The Securities and Exchange Commission's chief enforcement official says the agency has toughened its efforts to shut down financial misconduct after failing to act quickly in the cases of R. Allen Stanford and Bernard Madoff.

SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami says in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing that "we have moved aggressively" to put in place reforms recommended by the SEC inspector general. The IG found that the SEC knew since 1997 that Stanford likely was operating a Ponzi scheme but waited 12 years to bring fraud charges against the billionaire.

Khuzami also tells the Senate Banking Committee the SEC is working to provide "maximum recovery" to investors hurt in Stanford's alleged $7 billion fraud.

Stanford has been in federal prison since his indictment in June 2009 on criminal charges that his international banking business was really a pyramid scheme. He is disputing the charges. He faces a life sentence if convicted.

The SEC didn't bring civil fraud charges against Stanford until February 2009. SEC Inspector General David Kotz said in a report issued in April that "institutional influence" in the enforcement division was a factor in the agency's repeated decisions not to conduct a full investigation.

The report found that SEC enforcement officials discouraged cases that couldn't be resolved quickly. And it said an SEC enforcement official who helped quash investigations later legally represented Stanford.

The SEC's office in Fort Worth, Texas, had conducted "examination after examination" of Stanford's business over eight years, but "merely watched the alleged fraud grow, and failed to take any action to stop it," Kotz testified at Wednesday's hearing.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said on Wednesday it will vigorously defend a class action suit by customers for recovery of bank fees.

Earlier class-action law firm Maurice Blackburn said it would file a $48 million class action suit against ANZ, with up to 11 other lenders at risk of similar suits in the future.

The suit is against exception fees, which include charges for insufficient funds, overdrawn bank or credit card accounts and late credit card payments.

"We recognised that these fees were unpopular with customers. This is why we took action to simplify fees," the CEO for its Australian operations Philip Chronican said in a statement.

The U.S. government would have to sell its General Motors stock for $133.78 per share to recoup the nearly $50 billion it spent bailing out the Detroit automaker, according to a watchdog of government bailout funds.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry and automakers, revealed the figure in an Aug. 30 letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. The letter was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

GM repaid the government $6.7 billion. The remaining money was converted to a 61 percent ownership stake in GM plus $2.1 billion worth of preferred stock. The government plans to start selling its shares as part of a GM initial public stock offering that is tentatively scheduled for mid-November.

The government won't sell all the 304 million common shares it owns all at once. The Treasury Department and GM's new CEO have said it may take a couple of years and several "follow-on" sales for the government to recoup its investment. Also, analysts say the share price could start out low to help fuel demand. The hope is that GM's share price would rise as the company's car sales and finances improve.

Barofsky responded to a request from Grassley to make sure that Treasury is getting the highest possible price for GM's shares. Barofsky says that he will look into the matter.

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of SearchMedia Holdings Limited between April 1, 2009 and August 20, 2010, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Complaint").

The Complaint names SearchMedia and certain of the Company's current and former executive officers and directors as defendants. Ideation was a blank check company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 1, 2007, and formed for the purpose of acquiring, through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination, one or more businesses. On April 1, 2009, the Company announced an agreement to purchase SearchMedia International Limited ("SMIL"), a purported nationwide multi-platform media company in China. On October 30, 2009, Ideation completed the acquisition of SMIL (the "Merger") and changed its name to SearchMedia.

The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements, and/or omitted material facts, in the joint proxy statement and prospectus (the "Joint Proxy/Prospectus") disseminated regarding the Merger, as well as in other public statements issued during the Class Period related to the Merger and SMIL. Additionally, the Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose material adverse facts about SearchMedia's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) SMIL was improperly recognizing revenue; (2) certain of SMIL's accounts receivable related to sales generated primarily in the in-elevator business were uncollectible, (3) SMIL's financial results during the Class Period were materially overstated; (4) SMIL's financial results were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"); (5) SMIL lacked adequate internal and financial controls; and (6) as a result of the above, SMIL's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On August 20, 2010, SearchMedia announced that the historical financial statements of SMIL for the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years would have to be restated and that the financial statements from these periods can no longer be relied upon. SearchMedia informed investors that it estimated that SMIL's revenue in 2007 and 2008 had been overstated by approximately $6 million and $25 million, respectively.

As a result of this news, SearchMedia's stock plummeted almost 23% to close as $2.62 per share on August 20, 2010. The Company's stock continued its slide to close at $0.92 per share on August 23, 2010 or approximately another 35% down.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than November 15, 2010. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Timothy J. MacFall, Esquire or Noah R. Wortman, Case Development Director of Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., 919 North Market Street, Suite 980 Wilmington, Delaware, 19801 at (888) 969-4242, by e-mail to info@rigrodskylong.com, or via our website: http://www.rigrodskylong.com/news/SearchMediaHoldingsLimited-IDI. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Any member of the proposed class may move the court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

While Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. did not file the Complaint in this matter, the firm, with offices in Wilmington, Delaware and Garden City, New York, regularly litigates securities class, derivative and direct actions, shareholder rights litigation and corporate governance litigation, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty and proxy violations in the Delaware Court of Chancery and in state and federal courts throughout the United States.

Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE: Rigrodsky & Long, P.A.

Rigrodsky & Long, P.A.
Timothy J. MacFall, Esquire
Noah R. Wortman, Case Development Director
888-969-4242
302-295-5310
Fax: 302-654-9430
info@rigrodskylong.com
http://www.rigrodskylong.com