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  Units of Walt Disney Co. (DIS), the world’s largest theme-park operator, tentatively settled a lawsuit alleging they violated U.S. antitrust law by agreeing with competitors not to recruit one another’s employees.   Animation studio Pixar and visual-effects specialist Lucasfilm Ltd. told U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, they agreed to settle all claims, according to court papers filed July 12.   “The parties anticipate completing documentation of the proposed settlement and presenting it for the court’s consideration in the near future,” plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a letter to Koh.   A group of high-tech employees sued the companies complaining that industry agreements not to pursue cross-hires amounted to a conspiracy “to fix and suppress the compensation of their employees,” according to an amended complaint filed on Sept. 13, 2011.   Zenia…

Fabrice Tourre, the ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) vice president whose congressional testimony put a face on the complex structured investments that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, is set to face trial today on allegations he misled investors. Tourre, dubbed “Fabulous Fab” by a friend, faces fraud claims in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over his role in Abacus 2007-AC1, a synthetic collateralized debt obligation tied to home mortgages. The trial comes three years to the day after the SEC announced Goldman Sachs (GS)’s agreement to pay a then-record $550 million settlement and admit mistakes in marketing Abacus.   Jurors will want to know whether Tourre intentionally misled customers, said Ernest Badway, a former SEC enforcement attorney with the Philadelphia-based law firm Fox Rothschild LLP (1274L). “They’re going to look…

  The news – although not yet officially announced – that Sir John Thomas is to succeed Lord Judge as lord chief justice of England and Wales shows how fallible some of us were in predicting that the job would go to Lady Justice Hallett.   But it also demonstrates that, in favouring Thomas over Hallett, the selection panel was determined to put traditional judging skills above a career in criminal law. They were not prepared to be swayed by the feeling that it would be good for diversity to have a woman at the top.   The third candidate, Lord Justice Leveson, has had a millstone round his neck since taking on an inquiry into press regulation that was bound to attract media criticism. He would have been at a disadvantage from…

  The Serious Fraud Office has charged two brokers with conspiracy to defraud as part of its ongoing investigation into the rigging of Libor.   The two men, who formerly worked for inter-dealer broker RP Martin, were arrested in December along with Tom Hayes, who last month was charged with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud.   Terry Farr, 41, and James Gilmour, 48, attended Bishopsgate police station in London on Monday and were charged by City of London police with conspiracy to defraud. They will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court at a later date.   Gilmour was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud; Farr with two, the SFO said.   Katie Wheatley, partner and joint head of the criminal law team at Bindmans, said: "Mr Farr will place…

A procuradora da Fazenda Nacional Patrícia de Seixas Lessa já pode voltar ao cargo de assessora no gabinete do juiz federal Theophilo Antonio Miguel Filho, convocado ao Tribunal Regional Federal da 2ª Região. Liminar do ministro  do Supremo Tribunal Federal Gilmar Mendes, concedida na última sexta-feira (12/7) suspende outra decisão liminar, que havia sido dada pelo CNJ, determinando o afastamento de quaisquer procuradores que atuassem em gabinetes de magistrados no TRF-2. O ministro explica que a decisão, assinada pelo conselheiro José Lúcio Munhoz, do CNJ, que determinou o afastamento dos procuradores, criou uma instabilidade institucional para o TRF-2. Segundo a nova liminar, a ordem dada pelo CNJ afeta tanto a imagem da corte quanto da própria servidora, bem como o bom funcionamento das atividades do tribunal. Gilmar Mendes critica o raciocínio usado para…

O Senado aprovou em votação simbólica, nesta  quinta-feira (4), o Projeto de Lei da Câmara (PLC) 39/2013, do Executivo, que responsabiliza administrativa e civilmente pessoas jurídicas pela prática de atos contra a administração pública, nacional ou estrangeira. A proposta faz parte da agenda definida pelo presidente Renan Calheiros e os líderes partidários para o atendimento das demandas colocadas nas recentes manifestações públicas. O projeto da chamada Lei Anticorrupção, que agora segue para sanção presidencial, permite a punição de empresas que pratiquem ações como oferecer vantagem indevida a agente público, fraudar licitações e financiar atos ilícitos.   Atualmente, apenas os agentes públicos flagrados em casos de corrupção são punidos – não havia punições para as pessoas jurídicas corruptoras, que agora podem pagar multas de 0,1% a 20% do faturamento bruto anual ou de…

  A Beijing court has sentenced China's former minister of railways Liu Zhijun to death, with a two-year reprieve, for bribery and abuse of power, China's state media reported on Monday, ending one of the country's highest-profile corruption cases in years.   Liu stood trial at Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court on 9 June for accepting £6m in bribes between 1986 and 2011 and using his position to help 11 people win promotions or lucrative contracts, according to the state newswire Xinhua. He had been formally accused in April.   The court also "deprived his political right for life and confiscated all his personal property", the newswire reported. Suspended death sentences in China are usually commuted to life imprisonment. The court's verdict will require Liu to spend at least 10 years in jail.…

  A referendum on whether Britain should remain a member of the European Union came a step closer when MPs overwhelmingly backed a public vote in 2017.   Conservative MPs put aside their differences over whether the UK should leave the EU by uniting in support of a backbench Bill to enshrine in law David Cameron’s promise of an in/out referendum.  It was given a second reading by 304 votes to nil.  Most Labour and  Liberal Democrat MPs abstained after their party leaders dismissed it as a stunt, but six Labour Eurosceptics  rebelled by voting in favour.   The Private Member’s Bill is unlikely to become law due to lack of parliamentary time. But the huge majority will keep up the pressure for a referendum – and for Labour to…

  Hedge-fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen isn’t likely to face criminal charges tied to the biggest alleged insider-trading case in history as U.S. prosecutors conclude there’s not enough evidence to meet a statute of limitations deadline to file a case, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.   The evidence against Cohen, 57, that involves his $15 billion firm SAC Capital Advisors LP isn’t strong enough, the newspaper reported yesterday. It didn’t name its sources.   The case, part of a five-year U.S. crackdown of insider trading at hedge funds, stems from the insider-trading case against former SAC portfolio manager Mathew Martoma, who was charged in November in what prosecutors called the biggest insider-trading scheme in history. SAC paid a record $602 million to settle a civil case related to Martoma’s…

  Privacy watchdogs in the UK, Germany and Italy have told Google to rewrite its privacy policy in Europe or face legal sanctions, 15 months after the search giant unilaterally altered them to unify data collection.   The move follows similar complaints to the US company last month from the equivalent organisations in France and Spain, and ratchets up the attention over its handling of the huge amounts of personal data that it collects from users every day.   Google has already been censured in Europe over its collection of Wi-Fi data, including usernames, passwords and web page viewing while collecting photos for its Street View system. Both European privacy authorities and US legislators have demanded clarification from the company about the data protection implications of its Google Glass head-mounted system, which can take pictures…