notice to Jaspreet Singh Ahuja – Financial Services Authority, 14 December 2011 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has recently sanctioned Jaspreet Singh Ahuja, a former client adviser at UBS AG (UBS) in London, for failing to act with integrity. Ahuja, who has been banned indefinitely from working in [...]

Christopher Bernard | Bloomberg Law UK implementation of Amending Directive 2010/73/EU: Simplifying the EU Prospectus and Transparency Directives – Financial Services Authority and HM Treasury Consultation Paper CP 11/28 of 13 December 2011; ESMA’s technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Prospectus Directive as amended by the Directive 2010/73/EU – ESMA Consultation Paper ESMA/2011/444 [...]

Sarah Jane Leake | Bloomberg Law Bank Executive Remuneration Disclosure – HM Treasury Consultation on Draft Regulations, 6 December 2011 In February, as part of Project Merlin,1 the UK Government entered into an agreement with four of the country’s major high street banks – Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, and HSBC. Under [...]

Adrienne Woods | Bloomberg Law In re Southeast Waffles, LLC, No. 11-8012, 2011 BL 302256 (B.A.P. 6th Cir. Nov. 30, 2011) The United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit (the “BAP”) affirmed the bankruptcy court’s ruling dismissing a complaint seeking to avoid non-compensatory penalty payments made to the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) as fraudulent [...]

Ashok Chandra | Bloomberg Law Facebook, Inc. v. Pedersen, No. 10-CV-04673, 2011 BL 315913 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 29, 2011) The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Facebook to show cause as to why the court should not dismiss Facebook’s trademark infringement case against a Norwegian company and its principal for lack [...]

Tatiana Rodriguez | Bloomberg Law SEC Press Release No. PR-2011-257 (Dec. 8, 2011); SEC Litigation Release No. LR-22183 (Dec. 8, 2011); SEC v. Wachovia Bank, N. A., No. 11-CV-07135 (D.N.J. filed Dec. 8, 2011); DOJ Press Release No. 11-597 (Dec. 8, 2011) The fourth in a series of coordinated efforts by federal and state agencies and attorneys, Wachovia [...]

Raphael Rosenblatt | Bloomberg Law United States v. Petters, No. 10-CR-01843, 2011 BL 310598 (8th Cir. Dec. 9, 2011) Although a primary witness at defendant’s trial was a convicted felon involved in the U.S. Marshals Service’s Witness Security Program (WITSEC), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found no error in limiting the [...]

Rebecca L. Tsai | Bloomberg Law Williams v. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., Nos. CC 970503957, SC S059014, CC 970604457, SC S059248, 2011 BL 305477 (Or. Dec. 2, 2011) In a certified appeal, the Oregon Supreme Court held that the state did not waive its right to recover punitive damages from Philip Morris, Inc. In doing [...]

Michael L. Calder | Bloomberg Law J.P. Morgan Secs., Inc. v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 2011 N.Y. Slip Op. 08995 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t Dec. 13, 2011) A New York appellate court dismissed J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc.’s suit against several insurers, holding that Bear Stearns & Company, Inc.’s and Bear Stearns Securities Corp.’s (collectively, Bear [...]

Sarah Jane Leake | Bloomberg Law The failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland – Financial Services Authority Board Report, 13 December 2011 After an investigation that has spanned some 33 months, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published its much anticipated report on the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The [...]

Adam Brown | Bloomberg Law EBC I, Inc. v. Goldman Sachs & Co., No. 5448, 2011 NY Slip Op 08839, 2011 BL 309162 (App. Div. Dec. 8, 2011) The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department, affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims against Goldman [...]

Jennifer Gaeta | Bloomberg Law Maremont v. Susan Fredman Design Group, Ltd., No. 10-CV-07811, 2011 BL 308612 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 7, 2011) The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied the parties’ motions for summary judgment as to the Lanham Act and Stored Communications Act claims, finding that discovery was ongoing on [...]

Summit Entertainment, LLC v. B.B. Dakota, Inc., No. 10-CV-04328 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 21, 2011) The cargo jacket worn by the character Bella Swan in the 2008 Twilight movie is the subject of the instant trademark and copyright dispute filed against the manufacturer of the jacket, which used a film image and film trademarks without authorization. The U.S. District [...]

Adrienne Woods | Bloomberg Law McDow v. Dudley, No. 10-1732, 2011 BL 301408 (4th Cir. Nov. 30, 2011) The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, holding that an order denying a motion to dismiss a chapter 7 case for abuse [...]

Cherilyn Zavatsky | Bloomberg Law Houston Cas. Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., No. 10-1835, 2011 BL 306808 (4th Cir. Dec. 6, 2011) Insurance brokers at times may undertake non-traditional roles with respect to insureds. Brokers’ professional liability insurance is usually obtained to cover the broker’s liability for its activities, but brokers [...]

Richard Powell | Bloomberg Law Final Notice to Integrated Financial Arrangements plc – Financial Services Authority, 5 December 2011 ntegrated Financial Arrangements plc (IFA), the UK’s largest wrap provider, has become the latest firm to be disciplined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for client money breaches. This takes place in quick succession to recent [...]

Blayne V. Scofield | Bloomberg Law Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services of Nebraska, No. 11-cv-11098, 2011 BL 299995 (D. Mass. Nov. 28, 2011) Massachusetts federal Judge William Young’s November 28, 2011 opinion in Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services of Nebraska is notable for several reasons. First, Judge Young concludes that an assignment executed by a dual employee [...]

Ashok Chandra | Bloomberg Law Expedia, Inc. v. City of New York Dept. of Finance, 2011 NY Slip Op 08648 (App Div, 1st Dept Nov. 29, 2011) The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York determined that a tax increase implemented by New York City’s Department of Finance on online travel companies was [...]

Gellman v. Telular Corp., No. 11-01196, 2011 BL 301393 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 30, 2011) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a plaintiff’s patent infringement action for lack of standing. The plaintiff asserted that her late husband’s employee and co-inventor of the patent in suit had effectively assigned his [...]