In the latest securities suit related to the coronavirus outbreak, a plaintiff shareholder has filed a U.S. securities class action lawsuit against a Chinese real estate firm whose American Depositary Shares (ADSs) are listed on the NYSE, based on allegations that the company’s January 2020 IPO offering documents failed to disclose the impact of the outbreak on the company’s residential real estate operations in China. This latest filing is the first coronavirus-related securities lawsuit in the U.S. against a non-U.S. company. A copy of the plaintiff’s April 24, 2020 complaint can be found here.
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Chinese Hotel Company Hit With Data Breach-Related Securities Suit
For some time now, some observers had been predicting that we would be seeing a bunch of data breach-related securities class action lawsuits, but the predicted wave never seemed to materialize. However, with a recent uptick in these kinds of cases, that could be changing. On October 8, 2018, in the latest of these kinds of lawsuits to be filed, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against China-based Huazhu Group. As discussed below, there are a number of interesting features of this latest data breach-related securities suit.
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Book Review: Governance and Risk Management in China
It is axiomatic in the current global economy that every business needs to have a China strategy. Most business enterprises are drawn to the world’s most populous country and second-largest economy. But while China represents an attractive business marketplace, it can also in many respects be a perilous place to try to do business, particularly from a regulatory and compliance standpoint. While most businesses may recognize these challenges, many may struggle to try and address the concerns. A new book entitled “Governance, Risk and Compliance Management in China” (here), which I review below, may provide substantial help to companies trying to address compliance concerns arising from doing business in China. Of particular interest to this blog’s readers, the book includes an interesting chapter on D&O insurance issues in China.
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Chinese Preschools’ Child Abuse Reports Lead to U.S. Securities Suit Against Recent IPO Company
As I noted in a post last week discussing the derivative lawsuit and settlement involving 21st Century Fox, allegations of failure to prevent alleged misconduct within company operations or at company facilities can translate into potential liability exposure for the company and its senior management. Another example of this phenomenon has emerged. In the weeks just after RYB Education completed its late September 2017 IPO, news reports began circulating of alleged child abuse at company preschool education facilities in China. Now a shareholder has filed a securities class action lawsuit in the U.S. against the company and certain of its executives. As discussed below, this new lawsuit represents the latest example of several different securities class action lawsuit filing trends.
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Uptick in Securities Suits Against U.S.-Listed Chinese Companies
Long-time readers of this blog will recall that in 2011, there was a rash of U.S. securities class action lawsuits filed against U.S.-listed Chinese companies. Many of these companies had obtained their U.S.-listings by way of a reverse merger with a U.S.-listed public shell. The 39 securities suits filed in 2011 against U.S.-listed Chinese companies represented 18% of all securities class action lawsuits filed in the U.S. that year. While the number of lawsuit filed against Chinese reverse-merger companies has abated since the peak in 2011, U.S. securities lawsuits continue to be filed against Chinese companies at a significant rate.
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Here’s Something Really Big: Insurance in China
As I learned during my recent visit to the country, just about everything about China is big. It is the world’s most populous country. China leads the world’s economic growth by size and speed. It is also one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing insurance markets. According to a June 10, 2015 Law 360
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
Shareholders Obtain $882 Million Default Judgment in Longtop Financial Securities Suit
During the period 2010 to 2012, plaintiffs’ lawyers rushed to file a wave of securities suits against U.S.-listed Chinese companies. In general, the cases filed as part of this wave that have reached the settlement stage have settled for relatively modest amounts. However, at least one of these cases has now resulted in an absolutely
Second Circuit Revives Dismissed Securities Suit Against U.S.-Listed Chinese Company
In October 2011, when Southern District of New York Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum dismissed the securities class action lawsuit that had been filed against China North Petroleum Holdings, Ltd, it was the first of the many cases recently filed against U.S.-listed Chinese companies to be dismissed (as discussed at length here). However, in an
Fights Worth Watching: Lehman Execs Spar over D&O Insurance, SEC Pursues Chinese Co. Auditor
A group of former executives of a Lehman Brothers subsidiary is seeking to block the bid by senior Lehman executives to use $90 million of the remaining D&O insurance proceeds to settle the cases pending against them. As discussed here, on August 24, 2011, the senior executives filed a motion with the Lehman bankruptcy