Tag: lawsuit

Joint motion filed in St. Clare’s pension case

Mary Pat Campbell
Joint motion filed in St. Clare’s pension case

Excerpt:

It’s been a little over two years since 1,100 former St. Clare’s health care workers learned they were no longer receiving their pensions.

The legal battle continues, after a lawsuit has been filed against the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, the St. Clare’s Corporation, and two local bishops.

Attorney General, Letitia James, is also launching a separate investigation. But now, a joint motion has been filed between the lawyers working on behalf of the pensioners and the Attorney General’s Office to compel the defendants to produce documents and information.

Author(s): Jamie DeLine

Publication Date: 16 February 2021

Publication Site: ABC News 10

Mayberry v. KKR: Kentucky Attorney General Shows True Colors, Looks Over-Eager to Settle Pathbreaking Pension Case Rather Than Inconvenience Private Equity Kingpins Blackstone and KKR

Mary Pat Campbell
Mayberry v. KKR: Kentucky Attorney General Shows True Colors, Looks Over-Eager to Settle Pathbreaking Pension Case Rather Than Inconvenience Private Equity Kingpins Blackstone and KKR

Excerpt:

A key hearing next week, on February 8, ought to shed some light on how Judge Philip Shepherd intends to deal with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is showing perilous little respect for the judge’s desire to move the landmark pension case, Mayberry v. KKR, along in a disciplined manner after it has languished for over three years. We’ve embedded Judge Shepherd’s order of December 28, the Attorney General’s request for an extension of time, and the Tier 3 Plaintiffs’ Motion of Opposition to the Attorney General’s extension of time. You can see the other major filings, including the complaint by the Tier 3 members that they hope to get leave to file, here.

We need to cover a lot of background before getting to the elephant in the room, that the timing of the Attorney General’s intervention looks suspect, particularly since he is a protege of Mitch McConnell and the suit he pulled from the jaws of apparent death by his intervention fingers heavyweight Republican donors Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone and Henry Kravis of KKR personally, along with their firms. Political insiders in Kentucky believe that Cameron needed some good headlines after getting considerable criticism in the national press for going easy on the cops that shot Brionna Taylor. One theory was that the revival of this lawsuit was also effectively a shakedown: Cameron would give the private equity firms a “cost of doing business” settlement, with no embarrassing discover, with an expected quid pro quo in dark money payments. Another theory is that Cameron might pursue the case a little but still enter into a cheapie settlement if he can use discovery to damage the Beshears, a Democratic party dynasty that had their fingers all over the Kentucky Retirement System mess.

Author(s): Yves Smith

Publication Date: 5 February 2021

Publication Site: naked capitalism

States Pressure Drugmakers After McKinsey’s $600 Million Opioid Settlement

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/states-pressure-drug-makers-after-mckinseys-600-million-opioid-settlement-11612476966

Excerpt:

State attorneys general intensified pressure on drug companies to settle claims over the opioid crisis, following consulting firm McKinsey & Co.’s agreement to pay nearly $600 million over its advice to pharmaceutical companies to rev up sales.

McKinsey’s settlements, reached with every state but Nevada, are an unexpected first source of revenue to stem from yearslong investigations into drug-industry players that states say helped exacerbate an opioid epidemic. It has killed at least 400,000 people in the U.S. since 1999.

“We do not want to be in litigation for years on this, spending money and resources while people are dying,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Thursday. “We want to get fair settlements now. Others need to follow suit.”

States have been negotiating since 2019 with the nation’s three largest drug distributors, McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., as well as drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. The companies have publicly disclosed that they have set aside a collective $26 billion for the deal, most of it to be paid over 18 years, but no final agreement has been reached.

Authors: Sara Randazzo and Jonathan Randles

Publication Date: 4 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

Robinhood’s future is ‘toast,’ says ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/robinhoods-future-is-toast-says-wolf-of-wall-street-jordan-belfort-143933479.html

Excerpt:

The self proclaimed “Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort, expects the Robinhood trading platform to go out of business over the GameStop (GME) trading controversy. “I really believe the lawsuits are going to be very problematic,” Belfort told Yahoo Finance Live.

Belfort was the founder of the defunct Stratton Oakmont brokerage. He plead guilty in 1999 to running an illegal “pump and dump” stock scheme that cost his clients more than $100 million. Belfort served 22 months in federal prison and later authored a memoir, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which became a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

GameStop shares soared more than 1,600%, in three months, hitting $483 last week and that surprised Belfort. “When I first looked at it I said, ‘Yeah, it’s a modified pump and dump,’” he said.

Author: Adam Shapiro

Publication Date: 2 February 2021

Publication Site: Yahoo Finance

Pension official: Firm facing lawsuit tried to influence Missouri lawmakers

Mary Pat Campbell
Pension official: Firm facing lawsuit tried to influence Missouri lawmakers

Excerpt:

A Canadian firm that is being sued by Missouri’s largest public pension system for allegedly mishandling investments has hired a lobbyist who tried to influence legislators and put pressure on the pension outside of court proceedings, a pension official said in court testimony.

The private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group hired a lobbyist after the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System filed its lawsuit in October. Pension system executive director Ronda Stegmann testified in a court hearing last week that lobbyist Richard McIntosh tried to set up a meeting with Stegmann, two legislators and Catalyst executives, The Kansas City Star reported.

Original Source: Associated Press

Publication Date: 28 January 2021

Publication Site: Missouri Lawyers Media

Harvey, Illinois, faces renewed scrutiny of 2014 SEC consent agreement

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://fixedincome.fidelity.com/ftgw/fi/FINewsArticle?id=202101211503SM______BNDBUYER_00000177-2650-dd2a-a17f-f7d29f810001_110.1#new_tab

Excerpt:

A federal judge ordered Harvey, Illinois, to rehire a consultant and prove the status of management reforms the city agreed to in a 2014 consent judgment that settled charges the Chicago suburb fraudulently used bond proceeds.

After a series of communications over the last year about the status of the impoverished city’s compliance, the Securities and Exchange Commission dragged the city back to court in October.

Author: Yvette Shields

Publication Date: 21 January 2021

Publication Site: Fidelity

Original Publisher: Bond Buyer

More Jockeying on Kentucky Pension Case, Mayberry v. KKR

Mary Pat Campbell
More Jockeying on Kentucky Pension Case, Mayberry v. KKR

Excerpt:

A short update on the Mayberry v. KKR, a pathbreaking public pension suit targeting customized hedge funds designed for the sitting duck Kentucky Retirement Systems by Blackstone, KKR, and PAACO. The litigation is on track to becoming a Jarndyce v Jarndyce level case study in the (mis)use of procedure to delay a case. 

…..

I neglected to add that one reason for trying another amendment as opposed to a new filing would be to assure that Shepherd remained the trial judge. New cases are assigned randomly to judges and the other judge in Frankfort is pro-corporate. However, the Attorney General’s Motion to Intervene was assigned to Shepherd’s colleague, and he bounced it over to Shepherd, so that risk looks to no longer be operative.

Author: Yves Smith

Publication Date: 8 January 2021

Publication Site: naked capitalism