Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini outlined the factors courts must consider in determining whether the fees an adviser charges a mutual fund are excessive and in violation of the Investment Company Act. All the...more
5/31/2020
/ Appeals ,
Board of Directors ,
Excessive Fees ,
Gartenberg Factors ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Mutual Funds ,
Section 36(b) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini reviewed a putative class case filed against a brokerage firm alleging that the firm breached its client agreement by purchasing risky reverse convertible notes (RCNs) for clients...more
10/30/2019
/ Breach of Contract ,
Compliance ,
Convertible Notes ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SLUSA ,
Statutory Violations ,
Structured Financial Products ,
Suitability Rule ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined further developments in a case involving a former UBS investment advisor’s attempt to prevent the company from collecting on promissory notes the advisor owed to UBS upon...more
10/8/2018
/ Actual Malice ,
Appeals ,
Asset Freeze ,
Asset Transfer ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Creditors ,
De Novo Standard of Review ,
Debtors ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Former Employee ,
Fraudulent Transfers ,
Insolvency ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Operating Agreements ,
Promissory Notes ,
Punitive Damages ,
Spouses ,
Summary Judgment ,
Venue ,
Void Contracts
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini analyzed a case questioning whether a breach of contract occurred. The court, in interpreting a contract, must determine the intent of the parties from the language used in the...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini discussed a case brought by the SEC against an individual broker accused of violations of Section 17(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act...more
6/22/2018
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Brokers ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Genuine Issue of Material Fact ,
Misrepresentation ,
Omissions ,
Recklessness ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Scienter ,
Section 17(a) ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini analyzed a case in which a group of shareholders claimed misleading statements in a press release caused them to sell stock early and lose money in a subsequent bidding war. The...more
6/19/2018
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Causation ,
Fraud ,
Materiality ,
Mergers ,
Misleading Statements ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Proxy Statements ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Scienter ,
Shareholders ,
Stocks ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined a case of alleged breach of trust and breach of fiduciary duty against a bank acting as the indenture trustee related to a foreclosure action on defaulted mortgage revenue...more
4/3/2018
/ Appeals ,
Banks ,
Bondholders ,
Bonds ,
Breach of Duty ,
Breach of Trust ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
De Novo Standard of Review ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreclosure ,
Indenture Trustee ,
Mortgages ,
Notice of Default ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Time-Barred Claims
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini discussed a case in which the defendant – who had pleaded guilty in a criminal case to one count of fraud under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and one count of money laundering,...more
3/9/2018
/ Bankruptcy Code ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 7 ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Commodities Traders ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Pool ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Cross Motions ,
Double Recovery ,
Foreign Currency ,
Fraud ,
Government Agencies ,
Investment Funds ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Misappropriation ,
Money Laundering ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Nondischargeable Debts ,
Restitution ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini analyzed a case in which UBS Puerto Rico sought to overcome its insurance carriers' refusal to defend and provide coverage for two civil actions, settlements with the SEC and FINRA...more
3/6/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Bonds ,
Breach of Contract ,
Claim Construction ,
Cross Motions ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fraud ,
Fund Managers ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Investment Adviser ,
Puerto Rico ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Shareholders ,
Summary Judgment ,
Underwriting
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini commented on a case in which a former financial advisor of JPMS claimed his employment was terminated based on racial discrimination. Through application of the three-part burden...more
8/30/2017
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Burden-Shifting ,
But For Causation ,
Circumstantial Evidence ,
Ethics Breach ,
Financial Adviser ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Integrity Policies ,
McDonnell Douglas Formula ,
Mixed Motive Cases ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Pretext ,
Race Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini continues to examine an ongoing case questioning the validity of an arbitration agreement. Read Chris' earlier analysis here. In this most recent installment challenging the...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini commented a case in which a broker-dealer claimed the term "final judgment" in its insurance policy was ambiguous and should be construed against its insurance carrier, as is typical...more
12/12/2016
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Claims Limitations Period ,
Contract Terms ,
Final Judgment ,
Illusory Contracts ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Negligent Supervision ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Prior Wrongful Acts ,
Summary Judgment
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini discussed a case where defendant carried out a personal vendetta against the plaintiff following plaintiff's report against defendant for violations of securities laws. Following...more
12/7/2016
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Damages ,
Defamation ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Genuine Issue of Material Fact ,
Libel ,
Libel Per Se ,
Reputational Injury ,
Summary Judgment ,
Tortious Interference ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination