As many readers will recall, a couple of years ago there was an intense barrage of securities litigation class action lawsuit filings against U.S.-listed Chinese companies. Many of the cases involved Chinese companies that obtained their U.S. listings by way of a reverse merger with publicly traded shell, and almost all of the cases involved alleged
The SEC’s New Policy Requiring Admissions of Wrongdoing: What Are the Implications?
On August 19, 2013, in connection with its entry into a settlement with New York-based hedge fund adviser Phillip Falcone and his advisory firm Harbinger Capital Partners, the SEC for the first time implemented its new policy requiring defendants seeking to settle civil enforcement actions to provide admissions of wrongdoing, in contrast to the long-standing
Japanese Securities Litigation Trends: 2000-2012
The volume of misstatement-related securities litigation in Japan has “increased dramatically” since the 2004 revisions to Japanese securities laws, according to a June 2013 report from the consulting firm Alix Partners. The report, entitled “Recent Trends in Japanese Securities Litigation: 2000-2012,” can be found here. Even though misstatement-related securities suit filings in Japan were
Cornerstone Research: Securities Suits “Depressed” in Year’s First Half
Securities class action lawsuit filings “remained at depressed levels” during the first half of 2013 according to the latest report from Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. The report, entitled “Securities Class Action Filings: 2013 Mid-Year Assessment,” can be found here. The organizations’ July 24, 2013 press release about
Advisen Reports on Second Quarter 2013 Corporate and Securities Litigation
New corporate and securities lawsuits filings in the second quarter of 2013 were “down dramatically” compared to 2013’s first quarter, according to the quarterly D&O Claims Trends report of insurance industry information firm Advisen, which was released today and which can be found here. At the current filing level, the total of all corporate
The Confidential Witness Problem in Securities Litigation
Largely as a result of the pre-dismissal motion discovery bar and the heighted pleading standard Congress and the courts have imposed, the plaintiffs in these cases increasingly have come to rely on the statements of confidential witnesses in attempting to plead securities fraud cases, a development that has become the target of extensive criticism.
Remembrance of Things Past
Back in 2009, one of the prominent securities litigation filing trends was the prevalence of “belated” securities class action lawsuit – that is, cases filed at the very end of the limitations period rather than in immediate aftermath of a stock price decline
And then in 2011, perhaps the most significant securities lawsuit filings
Securities Litigation Loss Prevention: Managing Earnings Guidance
In my former days on the carrier side, our D&O insurance group advocated for our policyholders a program of securities litigation loss prevention, on the theory that there are steps companies can take to make themselves less likely to be a securities suit target or better able to defend themselves if they are hit with
Guest Post: Second Circuit Holds that American Pipe Tolling Does Not Apply to the Securities Act’s Statute of Repose
An important recurring issue is the questions whether the prior filing of a securities class action lawsuit tolls the applicable statute of repose under the federal securities laws. In an important June 27, 2013, the Second Circuit issued an important decision on this question, holding that the tolling doctrine does not apply to three-year statue
First Half Securities Suit Filings Level With Last Year’s Pace
Buoyed by an influx of case filings in the final days of June, securities class action lawsuit filings during the first half of 2013 remained roughly on pace with 2012 filings, although well below the historical average number of filings. Though the absolute numbers of filings so far this year are below historical averages, the number of