Seven former independent directors of Satyam – the Indian company known as the “Indian Enron” due to the high-profile accounting scandal that swamped the firm in 2009 – have secured their dismissal from the U.S. securities litigation the company’s shareholder filed in the scandal’s wake. Southern District of New York Judge Barbara Jones’s January 2
Fourth Quarter Slowdown Drives Decline in 2012 Securities Class Action Filings
Largely as a result of a slowdown in new filings during the fourth quarter, 2012 securities class action lawsuit filings were below the filing levels of recent years and below historical averages. Filing levels remained elevated in the natural resources, life sciences and computer services industries, and filings against non-U.S. companies, though off from 2011
NY Appellate Court Dismisses Short-Sellers’ Porsche Suit, Closes off Possible Morrison Escape Route
In a decision that could foreclose a possible way for claimants to try to circumvent the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Morrison v. National Australia Bank case, a New York appellate court has reversed a lower court and dismissed the fraud suit short-seller hedge funds had brought in New York state court against Porsche
NERA: Securities Suit Filings Stable, But Settlements and Dismissals Are Down
New securities class action lawsuit filing levels were comparable to historical norms during 2012, but the number of settlements and of dismissals were both down for the year, according to the analysis and projections of NERA Economic Consulting in their December 11, 2012 publication “Flash Update: 2012 Trends in Securities Class Actions” (here).
Guest Post: Courts Reject Fee Awards in Non-Cash Class Settlements
In the following guest post, Kara Altenbaumer-Price (pictured) takes a look at two recent case decisions in which courts have declined attorneys’ fee awards in connection with non-cash class settlements. Kara is the Management & Professional Liability Counsel for insurance broker USI.
Many thanks to Kara for her willingness to publish her article here.
E&Y Settles Ontario Sino-Forest Securities Suit for $117 Million
In what is by far the largest settlement in the current wave of securities litigation involving Chinese companies, Ernst &Young, which served as the outside auditor for Sino-Forest, has agreed to pay C$117 million to settle the securities suit that Sino-Forest investors filed in Ontario against the accounting firm. (At current exchange rates, the Canadian
Are the New Wave Say-on-Pay Lawsuits “Gaining Steam”?
As discussed in an earlier guest post on this site (here), entrepreneurial plaintiffs’ lawyers seem to have hit upon a new way to extract a fee from the fights over executive compensation. This new wave of executive comp suits, in which the plaintiff’s seek to enjoin upcoming shareholder votes on compensation or employee
Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans Under Scrutiny Once Again
When the SEC brought civil enforcement charges against former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo in June 2009, a critical part of the agency’s allegations was that Mozilo had manipulated his Rule 10b5-1 trading plans to permit him to reap vast profits in trading his shares in company stock while he was aware of increasingly serious
H-P Shareholders Launch Securities Suit over Autonomy Revelations
When H-P announced on November 20, 2012 that it was taking an $8.8 billion charge after it discovered “accounting improprieties, misrepresentations and disclosure failures” at its Autonomy unit (which H-P acquired in October 2011 for $11.1 billion), there was a great deal of speculation that litigation would quickly follow. The intervening Thanksgiving weekend may have slowed
District Court Affirms SEC’s SOX Section 304 Right to Recoup Bonus Compensation from Executives of Companies Restating Financials
In a November 13, 2012 opinion (here), Western District of Texas Judge Sam Sparks has upheld the right of the SEC under Section 304 of Sarbanes Oxley to seek to clawback bonus compensation paid to the CEO and CFO of Arthrocare, after the company restated its prior financial statements., even though the CEO