A New York Federal District Court has “substantially denied” Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s motions to dismiss a September 2009 case filed by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray on behalf of five pension funds.

According to Judge P. Kevin Castel’s ruling, the Court approved the securities fraud and false proxy claims against the two companies and their respective management officials will be allowed to move forward.

Specifically, allegations that they failed to disclose the agreement to pay up to $5.8 billion in discretionary bonuses. Also, liability and false offering claims, as well as false proxy statement claims that BofA failed to disclose Merrill’s fourth quarter 2008 losses will be included in future deliberation.

Dismissed actions include securities fraud claims, which include allege that BofA failed to disclose Merrill’s previous 2008 losses, a Monday announcement said.

“The court’s ruling is a major win not only for Ohio teachers, public employees and all Bank of America shareholders, but it also is a win for shareholders of every company and for our financial system,” Cordray said in his comments. “The court ruled that companies cannot pick and choose what they will tell their shareholders. Companies will not be allowed to hide exorbitant bonuses and huge losses from their shareholders.

Cordray, the state watchdog, also explained in the Aug. 30 statement that he would “move forward move forward aggressively with this action to hold these companies and executives accountable” for the lead plaintiff group, which includes the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and two European public pension funds.

The boyfriend of a Disney executive’s aide admits he tried to sell earnings data to investment companies before they were made public.

The boyfriend of an assistant to a top Walt Disney Co. executive pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit securities fraud  and wire fraud in federal court in New York in an insider trading scheme that garnered notoriety for its lack of sophistication.

Yonni Sebbag was arrested in May along with Bonnie Hoxie, a former aide to Zenia Mucha, the head of corporate communications for Disney. Both were charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud by selling inside information to investment companies. Read the rest…

Apollo Group Inc and several of its top executives have been slapped with a class action lawsuit for allegedly making misleading statements about the for-profit education company's operations.

The complaint filed in a federal court in Arizona alleges that Apollo and some of its executives made "materially false and misleading statements" between December 7, 2009, and August 3, 2010, about its business.

The complaint also alleges that these statements artificially inflated the trading price of Apollo common stock during that time, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Complainants are seeking compensatory damages, Apollo said, adding that it intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously.

The executives named in the lawsuit include Apollo's executive chairman, co-chief executive officers, chief financial officer and others.

Apollo, parent of the University of Phoenix, and the rest of the for-profit industry has come under intense regulatory scrutiny over enrollment practices and use of federal aid.

Last year, Apollo, considered bellwether of the industry, was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for its revenue recognition practices.

Apollo's shares, which have fallen 20 percent in the last 3 months, fell about 3 percent in pre-market trade to $42.

The revelation that BP's Texas City refinery emitted toxic benzene for more than a month has ignited a furor in the port community that has suffered its share of deadly industrial accidents and toxic spills.

Thousands of residents who fear they may have been exposed to the known carcinogen released at the oil refinery from April 6 to May 16 have been flooding parking lots and conference halls where local trial attorneys hosted information sessions and sought clients for class-action lawsuits against the oil giant.

BP faces the new challenge just as it is reaching a key milestone in another crisis — plugging the Gulf of Mexico well that blew out in an oil spill disaster that is costing the company billions of dollars.

On Wednesday, more than 3,400 people lined the hallways and sidewalks around the Nessler Center to sign on to a $10 billion class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in Galveston federal court by Friendswood attorney Anthony Buzbee.

The lawsuit alleges the release of 500,000 pounds of chemicals - including 17,000 pounds of benzene - has jeopardized the health and property values of people who live and work in the area. At the nearby College of the Mainland, a separate town hall meeting drew a crowd of 600.