The plaintiff sued the trustee of his retirement plan, his former employer, and others for breach of fiduciary duties in connection with the plan’s purchase of shares of the employer’s parent company for more than fair market...more
Funds Not Caged by SEC Names Rule Amendments: Roaming Room Remains -
The SEC recently adopted amendments to its investment company “names” rule that apply to most SEC-registered funds, including underlying funds in which...more
1/11/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Funds ,
Life Insurance ,
Proposed Rules ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Traders ,
Whistleblowers
Regulators Hit Jackpot: Off-Channel Communications -
Several years before announcing the first “off-channel” communications enforcement action, the SEC and FINRA cautioned broker-dealers and investment advisers about...more
10/11/2023
/ Annuities ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Breach of Contract ,
Class Action ,
COBRA ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Insurance Products ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Financial Contracts ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Health Insurance ,
Insider Trading ,
Insurance Fraud ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Investment Management ,
Life Insurance ,
Money Market Funds ,
Mutual Funds ,
NAIC ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
No-Action Letters ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
NYDFS ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement ,
Robocalling ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
This past May, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of a life insurance company, finding that California’s lapse statute applies only to life insurance...more
In a lawsuit brought by a car dealership (Lone Star) against a car auction company (Alliance), the latter moved to compel arbitration as a third-party beneficiary of an agreement between Lone Star and a separate company that...more
Paychex Inc. had entered into an agreement to provide a company, Dan-Gulf Shipping Inc., with payroll-related services. The agreement contained an arbitration clause governed by the rules of the American Arbitration...more
The case involved the sale of mist eliminators (demisters) from MECS Inc. to Axiall Canada Inc., an owner of a Canadian manufacturing facility. A key issue involved the terms of the parties’ contractual relationship as formed...more
For broker-dealers distributing and selling variable annuities, examinations will test for compliance with Reg BI and FINRA Rule 2330 because both standards apply to variable annuity sales. Firms distributing and selling...more
More than 25 years have elapsed since the SEC adopted Exchange Act Rule 17a-4(f) governing electronic recordkeeping by broker-dealers. In an effort to update the rule to reflect “technology neutral” concepts, the SEC adopted...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the 28 U.S.C. § 1782 application of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to issue subpoenas on four U.S. entities and two individuals, the respondents, in aid...more
Applying the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, a U.S. federal district court confirmed a Lebanese arbitration award in favor of Iraq Telecom Ltd. for $3 million against Intercontinental...more
California lapse notice litigation has garnered publicity ever since the California Supreme Court in McHugh v. Protective Life Insurance Co. held that the new insurance statutes requiring a 60-day grace period and 30-day...more
An individual appealed from an order confirming an arbitration award. The appellant argued that the district court erred in refusing to vacate the arbitration award on grounds of “evident partiality.” The appellant contended...more
The underlying dispute related to a property manager’s limitation of the appellant, Jane Doe, to one pet in her apartment. Doe sued the manager for declaratory relief, injunctive relief, monetary damages, and punitive damages...more
In our May 2021 issue, we discussed the rise in life insurance policy lapse notice cases in California following the state’s 2013 enactment of California Insurance Code sections 10113.71 and 10113.72. These statutes establish...more
In a case brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an order denying the defendant corporation’s motion to compel arbitration, which the company filed pursuant to...more
On April 13, 2021, we reported on a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama that dismissed a portion of a complaint brought by cedent Alabama Municipal Insurance Corp. (AMIC) for bad faith...more
A pro se plaintiff had sought to confirm a $116,313 award by “Sitcomm Arbitration Association,” which had allegedly ruled that TD Auto Finance LLC was liable for breach of contract. TD Auto Finance contested the petition by...more
The district court had denied a motion filed by a former employee of a department store for vacatur of an arbitration award that rejected a grievance filed by the employee’s union against the store. On appeal, the employee...more
After an arbitration resulted in an award that included more than $650,000 in attorneys’ fees, the liable party filed a motion to vacate that portion of the award in a federal district court. The attorney for that party,...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the enforceability of an employment agreement’s waiver of appellate review of an arbitration award. The waiver purported to waive both judicial and appellate review of the...more
The plaintiff alleged that she was a victim of an illegal predatory loan orchestrated by the defendant’s company. The loan allegedly charged excessive interest but was shielded from U.S. law by tribal sovereign immunity....more
A former vice president of a division within Oracle Corp. filed a demand for arbitration against Oracle, claiming that he was owed additional bonus compensation under the terms of his employment contract and the Maryland Wage...more
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order compelling arbitration in a case brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state law, based on the plaintiff’s purchase of Experian’s Credit Score...more
The plaintiff had filed a class action alleging that DIRECTV made calls to his cell phone in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. DIRECTV attempted to compel arbitration by relying on an agreement that the...more