In a brief filed Friday, a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and a staffer, Brian Sutter, argued why they need not comply with an SEC subpoena relating to an investigation under the STOCK Act, which essentially extends the insider trading laws to Congress (see our prior post on the case here). Among other arguments, the committee and Mr. Sutter invoked sovereign immunity:
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Judge Rakoff Rules Bavaria Has Sovereign Immunity From Suit Seeking Return of Picasso Painting
In an opinion Friday, Judge Rakoff ruled that the German state of Bavaria was entitled to sovereign immunity in a suit seeking return of a Picasso painting called Madame Soler that was allegedly the subject of a forced transfer from Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to Justin Thannhauser under the then-Nazi regime in Germany in 1934. Mr. Thannhauser later relocated to New York and then transferred the painting to Bavaria to be displayed in a museum. The plaintiffs sought to invoke an exception to sovereign immunity for commercial activity having a substantial connection to the United States, but Judge Rakoff ruled that the case, at bottom, concerned the events in Germany, not New York:
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Supreme Court Rules Against Aereo Internet TV Service
In a case originating from the Southern District (see our prior coverage here), the Supreme Court today ruled 6-3 that Aereo, a company that streams live broadcast television over the internet (with a slight delay) violates the Copyright Act’s “Transmit Clause,” which gives copyright owners the exclusive right to public performance of their work. From Justice Breyer’s majority opinion:
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Judge Oetken Explains “Overly Technical,” “Form Over Function” Rules for Citizenship of Trusts in Diversity Cases
In an opinion today, Judge Oetken, addressing a question that is unresolved in the Second Court, agreed with a prior opinion of Judge Nathan and ruled that the citizenship of a trust for diversity purposes depends in part on whether the case is brought in the name of the trust itself or in the name of the trustee. Specifically, after surveying the conflicting authorities, Judge Oetken determined that the “rule is, accordingly, as follows”:
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SEC Sues to Force Congressional Committee and Staffer to Comply With Insider Trading Subpoenas
In papers filed Friday, the SEC moved, by Order to Show Cause, to force the House Ways and Means Committee and a staffer, Brian Sutter, to comply with subpoenas issued as part of the SEC’s investigation into potential violations of the STOCK Act, which essentially extends the insider trading laws to Congress. By an agreed-upon
Judge Swain Denies Motion to Dismiss Cablevision Suit Accusing Viacom of Anticompetitive Bundling of Popular and Unpopular Channels
Judge McMahon Issues Preliminary Injunction to Block Unauthorized Use of “NYC Pride” to Promote Competing Pride Week Events
In an opinion today, Judge McMahon preliminary enjoined a company called Matinee from using the phrase and logo “NYC Pride” to promote events that compete with those of the plaintiff, Heritage, the organizer of the LGBT’s community’s annual gay pride march and rally, which are scheduled for later this month. Matinee’s competing events include a performance by Azealia Banks, a singer who was heavily criticized for making allegedly homophobic comments directed at blogger Perez Hilton, and Judge McMahon found that Heritage would be irreparably harmed by the potential of being wrongly associated with the Banks controversy:
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Judge Marrero Approves $614 Million SAC Capital Settlement With SEC in Light of Second Circuit Ruling in Citi Case
As expected, the Second Circuit’s decision in a pending appeal involving Citibank paved the way for Judge Marrero to approve, in an opinion today, the SEC’s proposed $614 million settlement with SAC Capital. Judge Marrero initially expressed concern about the settlement being on a “neither-admit-nor-deny” basis, but, since then, a jury found former SAC Capital manager Matthew Martoma criminally liable for insider trading, and SAC Capital’s affiliate, CR Intrinsic, pled guilty to criminal insider trading. These facts appeared to assuage Judge Marrero’s earlier concerns:
Continue Reading Judge Marrero Approves $614 Million SAC Capital Settlement With SEC in Light of Second Circuit Ruling in Citi Case
Judge Forrest Grants Summary Judgment to Auditors in Case of Missing Subsidiary
In an opinion today, Judge Forrest granted summary judgment to two affiliated accounting firms in a securities fraud suit arising from what Judge Forrest described as an accounting firm’s “worst nightmare”:
An accounting firm’s worst nightmare might be to wake up one morning and discover that the company that one of its teams had audited for the past several years had in fact disappeared, and that what the team had been auditing had been merely a mirage. A twist that could serve only to heighten this distress might be the discovery that the company had been stolen a few years prior — its operations and related revenues transferred away — but that the engagement team had not discovered this fact. The team had issued a “clean opinion.” The accounting error in such a case would be fundamental: all aspects of the financial position of the company would have been entirely misstated, because the operations on which it was based were long gone. This scenario is not the storyline for an auditor’s version of a horror film; it is what happened here.
Continue Reading Judge Forrest Grants Summary Judgment to Auditors in Case of Missing Subsidiary