Facebook (FB) has cleared an important legal hurdle, as a S.D.N.Y. district court dismissed a lawsuit regarding its fumbled IPO last May. The plaintiffs had argued that CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other directors should be liable for selectively disclosing negative measures of the company’s performance. Judge Sweet disagreed. Unsurprisingly, a Facebook representative said they were “pleased with the court’s ruling.” For more, see CNBC.
The IRS won a major case in U.S. Tax Court earlier this week, and the ruling could cost the Bank of New York Mellon more than $800 million. The dispute arose from Structured Trust Advantaged Repackaged Securities (STARS) – essentially manufactured tax shelters marketed by the bank. In ruling against BNY Mellon, the Court held the STARS program was a “subterfuge for generating, monetizing and transferring the value of foreign tax credits.” For more, see the Wall Street Journal.
In a follow-up to a previous Network post, President Obama has signed an executive order on cybersecurity. However, the President’s order does not reach tough new regulations on private companies, falling short of last year’s proposed legislation, and does not allow for broad information sharing with government intelligence agencies as proposed by CISPA. Congressional reaction to the executive order is yet to be determined—some commentators view the move as taking pressure off Congress to act on cybersecurity this term, but even President Obama, in his State of the Union address last night, addressed the need for a comprehensive law. For more, see CNET and BBC.