Recent Supreme Court decision clarifies key principles concerning withdrawal from criminal conspiracies *

USA - March 29 2013
Smith v. United States Has Significant Implications for White Collar Prosecutions In Smith v. United States, No. 11-8976 (Jan. 9, 2013), the Supreme…

---

The Supreme Court holds that the “discovery rule” does not apply to SEC enforcement actions for financial penalties and affirms the dismissal of SEC claims as time-barred *

USA - March 7 2013
In Gabelli v. SEC, No. 11-1274 (Feb. 27, 2013), a unanimous Supreme Court issued a much anticipated decision on the statute of limitations for civil…

---

Federal judge reconsiders securities claims against GE and identifies three categories of statements that are not actionable under federal securities laws *

USA - May 16 2012
In a consolidated class action in the Manhattan federal court, General Electric and more than 40 other defendants, including CEO Jeffrey Immelt, CFO Keith Sherin, other officers, directors and various underwriters are accused of violating the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1934 by making false and misleading statements about GE’s business − such as its ability to sell commercial paper and the value of its loan portfolio − during the recent financial crisis and, specifically, in offering documents for GE’s secondary public offering in October 2008.

Co-authors: Brandon F. White, Paul Bork, Dean F. Hanley.

---

Second Circuit reverses convictions in data-theft prosecution and narrowly interprets federal criminal statutes with important intellectual property implications *

USA - April 21 2012
In February 2012, following oral argument, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a brief order reversing Sergey Aleynikov’s convictions for violating the National Stolen Property Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (“NSPA”), and the Economic Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1832(b) (“EEA”), and stating a longer opinion would follow.

---

$200m suit by hedge fund dismissed as beyond the reach of section 10(b); Second Circuit defines what deals are “domestic transactions” under federal securities law *

USA - March 19 2012
Earlier this month, in Absolute Activist Value Master Fund Ltd. et al. v. Ficeto et al., 11-cv-0221 (2d Cir. Mar. 1, 2012), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a $200M fraud case brought by nine Cayman Island hedge funds that claimed to be the victims of a classic “pump-and-dump” scheme involving penny stocks in U.S. companies.

Co-authors: Jeffrey D. Collins.

---