In the following guest post, Francis Kean examines the proposed new U.K. National Security and Investment Bill, which creates a new enforcement regime and carries substantial new risks for fines and even imprisonment. Francis is a Partner, Financial Lines, at McGill and Partners. A version of this article previously was published as a McGill client alert. I would like to thank Francis for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Francis’s article.
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International D & O
U.K. Supreme Court Ruling Clears Way for Massive Opt-Out Collective Action Proceeding Against Mastercard
The massive U.K. collective lawsuit against Mastercard will return to the Competition Appeal Tribunal for further proceedings as a result of the December 11, 2020 Judgement of the U.K. Supreme Court. The high-profile lawsuit is the first under the U.K.’s recently adopted opt-out collective action procedures for consumer protection claims. The case is also the first collective action proceeding to reach the U.K Supreme Court. The Court’s judgment sets out important guidelines and principles for collective action proceedings. The Court’s December 11, 2020 Judgment can be found here. A written summary of the Court’s Judgment can be found here, and a video summary of the Judgment delivered by Lord Michael Briggs can be found here.
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Guest Post: The New UK Insolvency Act Exposes a Gap in Cover for D&O Insurance
In the following guest post, Francis Kean takes a look at the new UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act and the Act’s potential implications for D&O insurance coverage. Francis is a Partner, Financial Lines, at McGill and Partners. A version of this article previously was published as a McGill client alert. I would like to thank Francis for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Francis’s article.
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Guest Post: Fraud Act Prosecution of Directors: How Likely and What Are The D&O Implications
In the following guest post, Francis Kean takes a look at the possibilities for director prosecutions under the UK Fraud Act and explores the possible D&O insurance implications of future prosecutions. Francis is a Partner, Financial Lines, at McGill and Partners. A version of this article previously was published as a McGill client alert. I would like to thank Francis for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Francis’s article.
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Rare Australia Securities Class Action Trial Results in First-Ever Defense Verdict
Securities litigation observers know that class action securities lawsuit in the U.S. rarely go to trial. The same is true in Australia as well. However, in a recent ruling in only the second-ever securities lawsuit to go to trial in Australia, a Federal Court Justice has ruled in favor of the defendant company, the first ever trial verdict won by a defendant in Australia. The recent ruling has a number of interesting and important implications, as discussed below.
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Guest Post: Securities Class Action Risk in South East Asia
In the following guest post, Arati Varma and Ian Roberts take a look at the evolving risk of securities class actions in South East Asia. Arati Varma is Head of Financial, Professional, and Casualty Lines, Asia, for QBE, based in Singapore. Ian Roberts is the Managing Partner of Clyde & Co’s Singapore office and leads their regional insurance practice. A version of this article previously was published in the Q3 2020 PLUS Journal. I would like to thank Arati and Ian for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Arati’s and Ian’s article.
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First Half 2020 Securities Suits Against Foreign Issuers Outpaced Overall Filing Levels
As prior reports have noted (for example, here), securities suits filings against companies based outside outpaced the filing activity levels overall in the year’s first half. A new report from AIG takes a closer look at the first half 2020 U.S. securities suit filings against non-U.S. companies, and concludes among other things that the first half filings could result in the highest annual total of lawsuits against foreign filers in years. The AIG report, entitled “US Securities Class Actions: International US-Listed Companies/H1 2020” can be found here.
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Guest Post: Director’s Liabilities: Prevention and Protection – Ports of Call for Relief
In the following guest post, Umesh Pratapa takes a look at directors’ liability issues under Indian law, and also examines the protections that are available for directors as well. Umesh is a Consultant – Liability Insurance, in India. Umesh’s article was originally published in the July 2020 issue of “Director Today”, a monthly journal of the Institute of Directors (IOD), India. Reproduced with the kind permission of the publisher, Institute of Directors, India. I would like to thank Umesh for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Umesh’s article.
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A “Snapshot” of the Global Rise of Collective Investor Actions
As I have noted in prior posts (most recently here), one of the more interesting and noteworthy developments in recent years has been the rise of collective investor actions outside the United States. A recent white paper published by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE in collaboration with the Clyde & Co law firm entitled “Collective Actions and Litigation Funding and the Impact on Securities Claims: A Global Snapshot” takes a detailed look at the spread and development of collective investor actions – including, in at least some jurisdictions, securities class actions – against corporations and their directors and officers and the interrelation between this development and litigation funding. The report also includes a detailed picture of the status of collective actions and litigation funding in 28 different countries. The white paper can be found here.
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The Top 25 Securities-Related Settlements Outside of North America
Securities class action litigation has been an important part of the corporate and securities litigation environment in the United States and Canada for many years. What has been interesting in more recent years has been the steady rise of collective investor actions outside North America. As these various claims have accumulated, a number of them have developed into significant settlements, as documented in a recent report. ISS Securities Class Action Services has published an interesting report entitled “The Top 25 Non-North American Settlements: Largest Securities-Related Settlements Outside of North America of All-Time” (here) detailing the largest collective investor action settlements in Europe, Australia, and Asia.
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