453 results for 'cat:"Securities"'.
J. Dever dismisses an appeal made by two shareholders who unknowingly invested money in unregistered securities a company sold them and later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When the company originally filed, the shareholders took no action, not initiating litigation until years later, although the company had been cleared of its actions including the securities in question. The company also repaid its debts, and the shareholders were heard and dismissed previously.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 5:21cv333, NOS: Bankruptcy Appeal 28 USC 158 - Bankruptcy, Categories: Bankruptcy, securities
J. Edwards denies remand to the Chapter 11 liquidating trustee for two bankrupt German-owned manufacturers of wood pellets. The trustee, a resident of Massachusetts, acted in “bad faith” to keep his suit against three financial advisors in a Louisiana state court. The sued financial advisors, who sold now-worthless bonds to build a wood pellet plant in Louisiana, met the high burden of demonstrating the trustee misused the federal removal statute by leaving a lone Louisiana resident – an accountant – to keep his suit in state court. The state court dismissed the trustee’s action against the Louisiana-based accountant because he had no evidence to support his allegations against her, nor did he depose her.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Alexandria, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv505, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Bankruptcy, securities, Jurisdiction
J. Freeman dismisses securities claims for the third and final time from investors against AcelRx Pharmaceuticals who say the company tried to hide details over misleading marketing statements made about their painkiller drug, DSUVIA, that led to a warning letter from the FDA. Even after a few attempts to amend their claims, investors are unable to give any proof that the company was intentionally trying to mislead them. There is no evidence the company had a "mental state embracing intent to deceive," and in fact it appears they were working with the FDA to comply with their marketing concerns.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Freeman, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 5:21cv4353, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities
J. Curiel dismisses the investors' claims that the owners of a medical imaging company fraudulently induced them to invest $3.5 million into the company through Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE Notes). The investors have not shown that it is inevitable that the company will fail or that they will not recover their investment. Without sufficiently alleging economic loss, the investors cannot show that the owners of the company made misrepresentations that caused a loss.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Curiel, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1917, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities
[Consolidated.] J. Cho consolidates two securities class actions against New York Community Bancorp, a Northeast-regional bank holding company, which allegedly made misleading statements regarding the quality of its assets following the acquisition of two commercial banks, leading to a steep decline in its stock value once it announced it would cut dividends following substantial quarterly losses. The court finds the two cases involve the same set of claims and questions of law. The court further appoints the Boston Retirement System as lead plaintiff, finding it suffered the second biggest financial losses at $889,177 and it satisfies the court’s preference to have institutional investors as lead plaintiffs in class actions.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Cho, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv1118, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, Class Action
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J. Cronan finds for the agency in this SEC enforcement action and orders the manager of an investment club who engaged in fraudulent investment schemes to disgorge ill-gotten profits of $1.7 million, plus interest of $339,000. In addition, the manager shall be permanently banned from working in the financial sector again due to his conscious wrongdoing and the likelihood he will continue to violate federal securities laws.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Cronan, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:19cv10299, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, Agency
J. Forrest vacates a district court order staying a securities fraud action pending completion of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case and remands the matter. The matter arises from a group of retirement and pension funds which filed a consolidated putative securities class action against PG&E Corp., Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and some of its current and former officers, directors, and bond underwriters. PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which automatically stayed the action against PG&E but not the individual defendants. The district court abused its discretion in ordering the stay as to the individual defendants.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Forrest, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 22-16711, Categories: Bankruptcy, securities, Class Action
J. Tenney holds that a company's former COO failed to preserve his challenge to the damages the trial court awarded after finding the company had violated securities law by misrepresenting stock options it had offered him as compensation. He was awarded damages based on the difference between value of his labor and his undercompensation in salary. He failed to argue at trial that he should have been awarded a value equal to the options' strike price multiplied by the number of shares offered. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 20220733-CA, Categories: Employment, securities, Damages
J. Perez finds that the district court improperly dismissed claims seeking to recover losses from the purchase of residential mortgage-backed securities related to 56 trusts administered by two U.S. banks. The investor was contractually barred from bringing claims against trusts with "no action clauses" without complying with pre-suit obligations, but this requirement must be weighed when parties with likely conflicts of interest are involved. On remand, a closer look must be made into whether pre-suit demands would be futile.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Perez, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-854, Categories: Civil Procedure, securities, Contract
J. Huff dismisses securities claims alleging that the insulin diabetes medical device company falsely reassured investors that the impact from competition was no worse than anticipated and that the company ignored members of the sales forces who believed the company's financial goals were unattainable. The investors' allegations do not defeat the company's assertion that it reasonably believed that it would achieve its financial goals due to the usual, seasonal uptick in sales that typically begins in the third and fourth quarters.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Huff, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1657, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities
J. Kaplan grants the banks' motion to dismiss a class action alleging violations of the Commodity Exchange Act in connection with the marketing, sale, and management of a derivative investment product. The complaint fails to allege specific acts committed by each individual defendant, instead lumping defendants together as a group. Further, the fraud allegations do not detail exactly what fraudulent statements the bank make to investors.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Kaplan, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2866, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, Class Action
J. Whitney grants a motion to approve the consent judgment between the SEC and an agent who is hereby restrained from acting as an investment adviser, and who must pay $350,000 in fees and disgorgement in three installments.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Whitney, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv246, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, Damages
J. Batchelder finds the lower court properly granted the insurance company's motion for summary judgment on securities claims filed by investors. None of the statements included in the company's pre-IPO release meet the heightened pleading requirements of a fraud claim, but were instead historical statements of past performance that would not have misled the ordinary investor. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Batchelder, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23-3392, Categories: Fraud, Insurance, securities
J. Ho finds the district court improperly certified the class of investors alleging the petroleum corporation fraudulently misrepresented the value of its oil field project. During certification proceedings, the investors presented new evidence in a reply brief involving an after-hours disclosure of a dry well, giving the corporation no fair opportunity to address it. The district court failed to permit the corporation to file a sur-reply responding to the evidence. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Ho , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-20424, Categories: Energy, Fraud, securities
J. Edison finds, upon remand, that one group of investors in a divided class can move forward with class certification in a case regarding a failure to disclose information prior to a merger. The court initially ruled that applicants for a class action must be separated because the class included stockholders of both companies involved in the merger creating a conflict. On remand, one group of investors holding stock in one of the companies involved in the merger can certify as a class at this juncture with the recommendation that investors holding stock in the other company be permitted to apply for class certification separately.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Edison, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 4:18cv4330, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, Class Action
J. Matsumoto approves a $9.5 million proposed class action settlement against a steel manufacturer on claims for securities violations. Investors sued the company following a steep decline in its stock price after it was reported it had engaged in a bribery scheme targeting government officials in Argentina. The court awards lead counsel a third of the settlement amount, approximately $3.1 million, in attorney fees, plus $83,935 in expenses.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Matsumoto, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:18cv7059, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: securities, Class Action
J. McKeown finds that the district court properly dismissed a securities fraud action against an international information services company under a Securities Exchange Act and Rule. The class alleged that the company made materially misleading statements by omitting key facts regarding a 2015 acquisition and a 2017 investment. The class was unable to show a strong inference that the company acted with the intent to deceive or with deliberate recklessness as to the possibility of misleading investors. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McKeown, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-55829, Categories: securities, Class Action
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed class securities fraud claims brought after a spinoff of Honeywell International filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to legacy asbestos indemnity issues because the class failed to plead scienter with sufficient specificity to establish that the spinoff recklessly assured investors of its financial health while planning for bankruptcy. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-668-cv, Categories: Bankruptcy, Fraud, securities
J. Bennett denies Under Armour and its founder, as well as the stockholders suing them, their motions to exclude expert testimony and opinions of expert witnesses in this securities class action. The court finds that two of Under Armour’s witnesses are precluded from certain portions of their opinions, but may exclude those and testify the rest. The witnesses all should describe the opinions as to their scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge based on sufficient facts and evidence.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv388, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, securities, Experts
[Consolidated.] J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court improperly denied an investor's motion to intervene in a dismissed securities class action. The investor seeks to challenge $300,000 in mootness fees paid by the corporation to counsel in a suit mooted after the company agreed to make supplemental disclosures about its proposed merger. He claims that the only purpose of the suit was not needlessly increase the cost of litigation to induce the company to pay fees to counsel, while not providing any real benefit to investors. While the court has already ordered the fees returned in this particular case, counsel are entitled to be heard, and the court may consider sanctions. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 18-2220, Categories: securities, Attorney Fees, Class Action
J. Nye denies investors' motions to modify the scheduling order, for leave to amend, to reopen discovery and for reconsideration in a landfill acquisition project investment dispute. The investors' "newly discovered evidence could have easily been discovered at any point prior to or during this litigation." They do not cite unforeseen circumstances that prevented them from seeking the records earlier. The investors do not address their "untimely delay in requesting the records and petitioning this Court for modification, amendment, and reconsideration."
Court: USDC Idaho, Judge: Nye, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv544, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, securities, Discovery