After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, the plaintiffs’ lawyers developed a number of theories to try to circumvent Morrison to assert claims under the U.S. securities laws on behalf of investors who purchased their shares in the defendant foreign company on a foreign exchange. These theories
Investors File Yet Another Securities Suit in the Wake of an FCPA Investigation
There is no private right of action under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), but as I have frequently noted in prior posts, news of an anti-bribery investigation frequently is followed by a shareholder lawsuit based on allegations relating to the investigation. The latest example of this type of follow-on civil action involves the investment
Thinking About U.S. Securities Lawsuits Against U.S.-Listed Chinese Companies
For a brief period in the 2010-2012 time frame, U.S. securities lawsuits filings against U.S.-listed Chinese companies surged as investors filed a wave of lawsuits against Chinese companies that obtained U.S.-listings by way of a merging with a publicly traded shell. The Chinese reverse merger lawsuit filing wave eventually subsided – yet filings against U.S.-listed
JOBS Act: Only Two Years Old and Already Revision Proposals are Circulating
The Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act is only just two years old but there are already apparently Congressional initiatives to revise one of the centerpieces of the legislation, the much-vaunted crowdfunding provisions that have not yet in fact even gone into effect. According to a May 1, 2014 Wall Street Journal article entitled “Frustration
Survey: Existing and Potential Bank Directors Unwilling to Serve Due to Fear of Personal Liability
Banking industry commentators have long contended that aggressive efforts by the FDIC and others to hold bank developers liable is having a chilling effect on the willingness of existing and potential directors to serve on bank boards. An April 2014 American Association of Bank Directors report of a recent survey of banks and savings institutions
Cornerstone Research Releases 2013 Analysis of Securities Suits Involving Accounting Allegations
Though the number of securities class action lawsuit containing accounting allegations remained essentially the same in 2013 compared to 2012, the market capitalization losses associated with the 2013 suits were more than double the losses associated with the 2012 suits, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. The report contains a brief analysis of
Second Circuit Reinstates Barclays Libor Scandal Securities Suit
While claimants continue to fie private civil actions seeking to recover damages they claim to have sustained as a result of the Libor manipulation scandal, the fact is that at least up to this point, the plaintiffs have not fared particularly well in the Libor-related civil litigation.
As noted here, on March 29, 2013,
D&O Insurance: Guilty Pleas Trigger Coverage Exclusions, Entitle Insurer to Recoupment
In a detailed April 23, 2014 opinion (here), Eastern District of Virginia Judge Liam O’Grady, applying Virginia law, held that the guilty pleas of executives of Protection Strategies, Inc. triggered four separate exclusions in the D&O coverage section of PSI’s management liability policy and that the management liability insurer was entitled to
An Inconvenient Bacon: What the Internet Has Done to Me
Yesterday on her Facebook page, my younger sister posted an item suggesting that her friends should post the name of a movie but substitute the word “Bacon” for one of the words in the movie’s name. I don’t know what got into me, but once I got started, I couldn’t stop. Here’s a very small
Bankruptcy Court Lifts Stay to Allow D&O Insurer to Pay Individuals’ Defense Expenses
As those involved in D&O Insurance claims well know, a recurring D&O insurance problem is the question of whether or not the D&O insurer for a bankrupt company can pay the costs of the bankrupt company’s former directors and officers incurred in defending claims against them. Disputes arise when the individuals seek to have the