Posts on ‘July 1st, 2009’
AIG’s Fall Raises Questions About Corporate Monitoring
Something less well known about American International Group’s risky credit default swap business is that the global insurer was operating under the supervision of a U.S. Department of Justice-imposed monitor, whose job was to keep the company out of securities trouble. Obviously, it didn’t work. Indeed, AIG’s fall calls into question the efficacy of the entire corporate monitor program and leaves legal experts mulling over this conundrum: Are there some companies that are just too big to watch?
Judge Revokes Bond for Texas Financier Stanford
A federal judge has revoked the bond of Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, ordering he be kept in jail while he awaits trial on charges alleging he swindled investors out of $7 billion. Prosecutors had argued that Stanford’s international ties made him a flight risk and differentiated him from other high-profile fraud defendants like Enron’s Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, who were freed on bond before their trials. Stanford’s attorney said he would appeal Tuesday’s ruling to the 5th Circuit.
Calif. High Court Gives Workplace Violation Suits Route Around Class Certification
Employees wanting to sue their bosses for workplace violations were given an alternative route Monday that gets around the task of gaining class certification under unfair competition laws. By unanimous vote, the California Supreme Court ruled in two companion cases that employees need not meet class requirements if they seek civil penalties for themselves and others under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004. One attorney said the rulings “strongly encourage more litigation in an area that’s white hot.”
White House Accepts Convicted Federal Judge’s Resignation
The White House has accepted the resignation of imprisoned federal Judge Samuel Kent, whom the House impeached on allegations of sexually assaulting two women and lying about the assaults. President Barack Obama’s acceptance of Kent’s resignation, effective Tuesday, ends Kent’s $174,000 annual judicial salary, as many members of Congress wanted. Kent will have to wait at least a week for the Senate to decide whether to end his impeachment trial. Congress is adjourned this week for the July 4 holiday.