Showing posts with label Before. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Before. Show all posts
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Secretary of State’s Directive Allowing Early Voting During Three Days Before Election Day Long Overdue
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Friday, November 9, 2012
‘Big One’ Looms in Minds of Experts Before California ShakeOut
October 18, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments
A day before more than 9 million people in California took part in a massive nationwide earthquake drill on Thursday, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones stood in a room full of risk professionals in the San Fernando Valley and passed on some grim predictions about the
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Thursday, June 7, 2012
BofA masked Merrill loss before 2008 vote: Filings
Top executives at Bank of America Corp. did not tell shareholders just before a 2008 vote on its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. that Merrill's losses were mounting and expected to weigh down earnings for years, papers filed in private shareholder litigation show.
But the bank and former Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said in their own court papers that they should not be liable to shareholders who claimed to have lacked information that they needed to vote on the once $50 billion merger.
Lewis also said he had been advised by the bank's law firm and chief financial officer that no disclosure was necessary.
The papers, including sworn testimony from Mr. Lewis, were filed on Sunday night in class-action litigation accusing the second-largest U.S. bank of fraudulently misleading holders of shares and call options about Merrill's losses and bonus payouts.
They may also strengthen the contention that Bank of America withheld material information just before the Dec. 5, 2008, merger vote, a characterization that Mr. Lewis resisted in a March 27 deposition by the shareholders' lawyers.
"In all cases of securities fraud, the fight is always about who knew what, when," said Hillary Sale, a law and management professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. "This deposition shows that before the actual shareholder vote, there was knowledge that the numbers were different. Call it large, call it substantial, but it is likely material."
The New York Times previously reported on some of the court papers, which were filed with the federal court in Manhattan.
Other defendants are former Chief Financial Officer Joe Price; former Merrill Chief Executive John Thain, and outside Bank of America directors. A trial before U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel is scheduled for Oct. 22.
Disclosures surrounding Merrill have already been the subject of much litigation, including actions filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as congressional hearings.
"There is nothing new here," bank spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said, referring to Sunday's filings. "It was clear that Merrill Lynch's deteriorating financial condition was widely appreciated by shareholders before voting for approval."
In court papers, the bank added that shareholders failed to show damages as a result of "any alleged impairment to voting rights." It also said that to the extent it overpaid for Merrill, it is Bank of America that can assert that claim.
Andrew Ceresney, a lawyer for Lewis, declined to comment. Court papers said his client relied on Price and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as to how much to disclose.
Lawyers for Messrs. Price, Thain and the outside directors, as well as Wachtell, did not respond to requests for comment. Steven Singer, a lawyer for the shareholders, declined to comment.
Merrill's fourth-quarter loss at the time of the vote was expected to be $9 billion, according to court papers, and ultimately reached $15.84 billion.
It forced Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America to get a second taxpayer bailout
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But the bank and former Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said in their own court papers that they should not be liable to shareholders who claimed to have lacked information that they needed to vote on the once $50 billion merger.
Lewis also said he had been advised by the bank's law firm and chief financial officer that no disclosure was necessary.
The papers, including sworn testimony from Mr. Lewis, were filed on Sunday night in class-action litigation accusing the second-largest U.S. bank of fraudulently misleading holders of shares and call options about Merrill's losses and bonus payouts.
They may also strengthen the contention that Bank of America withheld material information just before the Dec. 5, 2008, merger vote, a characterization that Mr. Lewis resisted in a March 27 deposition by the shareholders' lawyers.
"In all cases of securities fraud, the fight is always about who knew what, when," said Hillary Sale, a law and management professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. "This deposition shows that before the actual shareholder vote, there was knowledge that the numbers were different. Call it large, call it substantial, but it is likely material."
The New York Times previously reported on some of the court papers, which were filed with the federal court in Manhattan.
Other defendants are former Chief Financial Officer Joe Price; former Merrill Chief Executive John Thain, and outside Bank of America directors. A trial before U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel is scheduled for Oct. 22.
Disclosures surrounding Merrill have already been the subject of much litigation, including actions filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as congressional hearings.
"There is nothing new here," bank spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said, referring to Sunday's filings. "It was clear that Merrill Lynch's deteriorating financial condition was widely appreciated by shareholders before voting for approval."
In court papers, the bank added that shareholders failed to show damages as a result of "any alleged impairment to voting rights." It also said that to the extent it overpaid for Merrill, it is Bank of America that can assert that claim.
Andrew Ceresney, a lawyer for Lewis, declined to comment. Court papers said his client relied on Price and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as to how much to disclose.
Lawyers for Messrs. Price, Thain and the outside directors, as well as Wachtell, did not respond to requests for comment. Steven Singer, a lawyer for the shareholders, declined to comment.
Merrill's fourth-quarter loss at the time of the vote was expected to be $9 billion, according to court papers, and ultimately reached $15.84 billion.
It forced Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America to get a second taxpayer bailout
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Thursday, April 5, 2012
Before You Spring Clean, Get Organized
After a cold winter, you’re ready to open all the windows in your house on the first warm day. Before you start your spring cleaning this year, take some time to get rid of the clutter. You’ll make some extra space in your home and cut down on your cleaning time just by reducing the amount of stuff you have.
Follow these tips to get started:
1. Create a plan.Decide what area or areas you want to tackle and try to get through a couple each day. Do you need to make space in your garage? Have some boxes of mementoes in your closet that you’ve been meaning to sort through? This is your chance.
2. Make sorting easy.Gather storage tubs or garbage bags and label them with categories like “Keep,” “Throw Away,” “Recycle,” “Sell” and “Donate.” As you go through your stuff, decide what you want to do with each item.
3. Decide what to donate, recycle and hand down.Find a new home for your old stuff:
Clothes – Unless you wear it regularly, give it away.Electronics – Cell phones, laptops and other devices have batteries that are toxic, so don’t throw them in the trash. If you can’t give them away, check a local electronics store to see if they will recycle them for you.
Stuffed animals – Call fire departments, children’s hospitals and women’s shelters to see if they accept gently used toys.
Towels and blankets – If they’re in good shape, donate them to a homeless shelter. If they’re worn, give them to an animal rescue group.
Furniture and other large items – Post an item on a website like Freecycle or Freeshare. People who want it will email you to arrange a pickup time. 4. Follow through.
Now that you’ve sorted it’s time to take the last step – actually selling, donating, or recycling your stuff. Throw the bags in your car and recycle or donate those items. Make sure you get a receipt for donations since you can write them off on your taxes. Set a date for a garage sale, or list items you want to sell on Craigslist or Ebay.
5. Reward yourself.After a day spent decluttering, meet a friend for coffee or a movie and congratulate yourself for a job well done.
After you’ve organized your home, make sure you have enough property insurance to protect the stuff in your “Keep” pile. Find out more from Nationwide.
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