Our attorneys regularly defend clients in enforcement inquiries and actions brought by the SEC, NASD, IRS and the Department of Justice, including those relating to fiduciary duty claims, general solicitation issues, misleading advertising claims, tax compliance inquiries and tax shelter disputes, fund formation and arbitration claims. We also represent financial institution broker-dealers in investor, shareholder and customer litigation involving allegations of self-dealing and prohibited transactions, claims based on investment suitabilty or completeness of disclosure, and other individual and class-action litigation.
We regularly help clients explore alternatives to litigation when these options meet their needs. For example, when the largest bank (by market capitalization) in the Euro Zone faced shareholder, regulatory and political concerns in the U.S. over a proposed major investment and acquisition, it turned to Bracewell for assistance. Our independent assessment of the proposed transaction concluded that it fully and completely complied with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
In our review, we also placed special emphasis on process followed by the New York Stock Exchange to analyze and approve the listing application. Our report was presented to the SEC and other regulatory agencies and carried considerable weight in the transaction’s successful completion. We believe use of this innovative advocacy strategy holds great potential in helping other financial institutions face both administrative forums and the court of public opinion.