Apollo Group Inc, the parent company of the University of Phoenix, said the company and several of its executives have been named defendants in a purported class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that the company made misleading statements between Dec 2009 and Aug 2010 about Apollo and its business "in violation of federal securities laws."

These statements artificially inflated the trading price of the company's shares, the lawsuit states and is seeking compensatory damages.

In June this year, the company had to pay damages as an appeals court reversed a lower court judgment related to a securities class action lawsuit.

The company, which is considered the bellwether of the for-profit education group in the U.S., has been under pressure along with its peers as the U.S. government is scrutinizing the sector.

Rules in the education sector are being overhauled to ensure that students do not graduate with unwieldy debt and the programs undertaken prepare them for the jobs in the field.

American Apparel (AMEX:APP) is now facing a class-action lawsuit brought against it by the Law Offices Howard G. Smith.

The suit alleges that American Apparel (AMEX:APP) “violated federal securities laws by issuing material misrepresentations to the market concerning American Apparel’s operations and financial performance” over the last 4 years.

Stay tuned for developments on this case.

If you’re contemplating investing in American Apparel (AMEX:APP) shares, be sure you make the trade at the right price. Timing the market or technical analysis might often a hard task, but do take into account the price history.

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Sean Coffey was a powerhouse among plaintiffs' securities lawyers, touted as the potential new king of securities class actions following the troubles at Milberg LLP and his securing $6.1 billion in recoveries for WorldCom investors.

But last fall, Mr. Coffey, 54, told his partners at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann he would quit the firm and try something different—a run as New York's next attorney general.

"When he came to tell me, I said, 'Sean, maybe you should go on vacation,'" said Max Berger, who co-managed the firm with Mr. Coffey. "'You can't possibly be serious about this, look what you'd be giving up.' And he said, 'No, no, this is what I want to do.'"

Mr. Coffey, who has never before run for political office, announced his candidacy in October and has been travelling the state trying to convince New Yorkers that he is the right person for the job. Considered an unknown in political circles, Mr. Coffey has embraced his outsider status, saying he is the most independent candidate, the only one who has a military background along with legal experience as a prosecutor, a defense attorney, plaintiffs' counsel and co-managing partner of a law firm.

"I view [running for attorney general] as a calling and not an occupation," he said. "I have nothing against career politicians; I've supported a heck of a lot of them financially. But for this office for this state at this point in time, I offer an alternative that I think the electorate will accept."


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A federal lawsuit was filed Monday against CVB Financial Corp. alleging that the Ontario-based lender misled investors in the months leading up to the company's disclosure that it was under a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
Kahn Swick & Foti, a class-actions law firm with offices in Louisiana and New York, and Braun Law Group in Los Angeles, brought the suit on behalf of a shareholder, Barry R. Lloyd.

The lawsuit offers little information on the basis for the allegations, other than to say that CVB - which owns Citizens Business Bank - is the subject of an investigation into "possible accounting violations."

Lawyers filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

"The SEC has not charged CVB financial with anything," CVB Chief Executive Christopher Myers said Tuesday.

Lewis Kahn, founding partner of Kahn Swick & Foti and a lawyer on the case, did not respond to calls for comment.

More lawsuits against CVB are likely to crop up, said Dana Warren, director of the Business Law Practicum at Loyola Law School, whether or not the SEC discloses more information about the investigation.

A New York Federal District Court has “substantially denied” Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s motions to dismiss a September 2009 case filed by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray on behalf of five pension funds.

According to Judge P. Kevin Castel’s ruling, the Court approved the securities fraud and false proxy claims against the two companies and their respective management officials will be allowed to move forward.

Specifically, allegations that they failed to disclose the agreement to pay up to $5.8 billion in discretionary bonuses. Also, liability and false offering claims, as well as false proxy statement claims that BofA failed to disclose Merrill’s fourth quarter 2008 losses will be included in future deliberation.

Dismissed actions include securities fraud claims, which include allege that BofA failed to disclose Merrill’s previous 2008 losses, a Monday announcement said.

“The court’s ruling is a major win not only for Ohio teachers, public employees and all Bank of America shareholders, but it also is a win for shareholders of every company and for our financial system,” Cordray said in his comments. “The court ruled that companies cannot pick and choose what they will tell their shareholders. Companies will not be allowed to hide exorbitant bonuses and huge losses from their shareholders.

Cordray, the state watchdog, also explained in the Aug. 30 statement that he would “move forward move forward aggressively with this action to hold these companies and executives accountable” for the lead plaintiff group, which includes the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and two European public pension funds.