directors and officers liability News

Mortgage Lawsuits Target Individuals As Well As Banks

By suing 131 individuals in its effort to recover losses on $200 billion of mortgage debt that went sour, the federal agency overseeing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is doing one thing that the U.S. government has largely …

Investors’ Suits Against News Corp. Directors Face Long Odds

News Corp. shareholders angry over the hacking scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate face an uphill fight trying to hold company executives and directors responsible in court. In the nearly six weeks since the scandal erupted, shareholders have seen roughly …

Large Investors Sue Bank of America

Bank of America Corp. was sued by 15 former Countrywide Financial Corp. institutional investors who said they lost money after being misled about the mortgage lender’s financial condition and lending practices. BlackRock Inc., the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), …

Lehman Executives, Auditor Must Defend Investor Lawsuit, Judge Rules

Former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. executives, directors, auditors and underwriters on Wednesday lost their bid to dismiss an investor lawsuit seeking to hold them responsible for losses tied to the investment bank’s collapse. In a 106-page ruling, U.S. District Judge …

MBIA May Bring Fraud Claim Against Bank of America’s Countrywide

MBIA Inc. may pursue a lawsuit accusing Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide Financial unit of fraudulently misleading it about mortgage securities it insured, costing at least $1.4 billion. A New York state appeals court in Manhattan agreed with a lower …

U.S. Bias Suit Against Bayer Widens

Bayer AG has been hit with a wider U.S. lawsuit, accusing Germany’s largest drugmaker of discriminating against women in pay, promotions and pregnancy leave and fostering a hostile work environment. As it did when the case was first filed on …

SEC Approves Whistleblower Rule

Corporate whistleblowers could score multi-million-dollar payouts for reporting financial wrongdoing under a new program approved by U.S. securities regulators on Wednesday. A divided U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 to finalize the measure that has grown into one of …

Why Companies Try to Herd Shareholder Lawsuits to Delaware

When International Coal Group Inc. announced plans this month to sell itself, investor lawsuits challenging the deal were quickly filed in state courts in Delaware and West Virginia as well as in federal court. If corporate America has its way, …

Transocean Investors Uphold Executives’ Liability for 2010

Shareholders of rig contractor Transocean Ltd voted down a proposal by a healthy margin to discharge its board members and executives from liability for activities in 2010, according to a filing. Votes in favor represented 44 percent of those cast, …

Judge Dismisses Shareholder Suit vs Citigroup Execs Over Mortgages

Citigroup Inc. officials, including Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, won the dismissal of a shareholder lawsuit accusing them of turning a blind eye to the increased mortgage risks the bank was assuming in 2007. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan …