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
After Rare Trial and Lengthy Appeals, Apollo Group Securities Suit Finally Settles for $145 Million
Finally ending a case first filed back in October 2004 and that involved one of the few securities lawsuits to go to trial, the parties to the long-running Apollo Group securities suit have reached an agreement to settle the case for $145 million. This resolution is interesting not only because it concludes a long- running
A Closer Look at Judge Rakoff’s Rejection of the SEC’s Settlement with Citigroup
In a strongly worded November 28, 2011 opinion (here), Southern District of New York Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the proposed $285 million settlement of the enforcement action that the SEC brought against Citigroup Capital Markets. But while he emphatically rejected the proposed settlement, his opinion may also suggest how the SEC might salvage
Why M&A-Related Litigation is a Serious Problem
One of the most noteworthy recent trends in corporate and securities litigation has been the dramatic growth in the frequency of lawsuits relating to mergers and acquisitions activity. These lawsuits are not only becoming increasingly more common, but also increasingly more costly. The growth in this litigation activity has been so rapid that the significance
Guest Post: SEC and U.S. Exchanges Crack Down On Chinese and Other Reverse Merger Companies
Companies that obtained their listings on U.S. exchanges by way of a reverse merger with a publicly traded shell have been the focus of a great deal of scrutiny and even litigation in recent months, particularly with regard to Chinese reverse merger companies, as discussed here.
Reverse merger companies are also now the