International D & O

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Mark Sutton
Karen Boto

The UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 will go into effect on September 30, 2017. This new law will make corporate organizations criminally liable for the failure to prevent tax evasion by an “associated person.” In the following guest post, Mark Sutton and Karen Boto take a look at the Act and its provisions and examine the legislation’s D&O insurance implications. Mark is a partner and Karen Boto is legal director of law firm Clyde & Co. I would like to thank Mark and Karen for their willingness to publish their article 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 Mark and Karen’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Criminal Finances Act 2017: The Broadening of Corporate Accountability

Jorge Angell
Jorge Angell

As part of The D&O Diary’s ongoing efforts to keep abreast of important D&O insurance developments around the world, I am pleased to present the following guest post regarding D&O issues in Spain. In his guest post, Jorge Angell, the  senior partner at the Madrid law firm of LC Rodrigo Abogados, takes a look at certain features of the criminal liability system in Spain and reviews the implications for D&O insurance. I would like to thank Jorge for his willingness to publish his article as a guest post on my 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 an article. Here is Jorge’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: The Impact of a Recent Criminal Case in Spain on D&O Insurance

eu flagIn prior posts (for example, here), I have described the rise of collective investor actions outside of the U.S. as one of the most important current developments in the world of directors and officers liability. The rise of these collective investor suits is not happening in a vacuum; the growth in the number and size of these kinds of lawsuits is part of a larger upsurge in collective actions generally. According to a recent Report, collective redress actions represent a “growing business” in Europe, and the “volume and value of the cases being filed is on a steep upward curve.”

The Report, a detailed and interesting March 2017 publication by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute of Legal Reform entitled “The Growth of Collective Redress in the EU: A Survey of Developments in 10 Member States” (here) takes an anxious and uneasy look at the changes in the collective action environment in Europe, and proposes several recommendations as ways for countries to avoid abuses that the report contends have arisen elsewhere.  The Institute’s March 21, 2017 press release about the report can be found here.
Continue Reading The Steep Rise of Collective Actions in Europe

granaThe massive Petrobras bribery scandal has long since spread beyond just the Brazilian petroleum company itself to encompass a number of different other companies. As I have previously noted on this blog, many of the Brazilian companies caught up in these investigations have been hit with securities class action lawsuits in the U.S. Among the companies caught up in the growing anti-corruption scandal is the Brazilian-based multinational construction company, Odebrecht. Investigations based on the Odebrecht scandal having now spread to companies in other Latin American countries, including, among others, Peru. As discussed below, plaintiffs’ lawyers have now filed a U.S. securities class action lawsuit against one of the Peruvian companies caught up in the Odebrecht scandal, showing that the potential fallout from the corruption investigation that began in Brazil now represents a significant liability risk exposure for companies and their executives throughout Latin America.
Continue Reading Brazilian Corruption Scandal Leads to Liability Exposures in Other Latin American Countries

canadian flagAs I have previously detailed (here), 2016 was a record year for securities class action litigation in the U.S. The number of class action lawsuits filed in Canada more than doubled in 2016 compared to the year before, but the filing pace during the year was still below the pace during the period from 2010 to 2014, according to a new report from NERA Economic Consulting. The February 22, 2017 report, entitled “Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2016 Update,” which sets out a comprehensive overview of Canadian securities class action filing and case resolution trends, can be found here. NERA’s February 22, 2017 press release about the report can be found here.
Continue Reading Canadian Securities Class Action Litigation: On the Rebound?

Mark Sutton1
Mark Sutton
Karen Boto
Karen Boto

On January 17, 2017, the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office announced that it had entered into a significant Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Rolls-Royce PLC following its approval by Sir Brian Leveson. The agreement followed an extensive investigation of alleged bribery involving the company’s operations in a number of different countries. The full text of the deferred prosecution agreement can be found here.  In the following guest post, Mark Sutton and Karen Boto of the Clyde & Co law firm take a look at the agreement and examine the agreement’s D&O insurance implications. I would like to thank Mark and Karen for their willingness to publish their article 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 Mark and Karen’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: D&O Insurance Implications as Deferred Prosecution Agreements Take Off in the U.K.

umesh-pratapa-270x270
Umesh Pratapa

In the Companies Act 2013, India’s parliament incorporated a provision allowing for the “compounding” of offenses. “Compounding” is a way for an accused violator to avoid litigation. It is a settlement process by which the accused pays a fee instead of undergoing prosecution. In the following guest post, Umesh Pratapa takes a look at the Companies Act’s compounding provisions, and examines the question of the availability of D&O for amounts paid in a compounding process. I would like to thank Umesh for his willingness to allow me to publish his article here. 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 Umesh’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: India: Compounding of Offences under Companies Act 2013 – D&O Insurance

Richa Shukla
Nilam Sharma
Joel Pridmore
Joel Pridmore

As readers of this blog know well, liability claims against corporate directors and officers is an increasingly global phenomenon. A number of different factors are contributing to the globalization of D&O liability, including legislative changes, changes in regulatory enforcement activity, and the rise of litigation financing. In the following guest post, Richa Shukla of Khaitan Legal Associates, Nilam Sharma of Nilam Sharma Ltd., and Joel Pridmore from Munich Re, Australia, examine the changing environment for D&O liability in India. I would like to thank Richa, Nilam, and Joel for allowing me to publish their article 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 Richa, Nilam, and Joel’s guest post.
Continue Reading Guest Post: A Focus on Directors’ and Officers’ Risks in India

australiaClass actions have been a big deal in the U.S. for a long time now, but what is really interesting is that class actions (and other forms of collective action) are now becoming a big deal outside of the U.S. One place in particular where class actions have become a very big deal indeed is in Australia. As detailed in a recent study, class actions have in recent years become a well-established part of Australia’s litigation landscape. Recent judicial developments seem likely to make Australia an even more attractive jurisdiction for class action litigation.
Continue Reading Class Action Litigation in Australia Poised for Further Growth

RBSIn the latest signal of the increasing significance of collective investor actions outside of the U.S., on December 5, 2016, Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to pay £800 million ($1 billion) in a settlement with three of the five investor claimant groups that had sued the bank in the U.K. for alleged misrepresentations in connection with its £12 billion pound fundraising effort just months before the British government bailed out the bank. The case will go forward as to the remaining claimant groups, with whom the bank will now attempt to reach a settlement. If the bank is unable to settle with the remaining claimant groups, the case could proceed to trial in March 2017. The partial settlement is by far the largest collective investor action recovery in the U.K. RBS’s December 5, 2016 SEC filing to which its press release announcing the partial settlement is attached can be found here. A December 5, 2016 Reuters article describing the settlement can be found here.
Continue Reading RBS Reaches $1 Billion Partial Settlement of Credit Crisis-Related Collective Investor Action