A New York federal judge has thrown out a hedge fund's $1.6 billion lawsuit accusing Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of misleading it about the potential of certain collateralized debt obligations, according to an order made public Thursday. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., told his fellow lawmakers Thursday that the agencies tasked with enacting tougher regulations for big banks under the financial overhaul statute he helped create must receive adequate funding if they are to fulfill their extensive mandates. Lawmakers on Thursday cautioned the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission against implementing derivatives regulations that they say treat businesses and cooperatives in the agriculture and energy sectors as if they were Wall Street players. A New York state appeals court on Thursday blocked UBS AG's attempts to add fraud claims to its $686 million suit against hedge fund Highland Capital Management LP over a failed debt deal, ruling that the issues involved had already been decided. Massachusetts securities regulators on Wednesday accused RBC Capital Markets LLC and a former representative of selling complex exchange-traded funds to clients who did not understand the products or their associated risks. Federated Investment Management Co. sued Bank of America Corp. and other financial companies in California state court Monday seeking damages over its $185 million investment in mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide Financial Corp., claiming a recent settlement smacks of fraud. A New York federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a putative shareholder class action accusing China Expert Technology Inc.'s auditing firms of abetting the company's $132 million fraud. The Fifth Circuit said Thursday that Texas Wyoming Drilling Inc.'s trustee can sue former shareholders for $4 million in dividends they received during the company's insolvency, upholding a Texas bankruptcy court decision against one of the driller's targets. The Second Circuit on Wednesday refused to take up a challenge by a pension fund and two individuals to a New York federal court's order denying class certification in their securities fraud suit against Moody's Investors Service Inc. Johnson & Johnson responded Monday to a slew of shareholder derivative actions in New Jersey federal court with a report stating the company's board of directors did not breach its duties and ignore warning signs of product recalls and illegal kickbacks and bribes. A California appeals court on Wednesday squashed a malpractice suit against Cooley LLP over its role in an alleged scheme to usurp the ownership of First Blush, a high-end brand of grape juice, through stock distribution. Wells Fargo Bank NA sued several funds associated with defunct investment firm Babcock & Brown LP for $239 million in Texas federal court on Thursday, saying the funds breached the contract on a mortgage-backed loan secured by 14 apartment complexes. A group of funds hit Dynegy Inc.'s holding company with a breach of contract suit in New York, seeking to block the Houston-based energy provider from implementing a $1.7 billion restructuring plan that would allegedly undercut its ability to meet obligations detailed under a guarantee agreement. A Florida businessman lost his bid Wednesday to ditch the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit alleging he made sham multibillion-dollar offers to buy Eastman Kodak Co. and American Airlines Inc. parent company AMR Corp. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a $2.4 million settlement with the receiver for defunct energy investment firm Provident Royalties LLC, which was accused of running a $485 million Ponzi scheme, according to court filings in Texas on Wednesday. Barry Minkow, the notorious former businessman who remade himself into a trusted fraud watchdog after being convicted of hustling investors, was sentenced Thursday in Florida to five years in prison for causing massive losses at one of the U.S.' biggest homebuilders. A lawyer for self-described Wall Street “bad boy” Ross Mandell asked jurors in New York on Thursday not to let recession-induced rancor toward spendthrift bankers affect deliberations over whether the Sky Capital LLC founder led a $140 million stock sales fraud. Dechert LLP said Wednesday it had snagged a former Mayer Brown LLP partner to boost its white collar and securities practice in New York. Judge David Hittner in the Southern District of Texas is smart, works hard, knows a lot of law, reads the parties’ papers and is not afraid to rule on important issues. He also plays a mean bass guitar, says Linda Addison, a partner in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP. Expert AnalysisMany companies that are not Well-Known Seasoned Issuers may be faced with shelf registration statements that are insufficient to meet current capital needs. Fortunately, options exist to upsize a non-WKSI shelf S-3 form without the need to discard the original shelf completely, say Ronald Janis, Michael Rave, Randy Rutherford and Julia Boyd of Day Pitney LLP. Legal IndustryPaul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP helped convince the Obama administration to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this year — just one of several on-the-house wins that earned the firm a spot among Law360's Pro Bono Firms of 2011. Ropes & Gray LLP said Thursday it had officially opened its new office in Shanghai, which will be led by a corporate attorney who is a partner in the firm's private equity and life sciences group. Law360 is looking for the most innovative corporate counsel, and we need your help.
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