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
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,
Advisen Releases First Quarter 2014 Corporate and Securities Litigation Report
Overall Filings of corporate and securities lawsuits during the first quarter of 2014 were at their lowest levels since before the financial crisis, according to the latest report from Advisen, the insurance information firm. The April 2014 report, which is entitled “D&O Claims Trends: 2014,” can be found here. As discussed below, the report
Cornerstone Research Releases 2013 Securities Class Action Settlements Analysis
Owing to a number of larger settlements, the average securities class action settlement amount in 2013 rose, while at the same time the media settlement amount declined, according to a study of the securities suit settlements from Cornerstone Research. The study also reports that the number of settlements and the aggregate dollar value of all
Securities Suit Filing Trends: More About IPOs and Investigative Follow-On Actions
Two securities suit filing trends that emerged during 2013 were the filing of securities class action lawsuits against companies that had recently completed IPOs (about which refer here) and the filing of securities suits in the wake of investigative or regulatory actions (as discussed here). Based on the recent filings, it appears that
U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Yet Another Securities Case: To Support a Section 11 Claim, Must an Opinion Be Subjectively False?
As if it were not enough that the Court is already considering a case that could change the face of securities class actions (that is, the Halliburton case, which will be argued this week), the U.S. Supreme Court has now agreed to take up yet another securities case.
In a March 3, 2014 order
U.S. Supreme Court: SLUSA Does Not Preempt Stanford Ponzi Scheme Victims’ State Law Claims
The state law fraud claims of certain victims of the Stanford Ponzi scheme against various law firms and brokerage firms are not precluded under the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (“SLUSA”) and plaintiffs therefore may pursue their state law class actions against the defendants, according to a February 26, 2014 decision from the U.S. Supreme
The Sins of the Past: Ninth Circuit Revives BP’s Prudhoe Bay Oil Spill Securities Suit
In a February 8, 2014 article entitled “A Shrunken Giant” (here), the Economist magazine examined BP’s efforts to regain its footing after the disastrous April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The article concludes by stating that “Repairing the balance sheet and books is one thing. Repairing BP’s reputation for management
Even if Fraud on the Market is Dumped, Don’t Cut Back on D&O Insurance
It is hard to prognosticate the outcome of the Halliburton case now before the U.S. Supreme Court. But while we can’t be sure what the outcome will be, we can start to think about what will happen if the Supreme Court overturns Basic. In an interesting February 7, 2014 post on the Harvard Law School