W. Hardy Callcott

Securities litigation

The troubled economy meant plenty of work for Callcott, who devotes his practice to regulatory counseling concerning securities issues. Callcott served as lead counsel for Wells Fargo & Co. as three of the bank's affiliates hammered out a buyback settlement with California Attorney General Jerry Brown and the North American Securities Administrators Association in which Wells Fargo agreed to repurchase $1.4 billion in troubled auction-rate securities from retail customers, charities and small businesses. Touted by the bank as safe investments that could be cashed out at periodic auctions, the securities ended up worthless when the subprime mortgage crisis broke and the auctions failed. Callcott also represented regional broker-dealer D.A. Davidson & Co. in a deal for a $375,000 fine with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over claims it failed to prevent an international crime group from hacking the confidential information of about 192,000 customers.