In several recent posts (most recently here), I have written about the problems associated with the growing wave of M&A related litigation. In writing about this topic, I have tried to marshal the evidence supporting my position, but for many reasons my analysis has been more descriptive than statistical. However, I have been provided
Securities Litigation
New Year’s Filings Pick Up Where Last Year’s Left Off with New Lawsuit Against U.S.-Listed Chinese Company
Securities class action lawsuit filing activity seems to have picked right up in the New Year where last year’s filings left off, as what appears to be the first filed case of 2012 involves a U.S.-listed Chinese company. Camelot Information Systems, a Chinese-based company whose American Depositary Shares (ADS) trade on the NYSE, and…
A Closer Look at 2011 Securities Lawsuit Filings
Surging levels of M&A-related litigation and a wave of lawsuits involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies drove federal securities class action lawsuit filings during 2011 to the highest levels since 2008. However, due to the growing wave of M&A-related litigation, much of which is filed in the state courts, the federal securities lawsuit filing statistics, while interesting…
M&A-Related Litigation Has Replaced Stock Drop Suits as Plaintiffs’ Securities Lawyers’ Lawsuit of Choice
In a prior post (here), I examined the mounting problems associated with the increasing levels of M&A-related litigation. A recent academic paper takes a closer look at these issues and concluded, among other things, that M&A-related lawsuit filings now outnumber federal securities class action lawsuit filings, and M&A-related litigation has “replaced traditional stock…
E*Trade Settles Subprime Securities Suit for $79 Million
E*Trade Financial Corporation has reached an agreement in principle to settle the subprime-related securities class action lawsuit pending against the company and certain of its directors and officers, the company reported in its December 21, 2011 filing on Form 8-K. The agreement calls for the company and its D&O insurance carriers to pay a total …
NY Court of Appeals Rejects Martin Act Preemption of Common Law Securities Claims
A long-standing question under New York law is whether the state’s Martin Act preempts private claimants’ efforts to bring non-fraud common law claims in the securities context. A well-developed body of case law has generally held that it does, although recently some judges questioned this conclusion.
In a December 20, 2011 opinion (here…
BNY Mellon Hit with Securities Suit Following Whistleblower Allegations
With the implementation of potentially rich whistleblower bounties under the Dodd-Frank Act, there have been concerns that the incentives will not only lead to increased numbers of reports and increased enforcement activity, but that the regulatory action will in turn generate follow-on civil litigation. A securities class action lawsuit filed this past week against Bank…
Designing a New Playbook for the New Paradigm: Global Securities Litigation and Regulation
As a result of legal changes taking place in many countries around the world, as well as U.S. Supreme Court case law developments, questions involving the possibility of securities litigation outside the U.S. has become an increasingly high profile issue. In a guest post, Robert F. Carangelo, Paul A. Ferrillo and Catherine Y. Nowak …
NERA Releases Year-End 2011 Securities Class Action Litigation Study
During 2011, elevated levels of M&A related litigation and the surge of litigation involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies offset declining numbers of credit crisis-related lawsuits, leading to overall levels of securities class action lawsuit filings consistent with recent years, according to a annual securities litigation study of NERA Economic Consulting. NERA’s December 14, 2011 report, entitled…
U.S.-Listed Chinese Company Securities Suit Dismissed
Despite marked alleged differences between revenues and profits reported in China Century Dragon Media’s U.S. IPO prospectus and the equivalent figures reported in its Chinese operations’ filings in China, a federal court has granted the dismissal motion in the securities class action lawsuit filed against the U.S.-listed Chinese company.
On November 30, 2011, Central…