Say you own shares of stock in Podunk Corp. Perhaps you won them in a poker game. You can't sell them on a stock exchange; no one has done what federal securities law requires in order to "register" the stock.
You know almost nothing about what Podunk has done in the last five years. You
Did high-flyer Winstar co-opt its auditing firm?
Defendants facing securities fraud claims have won more than their share of cases in the last half a decade or so. Decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have helped.
In 2011, for instance, the Court ruled that you must have "ultimate authority" to make a false statement
Say you write a press release. It says your firm just won a beauty contest. It claims you expect the contract to increase the firm's net income by X percent.
But your note to the fourth estate doesn't mention that the deal will raise firm costs by an Awful Lot. So much in fact that
If you've tired of hearing campaign promises about tax cuts, repeal of tax cuts, extension of tax cuts, tax cuts for the middle class, tax cuts for income over $250,000 a year, and the like — relax. Let Blawgletter tell you about an entirely other subject: tax avoidance.
And not just any kind of tax
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court twice took a narrow view of liability under federal law for fraudulent conduct.
In one case, the Court held that section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 doesn't apply to overseas purchases and sales of securities. That the fraud started in or affected the U.S. didn't defeat the