After U.K.-based Tesco PLC’s announcements of accounting “irregularities” and the subsequent departure of the company’s Board chair, investor lawsuits soon followed. But as discussed here, these lawsuits were filed in the United States, on behalf of investors who had purchased American Depositary Receipts in the United States. In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s
FDIC: Banks Prosper, Problem Institutions Remain
The banking industry had a “positive quarter” in the third quarter of 2014, according to the FDIC”s latest Quarterly Banking Profile. Banks continue to improve and are performing better than during the same period a year ago. In the aggregate during the quarter, banks reported income growth based on growing revenue rather than just lower
Guest Post: Cyber Security Indeed: Derivative Action Dismissed Where Board Proactively Addressed Cyber Risks and Exposures
The derivative lawsuit filed against the board of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation in connection with the series of cyber breaches the company had experienced was being closely watched as possibly representative of a potential new area liability exposure for corporate directors and officers. However, as I discussed in a prior post (here), on October
Calculating Damages in Securities Class Action Lawsuits
Because securities class action lawsuits under Section 10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 so rarely go to trial (a topic I addressed in a recent post, here), questions about how damages are calculated are not often addressed directly. Section 28(a) of the ’34 Act specifies that no plaintiff shall
Securities Trial Jury Holds Former Longtop CFO Responsible for One Percent of Damages
As noted in a post yesterday, last Friday a federal jury held Derek Palaschuk, the former CFO of Longtop Financial, liable for the company’s financial misrepresentations. On Monday, the jury deliberated further on the percentage of investors’ damages for which Palaschuk is responsible. According to Nate Raymond’s Nov ember 24, 2014 Reuters article (here
Rare Securities Suit Trial Produces Jury Verdict Against Former Longtop Financial CFO
On November 21, 2014, after a securities class action trial that lasted less than three days and after less than a day of deliberation, an eight-person jury entered a verdict holding former Longtop Financial Technologies CFO Derek Palaschuk liable for the company’s alleged misrepresentations about its financial condition. According to Nate Raymond’s November 21, 2014
SEC: Number of Whistleblower Reports Continues to Increase
The number of whistleblower reports to the SEC increased again in the latest fiscal year, according to the annual report of the SEC whistleblower office. The report, which the SEC is required by the Dodd-Frank Act to provide to Congress annually, is entitled the “2014 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program” and
Notes from the Advisen European D&O Insights Conference in London
The D&O Diary was in London this week to attend and participate in the Advisen European Insights Conference, which took place on Wednesday at the Willis Building, located conveniently across Lime Street from the Lloyd’s Building. The picture to the left was taken on Lime Street, with the Lloyd’s Building on the
Paris Notes
The D&O Diary is on assignment in Europe this week, with the first stop this past weekend in Paris for a field inspection of our junior-year study-abroad student’s scholarly and living arrangements. Our short weekend visit in the middle of rainy November, involving a variety of personal obligations and commitments, afforded only brief opportunities to
Personal Liability for Corporate Officials Under U.S. Import Laws
Import laws and custom duties are not areas of the law into which I frequently (or lightly) venture, but I delve into these topics here and now because developments in these areas have served up yet another example where individual corporate officers have been held liable personally for matters that previously had been regarded exclusively