Originally posted by: dmcowen674
The very core of corporate corruption is on trial here but I'm sure they will come away unscathed as usual.
10-6-2007
Enron investors banking on high court
WASHINGTON - The hopes of Enron investors are riding on a Supreme Court case that may be the last chance at compensation for their losses when the scandal-ridden energy company collapsed.
shareholders in companies that commit securities fraud should not be allowed to sue banks, accountants, law firms and suppliers that allegedly participated in the fraud.
Allowing investors to file class-action lawsuits in such cases would "threaten the safety and soundness of individual financial institutions and the nation's banking system," a coalition of business groups, including the American Bankers Association, said in court papers.
Firms and corporations that enabled companies such as Enron to defraud stockholders should now have to pay, lawyers for the investors say.
"The banks orchestrated the fraud; they weren't sideline viewers," said Patrick Coughlin, the lead lawyer for Enron shareholders. "So when the question comes up about who should be on the hook for Enron, it's the banks."
In both cases, the issue comes down to the meaning of the word "deceptive" in federal securities law.
At stake in the Enron case is more than $30 billion sought by hundreds of thousands of investors from banks that allegedly helped the company, once the nation's seventh-largest,
hide billions in debt and make failing ventures appear profitable
For investors, recent developments have gone against them.
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to intervene in the Stoneridge case on the side of investors. But the Justice Department solicitor general, after pitches from President Bush
==============================================
No surprise that Bush wants his buds to be free to defraud everyone.