Broker-Dealer Litigation - Greenberg Traurig LLP

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court found that an arbitral panel was responsible for determining all of the financial advisor’s remaining claims and it dismissed the action for arbitration. Velez v. Perrin Holden & Davenport Capital Corp., 769 F. Supp.2d 445 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). A stock broker, on behalf of himself and other similarly situated stock brokers, sued a brokerage firm for its alleged failure to pay overtime, commissions, and timely wages. Additionally, the stock broker asked the court to designate his claims as a collective action pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and as a class action under the federal rules for his state law claims. The brokerage firm moved to dismiss or, alternatively, to compel arbitration based on an arbitration clause in the broker’s employment agreement. The stock broker argued that his claims fell within an exception of the FINRA arbitration rules, which prohibited arbitration of class action claims. The court agreed that the broker’s state law class action claims fell within the exception, but held that the broker’s FLSA collective action was distinguishable from a class action and not subject to the exception to arbitration. The court focused on a key distinction between class actions and collective actions: that members must optin to collective actions whereas class actions require class members to opt-out. The court also noted that every other court to address whether an FLSA claim is arbitrable under the FINRA rules has found in favor of arbitrability. As a result, the court compelled the parties to submit to arbitration on the broker’s FLSA claims and stayed the proceedings on the class action claim while arbitration was pending. Bayme v. GroupArgent Secs., LLC, 2011 WL 2946718 (S.D.N.Y. July 19, 2011) A former employee brought a FINRA arbitration action against a broker-dealer for damages arising out of claims for compensation and expenses paid during his employment. The broker-dealer defended the arbitration on the basis that FINRA lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter because the broker-dealer was not the entity for which the employee had worked. After a hearing on the issue, the arbitral panel determined that it lacked jurisdiction over the matter and dismissed the case. The employee sought to vacate the award, arguing that FINRA did not have the authority to decide the question of jurisdiction. The court denied the employee’s petition because the arbitration agreement gave the panel the right to consider the issue of arbitrability and, in considering that issue, the arbitral panel acted properly. The court considered the facts that the arbitral panel held a hearing, allowed both sides to argue, and evaluated testimonial and documentary evidence in deciding that the panel properly decided the issue of arbitrability. Even though the Director of FINRA gave an opinion that FINRA had jurisdiction, the court ruled that the Director’s opinion was not binding. The court confirmed the award because the record supported the panel’s decision. R. R. 452
R. Frankel v. McDonough, 2011 WL 5059181 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 24, 2011) Arbitrators found a broker and her employer jointly liable to investors for fraud. The broker appealed the decision to the New York Supreme Court on the basis that the arbitral panel erred in awarding joint and several liability to the investors. In confirming the award, the New York Supreme Court noted that the parties fully arbitrated the issue of joint and several liability and the Appellate Division added that the investors’ allegations substantially related to the broker’s own misconduct, rendering an award of joint and several liability appropriate. After the arbitration and related appeals concluded, the broker sued her former attorney and law firm for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty. The broker alleged that her attorney committed malpractice by failing to take action to limit the investors’ joint liability claim because the investors never sought relief against the broker. The broker’s former attorney moved to dismiss the case and the court granted the motion. The court relied heavily on the fact that the investors’ claim against the broker’s employer were derivative of her own misconduct in dismissing the broker’s claims for negligence. Looking to this fact, the court found that the broker could not allege negligence based upon the attorney’s failure to challenge the joint liability claim because the broker could have been individually liable. This fact also evidenced the mutual interests between the broker and her employer, negating her claim that the attorney should have disclosed a conflict of interest arising from their joint defense and that the attorney failed to adequately represent her interests as a result of that conflict. The court further found that the broker failed to plead that the lawyer’s actions caused the award against her because the investors’ statement of claim and the liberal rules for amending pleadings clearly included individual liability against the broker. As such, an allegation that her attorney was negligent in not challenging the arbitral panel’s right to issue an award against her was unfounded. Because the claim for legal malpractice was dismissed, the court was bound by state law to dismiss the breach of fiduciary duty claim. The court also denied the broker leave to re-plead because the record clearly established that the arbitral award was entered against the broker as a result of her own misconduct, not from a deficiency in representation. Accordingly, the court dismissed the broker’s complaint in its entirety. Reljic v. Tullett Prebon Americas Corp., 2011 WL 2491342 (D.N.J. June 21, 2011) A broker-dealer moved to compel arbitration of its former broker’s claims of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. The firm argued that the claims should be arbitrated pursuant to an arbitration agreement in the broker’s employment agreement. The district court agreed. The broker argued that the arbitration clause should not be enforced because it interfered with her right to pursue a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The district court found that the arbitration clause did not interfere with the broker’s EEOC rights because the broker still could – and did –file a charge with the EEOC. The arbitration clause only affected the remedies available to the broker after the EEOC’s determination: the broker was limited to appealing the EEOC’s decision in an arbitral forum instead of in federal court. This limitation on remedies was not enough to affect the R. 453
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Broker-Dealer Litigation 2011 Annua
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Rocky Pozza Miller, Canfield, Paddo
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3. Safe Harbor/Bespeaks Caution Def
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(iii) Falsification of Documents...
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SECURITIES LITIGATION A. Definition
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Purvis v. Arizona Corp. Comm’n, N
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allegation of fraud. The complaint
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Silverstrand Investments v. AMAG Ph
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complaint lacked named plaintiffs w
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egarding loan-to-value ratios repor
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appraisers’ alleged acceptance of
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that statutes of repose are not sus
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Pension Trust Fund for Operating En
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Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Th
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authorities versus those reported i
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In re Oppenheimer Rochester Funds G
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claims as to the appraisal standard
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under Section 12 and declined to ex
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however, the court found that the s
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that a mutual fund’s share price
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allege a material misrepresentation
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over common questions, given the nu
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lending practices; and its solvenci
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partnership and worked to obtain in
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Section 12(a)(2) required the court
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initially inflated the company’s
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B.2 Self v. Chase Bank, N.A., 2011
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“associated with,” or “acted
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Gibbons v. Nat’l Real Estate Inve
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avoid ambiguous, potentially mislea
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B.3 SEC v. Kelly, 2011 WL 44331161
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B.3 SEC v. Woodruff, 778 F. Supp. 2
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C. Liabilities under the Securities
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easonable juror could conclude that
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Claimants requested compensatory da
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C.1.d Ashland Inc. v. Morgan Stanle
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C.1.d AnchorBank, FSB v. Hofer, 649
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experiencing large operating losses
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C.1.d Resnik v. Woertz, 744 F. Supp
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substantial likelihood that disclos
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C.1.d In re Evergreen Ultra Short O
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In re Merrill Lynch Auction Rate Se
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fiduciary duty and negligent misrep
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corporation’s earnings forecasts
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C.1.e In re Bank of America Corp. S
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f. Affirmative Defenses Wilson v. M
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that the complaint failed to allege
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immaterial; or (3) made without act
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of the Private Securities Litigatio
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held that the statute of limitation
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C.1.f In re Novatel Wireless Securi
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parent company liable for statement
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C.1.g SEC v. Tecumseh Holdings Corp
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C.1.g Fishman v. Morgan Keegan & Co
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C.2 Litwin v. Oceanfreight, Inc., 2
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Hysong v. Encore Energy Partners LP
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and created an uncertainty that KBR
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consented to the entry of a final j
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3. Section 15(c) C.3 SEC v. Ficeto,
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SEC v. Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc.
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settled with the SEC prior to the c
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equity interests in real estate ass
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noted that the SEC had “merely re
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ing such court actions (the “1990
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D. Liabilities under the Securities
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its’ liquidity problems and plans
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few of defendant’s employees were
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D.1 Dronsejko v. Thornton, 632 F.3d
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In re Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.
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particularized as materially mislea
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D.1 Stephenson v. Pricewaterhouseco
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D.1 Russo v. Bruce, 777 F. Supp. 2d
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D.1 Jacquemyns v. Spartan Mullen Et
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granted the defendants’ motion to
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D.1 Egan v. Tradingscreen, Inc., 20
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City of Roseville Employees’ Reti
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D.1 Solow v. Citigroup, Inc., 2011
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Local 731 I.B. of T. Excavators and
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D.1 Love v. Alfacell Corp., 2011 WL
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disregarded and resulted in omissio
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dismiss finding that plaintiff’s
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from a decline of defendant’s sto
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plaintiffs failed to (i) create str
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D.1 In re St. Jude Med., Inc. Sec.
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D.1 Scala v. Citicorp Inc., 2011 WL
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granted defendants’ motion to dis
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improperly recognized revenue on sa
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D.1 Henning v. Orient Paper, Inc.,
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plaintiffs alleged that defendants
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in various contracts of the company
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D.1 In re Crocs, Inc. Securities Li
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Phila. Fin. Mgmt. of S.F., LLC v. D
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Waterford Twp. Police & Fire Ret. S
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Group met the requirements of Fed.
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appointed a lead plaintiff. The cou
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IBEW Local 90 Pension Fund v. Deuts
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D.2 Vandevelde v. China Natural Gas
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typicality.” Accordingly, the cou
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D.2 Sparano v. Lief, 2011 WL 830109
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argument was irrelevant because the
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issue, and therefore qualified for
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was not available. Moreover, the co
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misstatements were shielded from li
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D.3 Hopson v. MetroPCS Commc’ns,
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D.3 In re St. Jude Med., Inc. Sec.
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D.3 Curry v. Hansen Med., Inc., 201
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D.3 In re Coinstar Sec. Litig., 201
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Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Unio
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E. Backus v. Conn. Cmty. Bank, N.A.
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Securities Litigation Uniform Stand
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willfully ignored numerous red flag
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material facts “relating to” th
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E. Northstar Fin. Advisors, Inc. v.
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precluded or removable under SLUSA.
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circumvent SLUSA, the Court of Appe
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of defendant purchased ARS bonds fr
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2. Consumer Protection and Other St
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F.3 Borsellino v. Putnam, 2011 WL 6
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F.4 Haase v. GunnAllen Fin., Inc.,
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that the complaint failed to allege
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eing directed to return improperly
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H.1 U.S. v. Reyes, 660 F.3d 454 (9t
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to dismiss the complaint pursuant t
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Act of 1934 alleging it made false
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and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Ex
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exert control over the content of c
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H.2 In re Sanofi-Aventis Sec. Litig
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Camofi Master LDC v. Riptide Worldw
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solvency. The district court held t
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(1) the investment corporations’
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held that, in taking plaintiffs’
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Rule 10b-5 claims were pleaded with
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to judgment as a matter of law beca
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H.2 Rafton v. Rydex Series Funds, 2
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those reasons, the court granted th
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Genesee County Employees Ret. Sys.
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Fernea v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fe
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3. Aiding & Abetting H.3 Janus Capi
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of trades by defendants did not amo
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violation of securities laws. To st
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H.3 Merkin v. Gabriel Capital, L.P.
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allegedly illegal fundraising at de
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to any of the claims except the “
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mere suspicion that the broker-deal
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H.4 U.S. v. Speer, 419 F. App’x 5
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equirements of Federal Rule of Civi
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compliance officer testified as a r
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In re Torrey Pines Sec. Inc., Relea
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In re Torrey Pines Sec. Inc., Relea
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or nationally-recognized statistica
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activity, including activity in the
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timely and complete information upd
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J. RICO J. MLSMK Inv. Co. v. JP Mor
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J. In re Refco Inc. Sec. Litig., 20
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Beaman v. Barth, 2011 Bankr. LEXIS
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General Retirement System of City o
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K. Damages and Other Relief in Priv
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K.2 U.S. v. Gushlak, 2011 WL 315917
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K.2 Elipas v. Jedynak, 2011 WL 1706
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are wanton and reckless when done i
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settlement agreement constituted an
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The court held that the trustee was
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L. Contribution, Indemnification L.
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L. MBIA Ins. Corp. v. Credit Suisse
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warranted under these circumstances
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1933. In opposition to the motions,
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M.1 SEC v. Wyly, 788 F. Supp. 2d 92
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as barred by the statute of repose
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equitable estoppel did not apply as
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support the FINRA arbitration as pr
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N.1 Citibank, N.A. v. Franco, 2011
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ecause it overlapped with and was p
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2. Eligibility/Limitations N.2 Yuan
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the legislature did not intend the
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Plaintiff in fact derived a direct
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arbitrator the right to determine w
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and ordering of all parties into ar
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impeachment upon proof of changed c
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N.4.c Aviles v. Charles Schwab & Co
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S.Ct. 1784 (2010). Prior to Merck,
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market sector downturn rendered the
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defendants had misrepresented the n
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allegations did not reference parti
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were disclosed by the timely filing
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improper attempt to file the Third
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O.3 In re Evergreen Ultra Short Opp
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would primarily focus on establishi
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the power of a sovereign.” It was
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the admission by the investment man
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permit exercise of personal jurisdi
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anyway because the connection to ba
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5. Discovery O.5 Mori v. Saito, 802
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O.5 Davis v. Duncan Energy Partners
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censure, a civil money penalty of $
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anch office, which did not have any
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In re Application of Kaminski, Admi
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prejudgment interest. The payment w
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Specifically, the firm’s procedur
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In re Pagliarini, Admin. Proc.File
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firm settled charges that it violat
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capacities. The NAC cited the fact
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maintain and enforce a system of su
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The hearing panel found respondents
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firm also consented to findings tha
Page 409 and 410: In re Keybanc Capital Markets, Inc.
Page 411 and 412: $30,000 civil fine, disgorgement of
Page 413 and 414: The Commission’s complaint allege
Page 415 and 416: Commission, a federal district cour
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Page 419 and 420: Q.1.c(ii) In re Chiaese, Release No
Page 421 and 422: The Commission censured the Firm. A
Page 423 and 424: particular, CSIM and CS&Co. markete
Page 425 and 426: Q.1.e.(i) SEC v. Devlin, Litig. Rel
Page 427 and 428: clearance trades without being a re
Page 429 and 430: Q.1.e(ii) In re Huntleigh Sec. Corp
Page 431 and 432: assisted in the Firm’s creation o
Page 433 and 434: Q.1.e(iii) In re Schaefer, Release
Page 435 and 436: and hedge fund accounts, to the det
Page 437 and 438: f. Failure to Supervise Q.1.f In re
Page 439 and 440: Firm policy disallowing wires from
Page 441 and 442: The Commission alleged that Lopez-T
Page 443 and 444: suspension concerning his complianc
Page 445 and 446: Commission barred LeBouef from asso
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Page 449 and 450: (ii) Falsification of Documents . N
Page 451 and 452: unavailable, Gizankis and FINRA agr
Page 453 and 454: j. Procedural Issues (i) Evidence N
Page 455 and 456: FINRA Rule 2010 by submitting an an
Page 457 and 458: R. Broker-Dealer Employment Litigat
Page 459: discovery responses was also meritl
Page 463 and 464: must not have ruled on that defense
Page 465 and 466: FINRA award was entitled to full fa
Page 467 and 468: Lorbietzki v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce
Page 469 and 470: failed to show that it was prejudic
Page 471 and 472: Antelis v. Freeman, 2011 WL 6009609
Page 473 and 474: Berman v. Morgan Keegan & Co., 2011
Page 475 and 476: Citigroup Smith Barney v. Henderson
Page 477 and 478: Department of Enforcement v. Hedge
Page 479 and 480: FINRA Department of Enforcement v.
Page 481 and 482: Grecco v. Local.Com Corp., 806 F. S
Page 483 and 484: IAC/InterActiveCorp v. O’Brien, 2
Page 485 and 486: In re Cell Therapeutics, Inc. Class
Page 487 and 488: In re Franklin Bank Corp. Sec. Liti
Page 489 and 490: In re Kim, Release No. 64862, 2011
Page 491 and 492: In re Mutascio, Release No. 65351,
Page 493 and 494: In re Shankar, Release No. 64714, 2
Page 495 and 496: In re Wash. Mut. Mortgage-Backed Se
Page 497 and 498: KeyBank, N.A. v. Bingo, Coast Guard
Page 499 and 500: Marini v. Adamo, 2011 WL 4442710 (E
Page 501 and 502: McCafferty v. A.G. Edwards & Sons,
Page 503 and 504: Murray v. Citigroup Global Mkts., I
Page 505 and 506: Picard v. Madoff (In re Bernard L.
Page 507 and 508: Rafton v. Rydex Series Funds, 2011
Page 509 and 510: SEC v. Aragon Capital Advisors, LLC
Page 511 and 512:
SEC v. N. Am. Clearing, Inc., Litig
Page 513 and 514:
Solow v. Citigroup, Inc. , 2011 WL
Page 515 and 516:
U.S. Bank N.A. v. Cold Spring Grani
Page 517:
West Va. Laborers Trust Fund v. STE
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Broker-Dealer Litigation - Greenberg Traurig LLP

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