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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Longacre, post: 11613, member: 1048&quot;]Here is some additional information that I found in a court opinion.&nbsp; I still think Taglione&#039;s theories on the markets is pretty insightful...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>On February 11, 1987, the FTC filed a complaint against Willis, Taglione, and their closely-held corporation, Standard Financial Management Corporation (SFMC). The complaint alleged that through SFMC, which transacted business under the name and style of &quot;New England Rare Coin Galleries&quot;, the appellants had engaged in deceptive practices in marketing and selling investment-quality rare coins. These machinations, it was said, were in contravention of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1), and resulted in losses to consumers in the $15,000,000 range.</p><p>The suit was no bolt from the blue. It followed protracted negotiations among the parties. The FTC and the appellants had fashioned a tentative settlement (embodied in a proposed consent decree) which provided, inter alia, for injunctive relief and the appointment of special counsel to oversee the liquidation of SFMC. Though the decree suggested consumer restitution, it made relatively modest arrangements to supply the wherewithal for such remediation: payment by an insurer [FN1] of $1,500,000 into a redress fund, to be augmented by the net liquidation value of the remaining assets of the corporation. The anticipated settlement imposed some rather mild compliance and reporting conditions upon the appellants, but neither envisioned nor required them to contribute personal funds. And, there was every reason to believe that the redress fund would be topped off millions of dollars short of what would be needed to make affected consumers whole.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>FN1. The insurer had underwritten certain coverage for SFMC&#039;s officers and directors. The sense of urgency attendant to the proceedings in the district court related in large part to the scheduled expiration of this insurance coverage at 12:00 noon on February 13, 1987--an event of considerable potential significance both to SFMC and to those who saw themselves as possible claimants against SFMC, its officers and directors, and/or the redress fund. For present purposes, it suffices merely to note this circumstance; any detailed explanation would be supererogatory.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In agreeing to this settlement, the FTC relied in part upon the sworn personal financial statements submitted to it by Willis and Taglione, respectively. See, e.g., Part IV.P of the Revised Stipulated Final Order and Judgment (&quot;In agreeing to the amount of redress ..., the Commission has relied upon the information shown in [the financial] statements....&quot;). It is these very statements which lie at the core of the current controversy.</p><p>The parties jointly presented the consent decree to the district court on the day after the complaint was filed. At the urging of all concerned and because of exigent circumstances, see supra n. 1, the district judge reviewed the draft order immediately. He held a lengthy hearing lasting into the early evening of February 12 and provisionally approved the decree on the morning of February 13, subject to several modifications which he instructed the parties to draft. The judge indicated then and there that he was concerned about the accuracy of the principals&#039; financial statements and ordered Willis and Taglione to appear before him on February 24 so that he might, among other things, inquire into the statements. Because of the press of time, it was not thought necessary to await the rewritten version of the decree. The special counsel took control of SFMC, and forthwith filed a Chapter 11 petition for corporate reorganization in the bankruptcy court[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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