In a development that has the potential to change the way private securities suits in the United States are litigated, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case in which the petitioners seek to have the Court revisit the “fraud on the market” presumption. The presumption allows plaintiffs in securities suits under
Securities Litigation
Whistleblower Report Follow-On Securities Suit: We’ll Be Seeing More of These
On October 30, 2013, the SEC announced another whistleblower bounty award under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. Although the size of this latest award ($150,000) is relatively modest compared to the recent $14 million award (about which refer here), the most recent award does suggest that awards under the whistleblower program are gaining momentum.
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SEC Releases Proposed Crowdfunding Rules
On October 23, 2013, the SEC finally approved (unanimously) and released for public comment the proposed rules implementing the crowdfunding provisions of the JOBS Act. The rules will not become effective, subject to any revisions, until the end of a 90-day comment period, meaning that the rules will not go into effect until some time…
Dodd-Frank Anti-Retaliation Provisions Don’t Protect Overseas Whistleblower
When the SEC Whistleblower Office presented its first full fiscal year annual report last November, the agency reported that 324 (or 10.8%) of the 3,001 whistleblower reports the agency received came from whistleblowers outside the United States. This statistic suggested that the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions could lead to the revelation of financial misconduct overseas, and…
Record $2.46 Billion Post-Verdict Judgment Entered in Long-Running Household International Securities Suit
O.K., here’s something – on October 17, 2013, Northern District of Illinois Judge Ronald Guzman entered a post-verdict judgment in the long-running Household International securities class action lawsuit. The judgment award consisted of principal damages of $1,476,490,844.21 and prejudgment interest of $986,408,772, for a total judgment amount of $2,462,899,616.21, along with post-judgment interest and…
Advisen Report: Corporate and Securities Lawsuit Filing Continue Downward Trend in Third Quarter
New corporate and securities litigation filings declined in the third quarter of 2013 compared to the prior quarter and the filings so far this year are on pace for the lowest annual number of filings since before the credit crisis, according to a new report from the insurance information firm, Advisen. The new report, entitled “D&O…
Canadian Court Declines to Follow Morrison, Rejects BP’s Bid to Stay Claims of Investors Who Purchased Shares on Non-Canadian Exchanges
In its landmark decision Morrison v National Australia Bank, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the U.S. securities laws do not apply to share transactions that do not take place on U.S. securities exchanges. But do these principles operate the same way in other jurisdiction — would courts in other jurisdictions decline to apply…
Side-Stepping Morrison?: Common Law Claims of Investors Who Purchased BP Shares Outside U.S. Survive Dismissal Motion
Since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, would-be claimants who purchased shares of a non-U.S. company outside the U.S. have struggled to find a way to pursue their claims in U.S. courts. Among other things, these claimants have tried to avoid Morrison’s federal securities claim-preclusive effect by…
Has the Whistleblower Moment Arrived? SEC Awards Whistleblower More Than $14 Million
It is not the first whistleblower award under the Dodd Frank Act’s whistleblower bounty program but the “more than $14 million” award to an anonymous whistleblower that the SEC announced on October 1, 2013 is by far the largest so far. The size of the award raises the question of what the award may…
More About Stories We’re Following: Libor Scandal, FIRREA, Chinese Company Securities Suits
NCUA Files Libor Manipulatoin Antitrust Suit: Even though the federal judge presiding over the consolidated Libor antitrust litigation has granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the antitrust claims, the federal credit union regulatory agency has filed a new action against Libor rate-setting banks alleging violation of the Sherman Act. As described in the National Credit…