Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law,americast.usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Thu, Oct 22 1992 Date: Thu, 22 Oct 92 04:38:37 EDT Message-ID: 10-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update Oct. 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network EX-YIPPIE CHARGED IN SCHEME: Jerry Rubin, the '60s yippie turned '90s yuppie, has been accused of pushing a pyramid scheme. A class-action suit alleges the company he's affiliated with, Omnitrition International, is a pyramid scheme that stacks the odds against its investors. Attorneys representing former Omnitrition distributor Shaun Webster filed the suit that also names owners Jim Fobari and Roger Daley. SUIT SAYS INVESTMENT WAS LOST: A lawsuit against Jerry Rubin's company Omnitrition International alleges that former distributor Shaun Webster lost his $2,800 investment and that up to 50,000 others may have lost more than $50 million, according to an attorney. Former 1960s radical Rubin dismisses the accusation the vitamin company is a pyramid scheme. Products include so-called nutrients for the brain. SEC EASES QUALIFICATIONS: The Securities and Exchange Commission's latest changes open its shelf registration process to more companies by simplifying paperwork and loosening qualification guidelines. In a shelf filing, a company fills out paperwork up to two years before securities are put up for sale, allowing it to issue securities when market conditions are favorable. BUSINESSES GET A BREAK: The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved rules to make it easier for businesses to raise money. SEC Chairman Richard Breeden says the changes are part of its effort to meet President Bush's call to cut regulatory red tape. In July, the SEC loosened rules to make it simpler and cheaper for small businesses to tap stock and bond markets for cash. AIRLINE RULING DUE IN NOVEMBER: A federal judge is expected to rule next month on a proposed $458 million settlement of a class action lawsuit against nine U.S. airlines. Lawyers in the case will discuss ways to streamline the claim process next week. Some lawyers are recommending fliers who bought more than $2,500 worth of plane tickets hold off filing claims until the claim process is settled. Deadline: Feb. 15. OWNER LOSES FRANCHISES: A bankruptcy court judge has stripped Al Copeland of most of his Popeyes and Church's fried chicken restaurant chains and awarded them to a group of banks that helped Copeland finance his 1989 takeover of Church's. Judge Frank Moore rejected Al Copeland's reorganization plan in favor of one submitted by the bank group. The approved plan also had the backing of most unsecured creditors. FBI PROBES CASH TRANSFER: The FBI is investigating allegations that Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti transferred cash and assets from MGM studios to other companies he controlled around the world before he was forced to give up control of MGM, Reuters says. Parretti borrowed heavily from French bank Credit Lyonnais to buy MGM for $1.3 billion from investor Kirk Kerkorian in 1990. SHEFFIELD, REVLON SIGN DEAL: Sheffield Industries Inc. said Wednesday it has signed an exclusive five-year manufacturing and distribution agreement for Revlon clothing. Sheffield said the agreement is automatically renewable for another five years if product sales exceed $20 million in the fifth year of the current contract, whose terms were not disclosed. EL PASO MAY ENTER CHAPTER 11: El Paso Refinery LP said Wednesday it is considering entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company is at an impasse with creditors and Internal Revenue Service liens. The refinery operates a high-conversion petroleum refinery and terminal facility with output of 53,000 barrels per day. The company said a continuing weak market for its products has made it hard to be in the black. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DEAL MADE: Electric & Gas Technology Inc. Wednesday said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Texas Instruments Inc.'s magnetics operations. Terms were not disclosed. Electric & Gas Technology said newly formed unit Superior Magnetics Inc. will complete the transaction by the end of the year. Texas Instruments' magnetics unit is an internal supplier and will continue to serve TI. PRODUCER WINS ANTITRUST SUIT: A Los Angeles jury has found that distributor ITC violated antitrust laws in the way it packaged the 1985 movie "Twice in a Lifetime" so that stations had to buy a group of programs. Independent film and television producer Bud Yorkin was awarded $2.45 million in the lawsuit. Law firm Langberg, Leslie, Mann and Gabriel said the verdict was a landmark decision. TEKTRONIX WANTS MEETING LIMITS: Tektronix Inc. Wednesday asked a federal court to declare legal the limits it imposed on a shareholder meeting's agenda that was called at the request of the company's largest shareholder. Monday the maker of test instruments and communications equipment said it scheduled the meeting after a request from money manager George Soros, who wants to make nominations to the board. BHOPAL VICTIMS TO BE PAID: India's government Wednesday announced payments for relatives of 12 people who died in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak, the first to be promised money since the disaster. More than 4,000 people were killed and 20,000 injured when methyl isocyanate gas leaked on Dec. 2-3, 1984, from a pesticide plant run by a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corp., a Danbury, Conn.-based firm. Business Law Editor: Beth Mann. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM