In the following guest post, Jeffrey Lubitz and Duncan Paterson take a look at the increasing numbers of class action lawsuits being filed against non-U.S. companies, and in particular how ESG issues may be the driving factor in multi-country cases. Jeff is the Executive Director of ISS Securities Class Action Services and Duncan Paterson is the Head of ESG Thought Leadership Program, ISS ESG. A complete copy of this article is available on the ISS Securities Class Action Services website, here. I would like to thank Jeff and Duncan 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 Jeff and Duncan’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Growing Number of Non-U.S. Companies Facing Class Actions
In the latest SPAC-related securities class action lawsuit filing, a plaintiff shareholder has initiated a securities suit against Agtech company AppHarvest, alleging material misrepresentations after the company recently experienced a stock price drop. A copy of the plaintiff’s September 24, 2021 securities class action lawsuit complaint can be found 
In an interesting development, the U.S. District Court Judge overseeing the cybersecurity-related securities class action lawsuit pending against title insurance company First American Financial Corp. has granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. The dismissal in the case is interesting because the company had in June 2021 agreed with the SEC to enter a cease-and-desist order and to pay a modest civil penalty to settle charges related to the same cybersecurity incident. The dismissal is also interesting because it shows how plaintiffs’ lawyers have struggled to get traction with cybersecurity-related securities suits. A copy of the Court’s September 22, 2021 order granting the motion to dismiss in the First American securities suit can be found 
In a development that unquestionably raises the heat on SPACs and SPAC sponsors, a group of four Democrat senators has sent each of six serial SPAC creators a letter raising questions about the creators’ SPAC-related activities and financial rewards. The letters’ purpose ostensibly is to allow the Senators to “understand what sort of Congressional or regulatory action may be necessary to better protect investors and market integrity.” Copies of the Senators’ September 22, 2021 letters can be found 
On September 28, 2021, I will be participating on a panel as part of a webinar being put on by 
The parties to the long-running Twitter securities class action lawsuit have agreed to settle the suit for a payment of $809.5 million, one of the largest securities class action settlements of all time. The settlement is subject to court approval. A copy of the company’s September 20, 2021 press release announcing the settlement can be found 
In my 
With the latest whistleblower awards to two individuals totaling $114 million (including an award to one individual of $110 million), the total amount awarded under the SEC whistleblower since its first award in 2012 now totals over $1 billion. The pace in the number and size of awards has accelerated significantly in the past year, as the SEC under the Biden Administration had pursued a pro-whistleblower approach. A copy of the SEC’s September 15, 2021 press release about the latest awards can be found