I wouldn’t ordinarily write about the same company or set of circumstances two days in a row, but because of developments following in the wake of the data breaches Yahoo announced last year, the company’s name has come up again. Yesterday, I wrote about the investigation the SEC reportedly is pursuing in connection with Yahoo’s alleged delays in disclosing the data breaches. It turns out that yesterday a plaintiff shareholder also filed a securities class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Yahoo and certain of its directors and offices relating the company’s reported data breaches. A copy of the complaint the plaintiff filed on January 24, 2017 can be found here.
Continue Reading Shareholder Files Data Breach Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against Yahoo
NERA Economic Consulting: Record Number of Securities Suit Filings in 2016
According to NERA Economic Consulting’s latest annual securities litigation report, there were a “record number” of securities class action lawsuit filed in 2016. The January 23, 2017 report, which is entitled “Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2016 Full-Year Review” (here), attributes the growth in filings during the year largely to the number of federal court merger objection lawsuits, which more than doubled from the previous year. NERA’s January 23, 2017 press release about the report can be found here.
Continue Reading NERA Economic Consulting: Record Number of Securities Suit Filings in 2016
The Top Ten D&O Stories of 2016
While the world of directors’ and officers’ liability is always dynamic, the D&O liability arena was particularly eventful during 2016, with significant implications for what may lie ahead in 2017 – and possibly for years to come. With full awareness that a complete inventory of key 2016 events could actually be much longer, here is a list of the Top Ten D&O stories of 2016.
Continue Reading The Top Ten D&O Stories of 2016
A Watershed Event in Litigation Funding Industry and More Thoughts About Litigation Funding
Any question that litigation funding has become a very big business was completely eliminated by the December 14, 2016 announcement of the merger between Burford Capital Ltd., the world’s largest publicly traded litigation funding firm, and GKC Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Gerchen Keller Capital, the largest privately held litigation funding firm. When the combination is completed the merged company will have $2 billion committed to litigation and a current portfolio of more than $1.2 billion in litigation investments, with hundreds of millions of dollars of capital available for further litigation investments.
Continue Reading A Watershed Event in Litigation Funding Industry and More Thoughts About Litigation Funding
Bribery-Related Follow-On Securities Suit Filed Against U.K.-Based Rio Tinto
In yet another securities suit following on news of a bribery or corruption investigation, and in the latest securities suit involving a global mining company, on December 12, 2016, a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against the world’s second-biggest mining company, U.K.-based Rio Tinto plc, and certain of its current and former officers. The complaint arises out of the company’s recent announcement of a corruption investigation involving its operations in the Simandou iron mine, located in southern Guinea. As discussed below, this latest lawsuit exemplifies a number of the key securities litigation filing trends that have arisen this year.
Continue Reading Bribery-Related Follow-On Securities Suit Filed Against U.K.-Based Rio Tinto
The Securities Litigation Storm is Already Here
In an interesting post on his D&O Discourse blog earlier this fall (here), Doug Greene of the Lane Powell law firm raised the question whether there is a securities litigation storm brewing. Citing a number of different factors ranging from the SEC whistleblower program to changes in the plaintiffs’ bar, Greene suggested that we could be headed toward a significantly increased number of securities class action lawsuits. I agree with most of what Greene said, except for one thing. The securities litigation storm isn’t on the horizon – it is already here.
Continue Reading The Securities Litigation Storm is Already Here
The Rise of Collective Shareholder Actions in Europe
In numerous recent posts, I have noted the global rise of investor collective actions (refer for example here). These lawsuits, which take a variety of different forms according to the applicable forum laws, have been filed in a number of different countries. Among other regions that have seen a recent rise in this type of litigation is Europe. In an interesting November 16, 2016 publication entitled “Rise of European Shareholder Class Action? (here), AIG Europe takes a look at the recent rise of collective investor actions, noting among other things that these types of actions are “on the rise in Europe” as a result of “a number of converging factors.”
Continue Reading The Rise of Collective Shareholder Actions in Europe
Privately-Held Brazilian Mining Company Hit with U.S. Securities Class Action
On November 14, 2016, in an interesting lawsuit that brings together a number of recent securities litigation trends, a noteholder of Samarco Mineração, S.A. filed a purported securities class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against the company and its CEO on behalf of investors who purchased the company’s debt securities. Samarco, a joint venture of mining giants Vale, S.A., and BHP Billiton, owned and operated the Fundão tailings dam that collapsed on November 5, 2015, in what has been called Brazil’s worst-ever environmental disaster. There are a number of interesting features to this new lawsuit, beyond just its relationship to the dam collapse disaster. A copy of the plaintiff’s November 14, 2016 complaint can be found here.
Continue Reading Privately-Held Brazilian Mining Company Hit with U.S. Securities Class Action
SEC Enforcement Activity Involving Public Companies
While the confirmation earlier this week that Mary Jo White will step down as SEC Chair at the end of the Obama administration raises interesting questions about the SEC’s possible future direction and priorities, the agency’s public company-related enforcement activities during the last fiscal year provide some very interesting insights about the SEC’s recent priorities. In an interesting November 15, 2016 report entitled “SEC Enforcement Activity Against Public Companies and Their Subsidiaries: Fiscal Year 2016” (here), the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business and Cornerstone Research take a detailed look the SEC’s enforcement activity during the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2016. The report examines the agency’s record levels of enforcement activity involving public company defendants during the fiscal year.
Continue Reading SEC Enforcement Activity Involving Public Companies
Investors File Climate Change Related Securities Suit Against Exxon Mobil
For many years, I have been raising the possibility of climate change-related corporate and securities litigation. However, despite my best prognostication, the climate change-related corporate and securities lawsuits have basically failed to materialize – that is, until now. On November 7, 2016, investors filed a purported securities class action lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas against Exxon Mobil Corporation and certain of its directors and officers. The lawsuit specifically references the company’s climate change-related disclosures, as well as the company’s valuation of its existing oil and gas reserves. One lawsuit doesn’t make a trend, and many of the lawsuit’s allegations relates specifically to Exxon Mobil and its particular disclosures. Nevertheless, the filing of the lawsuit raises the question whether there may be other climate change-related disclosure cases ahead. A copy of the November 7, 2016 lawsuit can be found here.
Continue Reading Investors File Climate Change Related Securities Suit Against Exxon Mobil