Over the last few days, at least three U.S.-listed China-based companies have been hit with securities class action lawsuits after Chinese government regulatory crackdowns that targeted the defendant companies’ industries or the companies’ business approach. These developments not only highlight the kinds of regulatory risks all companies face, but also underscore the risks that companies doing business in China face in the political and business environment under the Chinese governmental regime. The recently filed cases also show how these risks can translate into securities class action litigation when the companies involved have securities listed on U.S. exchanges.Continue Reading Chinese Regulators Crack Down, Securities Suits Follow

Last summer, I noted on this blog the filing of what turned out to be a total of four separate securities class action lawsuits that were filed against Chinese internet-business firms following a crackdown on their activities by the Chinese cybersecurity regulator. I noted at the time that though these four cases involved circumstances arguably unique to China the cases nevertheless represented examples of the ways in which regulatory risk could translate into securities class action litigation risk.

Last week, two more securities suits were filed against Chinese companies – both involved in the business of providing private educational and tutoring services, a sector that during the past year has been the target of a governmental crackdown – underscoring the extent to which regulatory exposures can lead to securities litigation risk. As discussed below, these latest cases, along with the four prior cases filed last summer, also arguably demonstrate the ways in which securities litigation risk can arise out of political risk.
Continue Reading Political Risk as Securities Litigation Risk

Liam Fitzpatrick

It is no secret that the current political environment is complicated – in the U.S., in the U.K., and around the world. The fraught political climate has important implications for companies and their directors and officers. In the following guest post, Liam Fitzpatrick takes a look at the repercussions for U.K. companies arising out of the present political circumstances there. Liam is Client Services Director at Mactavish. A version of this article  was published prior to the recent U.K. elections on the MacTavish website (here). I would like to thank Liam for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Liam’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Keeping Your Company Safe in the Age of Populism