As health organizations and governments around the world work to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19), businesses should be mindful of the various ways the virus may impact their operations and employees. The wide range of...more
3/5/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Business Interruption ,
Capital Markets ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Commercial Contracts ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Cybersecurity ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Policies ,
Equity Securities ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Global Economy ,
Leveraged Finance ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
OSHA ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Public Safety ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Supply Chain ,
Virtual Meetings
Despite political and economic uncertainties, markets and deal activity were resilient in 2019, and strong fundamentals remain in place heading into 2020. Companies continue to face a challenging litigation and enforcement...more
1/30/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney General ,
Backstop Agreements ,
BEPS ,
BitLicense ,
Blockchain ,
Board of Directors ,
Bonds ,
Capital Markets ,
CFIUS ,
CFTC ,
Chapter 11 ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Common Stock ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Congressional Subpoenas ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Copyright ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
Covenant Lite Deals ,
Creditors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
DACA ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Debt Financing ,
Debtors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dischargeable Debts ,
Disgorgement ,
Disparate Impact ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Down Rounds ,
Drug Pricing ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FinTech ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Issuers ,
FRCP 23 ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
General Elections ,
GILTI tax ,
High-Yield Markets ,
Hong Kong ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Individual Accountability ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intercreditor Agreements ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
IRS ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Japan ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Life Sciences ,
Listing Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Make-Whole Premium ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Multinationals ,
National Security ,
PCAOB ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Political Parties ,
Preferred Shares ,
Private Offerings ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Refinancing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Separation of Powers ,
Shareholder Activism ,
Shareholder Proposals ,
Shareholders ,
Split of Authority ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Litigation ,
Technology Sector ,
Third-Party Release Agrements ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation ,
White Collar Crimes
Several securities litigation trends over recent years show no signs of abating in 2020. Federal securities class action filings seem likely to remain at elevated levels. Last year, for the third consecutive year, more than...more
1/22/2020
/ Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Emulex Corp. v Varjabedian ,
Federal Pleading Requirements ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Investors ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Lorenzo v SEC ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
PSLRA ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Removal ,
Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v Jander ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
State Law Claims ,
Stock Drop Litigation
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between August and October 2019. The cases address developing trends in the definition of a security, fiduciary...more
11/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Company Act of 1940 ,
Loss Causation ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Materiality ,
Omissions ,
Pleading Standards ,
Scienter ,
Securities ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between May and August 2019....more
10/2/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Deal Price ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Fair Value Standard ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Forfeiture ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Market Manipulation ,
Materiality ,
Mergers ,
Misrepresentation ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Offering Documents ,
Omissions ,
Pleading Standards ,
Popular ,
Scienter ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Standing
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between February and April 2019. ...more
6/12/2019
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal Rights ,
Breach of Duty ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Materiality ,
Mergers ,
Omissions ,
Omnicare ,
Pleading Standards ,
Popular ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Scienter ,
Securities ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Litigation ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
As anticipated, securities class action filings remained high in 2018, with more than 400 filings in federal court, and the number is expected to remain high in 2019. While the total number is slightly less than in 2017, it...more
1/18/2019
/ Asia ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Janus Capital Group Inc v First Derivative Traders ,
Latin America ,
Lorenzo v SEC ,
Material Misstatements ,
Parallel Proceedings ,
PSLRA ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statute of Repose ,
Stock Drop Litigation
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between September 2018 and October 2018. ...more
12/7/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Appointments Clause ,
Breach of Duty ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Damages ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
General Partnerships ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Funds ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Material Adverse Effects ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
MFW ,
Misrepresentation ,
Pleading Standards ,
Popular ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
PSLRA ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Scienter ,
Section 11 ,
Securities ,
Securities Act ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Squeeze-Out Mergers
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between May 2018 and August 2018....
US Supreme Court -
Supreme Court Holds That SEC Administrative Law Judges...more
9/28/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Appraisal ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Class Certification ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Deal Price ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
False Statements ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Insider Trading ,
Lorenzo v SEC ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Mergers ,
Misleading Statements ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Pleading Standards ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Scienter ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
TRO
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between February 2018 and May 2018.
...more
7/3/2018
/ China Agritech Inc v Resh ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Derivative Suit ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Etsy ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraudulent Inducement ,
FRCP 23 ,
Loss Causation ,
Materiality ,
Misrepresentation ,
Omissions ,
Pleading Standards ,
Price-Fixing ,
Proxy Solicitations ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
Scienter ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
SolarCity ,
State Law Claims ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Subsequent Litigation ,
TD Ameritrade ,
Tesla
This quarter's issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between November 2017 and January 2018. The cases address developing trends in appraisal, class certification, core...more
3/27/2018
/ Acquisitions ,
Appraisal ,
Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Business Judgment Rule ,
Buyouts ,
CEOs ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Core Operations Doctrine ,
Corwin Doctrine ,
DE Supreme Court ,
Delaware General Corporation Law ,
Dell ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Director Compensation ,
Entire Fairness Standard ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud-on-the-Market ,
FRCP 9(b) ,
High-Speed Trading ,
Loss Causation ,
Material Misrepresentation ,
Mergers ,
Motion to Amend ,
Petrobras ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pleading Standards ,
Preponderance of the Evidence ,
Presumption of Reliance ,
Proximate Cause ,
PSLRA ,
Ratification ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Scienter ,
Section 220 Request ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
SRO ,
Stock Drop Litigation
Today, in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Cyan, Inc. et al. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, et al., No. 15-1439, slip op. at __ (Mar. 20, 2018), that state and federal courts have concurrent...more
3/20/2018
/ Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Jurisdiction ,
PSLRA ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
SLUSA ,
Split of Authority ,
State Law Claims
As expected, securities class action filings reached a high-water mark in 2017. In fact, last year’s total of 400-plus filings was the second-highest on record, topped only by 2001, when the number was skewed by more than 300...more
1/29/2018
/ CalPERS v ANZ Securities ,
Class Action ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
International Litigation ,
Life Sciences ,
Mergers ,
Petrobras ,
PSLRA ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statute of Repose ,
Technology Sector ,
Trulia
On July 7, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit offered significant guidance regarding the circuit’s class certification requirements in In re Petrobras Securities, No. 16-1914. In addressing an issue of...more
7/10/2017
/ Ascertainable Class ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Domestic Injury ,
Fraud-on-the-Market ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
International Litigation ,
Investors ,
Morrison v National Australia Bank ,
Petrobras ,
Securities Litigation ,
Split of Authority
The Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver Cty. Emps. Ret. Fund, No. 15-1439 (U.S. May 24, 2016) yesterday, setting the stage for the resolution of a long-standing division among federal...more
6/28/2017
/ Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
PSLRA ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Split of Authority
In one of the first cases argued before new Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court in California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc. (CalPERS), No. 16-373, slip op. at 16-17 (June 26, 2017), decided...more
On June 21, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision of first impression that sets the standard for determining whether to disclose interim financial documents in a prospectus. In addition, the...more
6/26/2017
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Dismissals ,
Financial Statements ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investors ,
Materiality ,
Misleading Statements ,
Offering Documents ,
Prospectus ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reaffirmation ,
Regulation S-K ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between February 2017 and April 2017. The cases address developing trends in class actions, ERISA, fiduciary duties,...more
6/9/2017
/ Acquisitions ,
Bad Faith ,
Board of Directors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Dismissals ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ESOP ,
Ethics Breach ,
Excessive Fees ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mergers ,
Misrepresentation ,
Pleading Standards ,
PLSRA ,
Regulation D ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Rule 11 ,
Sanctions ,
Scienter ,
Securities ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblowers
Plaintiffs filed 300 securities class actions in 2016 — a mark much higher than the annual average of 221 from 2011 to 2015 (as reported by NERA Economic Consulting). Indeed, the number of filings in 2016 was the...more
2/1/2017
/ Burden of Proof ,
CalPERS v ANZ Securities ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Foreign Issuers ,
Fraud-on-the-Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
PSLRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statute of Repose ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Tolling ,
Trump Administration
We are pleased to present Inside the Courts (Volume 7, Issue 4), Skadden’s securities litigation newsletter. This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between...more
11/19/2015
/ Auction ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fraud-on-the-Market ,
Market Manipulation ,
Misrepresentation ,
Pleading Standards ,
Scienter ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statute of Repose ,
Venue ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
This issue of Inside the Courts, Skadden’s securities litigation newsletter, includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between May 2015 and August 2015. The cases address...more
10/8/2015
/ Appraisal Rights ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Controlling Stockholders ,
Demand Futility ,
Derivative Suit ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dismissals ,
False Statements ,
Fraud-on-the-Market ,
Insider Trading ,
Janus Capital Group ,
Loss Causation ,
Offering Documents ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pleading Standards ,
PLSRA ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Rule 10b-5 ,
Safe Harbors ,
Scienter ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
SLUSA ,
Statute of Limitations
Significant amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure submitted to Congress in April 2015 could change discovery practices in securities litigation before the end of this year. Absent legislation to reject, modify or...more
In an opinion issued yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund that an issuer may be held liable under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933...more
3/25/2015
/ Disclosure ,
Material Disclosures ,
Misleading Statements ,
Omnicare ,
Pleading Standards ,
Registration Statement ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 11 ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statement of Opinion
Today, in a 7-2 decision, the United States Supreme Court appeared to narrow the scope of the “in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security” as used in SLUSA. Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court...more