There is no question that the Amsterdam Court of Appeals’ May 29, 2009 action authorizing Royal Dutch Shell to begin funding the April 2007 securities settlement represents a landmark development. Under the ruling (a copy of which can be found here, in Dutch), Shell will begin paying a total of $381 million to a
NERA Releases 2008 Canadian Securities Class Action Trends Study
As a result of recent legislative changes, Canadian securities litigation filings increased substantially in 2008, according to a January 26, 2009 Report by NERA Economic Consulting entitled "Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 1997-2008" (here). A January 26, 2009 press release describing the report can be found here.
According to the
What About Satyam’s D&O Insurance?
As the details about the Satyam Computer Services scandal have emerged and the U.S. securities lawsuits have begun to flood in, questions have also arisen about Satyam’s D&O insurance. At least some of the questions are answered in a January 8, 2009 article in The Economic Times (India’s largest financial daily) entitled "Satyam Scam Triggers
European Collective Action Reform and the U.S Model: Compare and Contrast
There no longer seems to be a question whether European countries will adopt some form of collective action procedures. The questions now are what form the collective action mechanisms will take and to what extent will the processes will adapt or reject features of the U.S. class action model.
A November 6, 2008 article by
Another Significant Canadian Securities Law Development
In a recent post (here), I raised concerns about the possibility of U.S.-domiciled companies becoming subject to securities litigation under the Ontario Securities Act. Now, a recent decision by an Ontario Superior Court judge interpreting the Act’s provisions suggests the possibility of litigants using a parallel Ontario proceeding to circumvent the PSLRA’s discovery stay
AIG Hit with Canadian Securities Class Action
Questions surrounding the susceptibility of foreign domiciled companies to U.S. securities laws and to the jurisdiction of U.S. court are frequently recurring issues, as I noted most recently here. However, a new case filed in Ontario under Ontario’s securities laws presents an interesting variation on these questions.
The Ontario Action Against AIG
According
Securities Lawsuits: A Global Phenomenon?
Among the many consequences of an increasingly global economy is that investor interest in pursuing claims for securities wrongdoing has become a more nearly universal phenomenon. While collective-style lawsuits largely had been restricted to claims in U.S. courts under U.S. law, a growing list of countries are adopting at least some elements of U.S.-style securities
Anticorruption Developments and D&O Insurance Implications
The growing importance of global anticorruption enforcement efforts was underscored this past week by the revelation of a cross-border investigation involving the French industrial giant Alstom and by developments in the continuing investigation involving Siemens. Moreover, the Siemens developments highlight the increasing significance of liabilities arising from anticorruption exposures for the D&O insurance industry.
First
A “Global” Approach to Securities Settlement?
The parties in the SCOR Holding (Switzerland) AG class action securities litigation seem to have devised a “global” settlement strategy to resolve the problems arising from the cross-border distribution of would-be class members.
First, some background. The lawsuit relates to alleged misrepresentations and omissions purportedly made by SCOR Holding’s predecessor in interest, Converium. Converium was domiciled
Foreign Companies, Foreign Claimants, U.S. Courts
As various blue-ribbon committees have struggled with the competitiveness of the U.S. securities exchanges in the global financial marketplace (about which refer here and here), one issue on which they have focused is the aversion overseas companies may have for the U.S. litigation system. But while overseas companies may seek to avoid U.S.-style litigation,