The SEC has commenced an enforcement action against a private company and its former Chairman and CEO in connection with the company’s repurchase of company shares from company employees and others prior to the company’s acquisition.
The action involves Stiefel Laboratories, which prior to its April 2009 acquisition by GlaxoSmithKline for $68,000 a share
In several recent posts (most recently here), I have written about the problems associated with the growing wave of M&A related litigation. In writing about this topic, I have tried to marshal the evidence supporting my position, but for many reasons my analysis has been more descriptive than statistical. However, I have been provided
Securities class action lawsuit filing activity seems to have picked right up in the New Year where last year’s filings left off, as what appears to be the first filed case of 2012 involves a U.S.-listed Chinese company. Camelot Information Systems, a Chinese-based company whose American Depositary Shares (ADS) trade on the NYSE, and
Surging levels of M&A-related litigation and a wave of lawsuits involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies drove federal securities class action lawsuit filings during 2011 to the highest levels since 2008. However, due to the growing wave of M&A-related litigation, much of which is filed in the state courts, the federal securities lawsuit filing statistics, while interesting
In a prior post (here), I examined the mounting problems associated with the increasing levels of M&A-related litigation. A recent academic paper takes a closer look at these issues and concluded, among other things, that M&A-related lawsuit filings now outnumber federal securities class action lawsuit filings, and M&A-related litigation has “replaced traditional stock
E*Trade Financial Corporation has reached an agreement in principle to settle the subprime-related securities class action lawsuit pending against the company and certain of its directors and officers, the company reported in its December 21, 2011 filing on Form 8-K. The agreement calls for the company and its D&O insurance carriers to pay a total
A long-standing question under New York law is whether the state’s Martin Act preempts private claimants’ efforts to bring non-fraud common law claims in the securities context. A well-developed body of case law has generally held that it does, although recently some judges questioned this conclusion.
In a December 20, 2011 opinion (here
With the implementation of potentially rich whistleblower bounties under the Dodd-Frank Act, there have been concerns that the incentives will not only lead to increased numbers of reports and increased enforcement activity, but that the regulatory action will in turn generate follow-on civil litigation. A securities class action lawsuit filed this past week against Bank
As a result of legal changes taking place in many countries around the world, as well as U.S. Supreme Court case law developments, questions involving the possibility of securities litigation outside the U.S. has become an increasingly high profile issue. In a guest post, Robert F. Carangelo, Paul A. Ferrillo and Catherine Y. Nowak
During 2011, elevated levels of M&A related litigation and the surge of litigation involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies offset declining numbers of credit crisis-related lawsuits, leading to overall levels of securities class action lawsuit filings consistent with recent years, according to a annual securities litigation study of NERA Economic Consulting. NERA’s December 14, 2011 report, entitled