Cuban contends the SEC can’t prove a confidentiality agreement was formed between him and Mamma.com and says he made no agreement that he couldn’t trade on information about the private share offering, Fitzwater wrote.
Cuban’s lawyers have said the commission’s proof falls short in several other areas, including whether he was reckless, whether he disclosed he was going to sell his stock and whether he used the offering information to sell, according to the summary statement.
“We look forward to a fair trial,” Chris Clark, one of Cuban’s attorneys, said in an interview. “We think the truth will come out and Mr. Cuban will be vindicated.”
“The thing I am really looking forward to is shedding some sunlight on how the SEC really works,” Cuban said today on arriving at the courthouse.
Judy Burns, a spokeswoman for the SEC, declined to comment on the trial.
The government asked for “disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains” and undisclosed civil monetary penalties, prejudgment interest and a permanent order prohibiting Cuban from “further violations of the relevant provisions of the Exchange Act.”
Five Years
The case has stretched to five years with disputes over insider trading law, SEC conduct and other matters. After the judge dismissed the case in 2009, a U.S. appeals court in New Orleans reversed that ruling and revived it.
In March, Cuban lost another bid to end the case. Fitzwater stated that while his ruling was “a close one,” the SEC was entitled to present its case to a jury.
The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cuban, 08-cv-02050, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas).