Posted: January 31st, 2017

Why will the 1995 Act probably not stop a class action lawsuit from proceeding to the discovery phase?

A CFO of a corporation deliberately treated $4 billion of operating expenses as assets. This way he could show he had profits instead of losses. Their stock dropped 95% and bond covenants related to billions in debt are breached. At its peak price last year the CFO sold stock for 15 million dollars, this generated a 10 million dollar gain. What provision(s) of the securities law will probably be the basis for a class action lawsuit by the stockholders? Why will the 1995 Act probably not stop a class action lawsuit from proceeding to the discovery phase? Why will the CFO be subject to criminal laws (as well as civil) securities sanction? Will the SEC likely ever allow the CFO to be an officer or director of a publicly traded corporation in the future? Will the SEC allow the CFO to keep the $10 million gain on the stock? What kind of civil penalties could the SEC impose on the CFO?