[JURIST] In Monday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC has announced that Southwest Securities Inc., a subsidiary of SWS Group Inc., will pay $10 million to settle charges of market timing of mutual fund shares. Southwest will pay back $2 million and also pay an $8 million civil penalty. Additionally, three managers will pay the agency $275,000 to settle charges against them. Read the SEC press release and litigation release. Read the Southwest press release here. CBSMarketWatch has more.

In other news, as previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, eighteen former Enron directors have agreed to pay $168 million to settle a lawsuit alleging they deceived investors. USA Today has more…. Hollywood Entertainment Corp. has agreed to a buyout offer of nearly $850 million from rival Movie Gallery Inc. which would merge the numbers two and three video rental chains. The merger would create a strong challenger for industry leader Blockbuster Inc. AP has more…. Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, stage producers of some of North America's biggest hits, appeared in a Canadian court today over charges that they swindled investors of over $408 million. The pair are currently fugitives from law in the United States. Bloomberg has more…. News Corporation announced a $5.86 billion buy-out of minority shareholders in Fox Entertainment. The Financial Times has more…. The US Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case considering the proper standards to allow individuals to file class-action lawsuits against corporations. The Court, without comment, affirmed a US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decision which certified a nationwide class-action suit of 600,000 doctors against HMOs under a federal conspiracy statute. Read the Eleventh Circuit Court decision [PDF]. Review the Supreme Court's full 29-page Order List [PDF]. AP has more.