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Kevin LaCroix

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Kevin M. LaCroix is an attorney and Executive Vice President, RT ProExec, a division of RT Specialty. RT ProExec is an insurance intermediary focused exclusively on management liability issues.

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In what is a reminder that potential liabilities based on alleged ESG-related overstatements remains a significant corporate risk, DWS, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay a €25 million fine to settle greenwashing allegations related to its ESG-focused investment products. The fine, imposed by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, follows an earlier $19 million SEC fine the firm agreed in 2023 to pay based on similar charges. The firm’s April 2, 2025, statement about the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office fine can be found here.Continue Reading Deutsche Bank Asset Management Unit Pays €25m Greenwashing Fine

In a move that the Wall Street Journal described as having the effect of “bringing down the curtain on U.S. support for the turbocharged globalization that powered the world economy for decades,” on April 2, 2025, President Trump announced the imposition of massive new tariff duties on what the Journal described as “trillions of dollars in imports.” The U.S.’s imposition of these tariffs has huge implications for international trade; the U.S. economy; the economies of other countries around the world; and the fortunes and prospects of individual companies seeking to operate in an increasingly fraught global economy. These developments also have significant implications for the potential liabilities of companies and their directors and officers, as discussed below.Continue Reading Massive New U.S. Tariffs:  What Are the Potential D&O Liability Implications?

Those who follow securities class action lawsuit filing trends know that a significant number of the new securities suit filings each year involve non-U.S. companies with listings on U.S. exchanges. The number of lawsuit filings fluctuate year to year, but the long-term trends are important to follow for those advising non-U.S. companies with U.S. securities litigation exposure. A recent report from the Dechert law firm takes a detailed look at the 2024 securities suit filings against non-U.S. companies. The March 2025 report, which is entitled “U.S. Securities Fraud Class Actions Against Non-U.S. Issuers: 2024 Developments” can be found here.Continue Reading A Closer Look at U.S. Securities Litigation Against Non-U.S. Companies

Long-time observers of securities class action litigation filing patterns know well that life sciences companies are frequent targets of securities suit, reflecting a litigation frequency pattern that has been well-established for years. While in more recent years the overall number of securities suits filed against life sciences has shown a marginal decline, in 2024, the number of securities suits filed against life sciences companies increased to the highest level in several years, according to the latest annual report from the Sidley law firm. A copy of the law firm’s recent memo, entitled “Securities Class Actions in the Life Sciences Sector: 2024 Annual Survey” can be found here. A two-page summary of the report can be found here.Continue Reading A Detailed Look at the 2024 Securities Litigation Against Life Sciences Companies

Louvre Pyramid

The D&O Diary’s European assignment continued last week, with a final stop on the tour in the French capital city of Paris. Though it was occasionally a little chilly, the weather otherwise was spring-like, and the city itself was, as always, beautiful.Continue Reading Paris

In prior posts (most recently here), I have noted the ways the new Trump administration’s policies and actions could affect the D&O liability and insurance arena. In the current rapid-fire environment, with daily developments that threaten to overturn established practices and norms, just trying to keep up – much less understand the significance of events – can be a challenge. In an effort to try to keep the scoreboard up to date, I have noted below some of the most recent key developments and tried to describe their significance for the D&O environment.Continue Reading Trump 2.0: The Latest D&O Update

The number of securities class action lawsuit settlements increased in 2024 compared to the year prior, but the median, total, and average settlement amounts decreased during the year, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. Cornerstone Research’s March 26, 2025 press release about the report can be found here. The report itself, which is entitled “Securities Class Action Settlements — 2024 Review and Analysis,” can be found here.Continue Reading More Securities Suit Settlements in 2024, Settlement Amounts Decline

On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the Delaware House of Representatives passed S.B. 21, the legislation designed to try to fight back against the move by some Delaware companies to reincorporate elsewhere, particularly in Texas or Nevada. The Delaware Senate previously passed the bill, which has been called the “most significant single-year revision of Delaware’s corporate code since at least 1967.   Delaware Governor Matt quickly signed the legislation the same day as the House passed the bill. While the legislation is primarily intended to try to stem the departures of Delaware companies to other states, it could also have a significant impact on future litigation in the state, as discussed below.Continue Reading Delaware Bill Meant to Stem Corporate Departures Enacted

The Palace of Westminster

The D&O Diary is on assignment in Europe this week, with the first stop over the weekend in London. I happened to arrive in London on the day of the Vernal Equinox, and I was fortunate on at least a few of the days while there to be able to enjoy…

Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as SEC Chair, has not even yet assumed his new office – his nomination apparently is scheduled to go before the relevant Senate committee on March 27 – but big changes are already underway at the agency under Mark Uyeda, the agency’s acting Chair. Indeed, based on the changes so far, a group of five leading academics including Columbia Law Professor John Coffee Jr. and calling themselves the “Shadow SEC” has already raised the alarm, warning in a March 13, 2025 post on the CLS Blue Sky Blog  that as a result of current and proposed staffing and budget cuts,  the agency is well on the way to becoming a “shell of its former self,” as it “becomes an agency with little power, capacity, or independent judgment.”Continue Reading Big Changes are Already Underway at the SEC