Corporate & Securities Law

WV&Z now also on Twitter

Posted on March 02, 2009

Lovells? latest bulletin

Posted on March 01, 2009

WpHG basis for HypoRE damages claims

Posted on January 14, 2009
On 2 October 2007, Hypo Real Estate Holding AG’s (FRA: HRX) shares were trading well above ?40 a share. That day, HRX completed the acquisition of Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG (DEPFA) for more than ?5 billion. (press release) At the close of trading yesterday, the shares were at just above ?2, the combined group worth just [...

Court in session: In re Northern Rock Plc

Posted on January 14, 2009
The trial pitting former shareholders of Northern Rock Plc against the UK Government has kicked off yesterday. (previous post) The Government nationalised the bank early last year and the issue of this judicial review is the level of compensation its shareholders are due under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008...

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European Securities Litigation, the Conference

Posted on January 08, 2009
The alternative name for this post could’ve been “Does exactly what it says on the tin”. (hint) If you’re not familiar with that phrase, translate that to the more straightforward “What you see is what you get”. (explained or watch) For the three events listed below are literally named after their respective programme contents...

Securities class action trends 2008

Posted on December 20, 2008
This week two reports were published, by NERA Economic Consulting and RiskMetrics Group, both covering securities class action litigation trends of the past year. NERA’s 2008 Trends in Securities Class Actions (report, press release) is its annual year-end study of US case filings and settlements...

Sweden evaluates Group Proceedings Act

Posted on December 19, 2008
Earlier this week I came across a 2006 article by Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP’s Laurel J. Harbour and Marc E. Shelley, entitled The Emerging European Class Action: Expanding Multi-Party Litigation To A Shrinking World. Among other things, the Swedish collective action legislation (Lag om grupprättegång, Group Proceedings Act) is discussed therein (from p...

Fortis SA/NV subject of enquiries

Posted on December 01, 2008
The Enterprise Chambers of the Amsterdam Court of Appeals and of the Courts of Brussels both declined to enjoin the transactions that, among other things, saw Fortis SA/NV partially sold off to BNP Paribas. (previous post) The Brussels court issued its decision on 18 November, the Amsterdam court a week later on the 24th...

Wrapping it up, 26 November 2008

Posted on November 26, 2008
One event for in the diary, notes on one that has taken place and updated links here on WV&Z: Grant & Eisenhofer PA’s 8th Global Shareholder Activism Conference (details, programme) takes place in New York from 4-6 December. (The 9th is in London, 23-24 April 2009...

Wachtell Skadden & Gladwell

Posted on November 25, 2008
In a somewhat off-topic post, last night I went to see Malcolm Gladwell live on stage. He’s got a new book out, Outliers, and his untitled hour-long talk was basically an introduction into his book’s theme, subtitled The Story of Success, and mostly the oral presentation of one of the chapters in the book - [...

?Will Aggregate Litigation Come to Europe??

Posted on November 22, 2008
Just earlier this week (in this previous post) I referred to a research paper on res judicata and how the development of collective litigation procedures in various European jurisdictions is arguably one factor in the easing of recognition concerns of US courts...

In re Bayer AG claims deadline near

Posted on November 20, 2008
There are only a few days left to participate in the $18,500,000 In re Bayer AG Securities Litigation (No. 03 cv 1546 SDNY) settlement by filing your proof of claim form (Bayer AG, Xetra: BAY). The deadline is 25 November 2008 (date of postmark). The class is defined as “[a]ll persons or entities who or which [...

?We are not the world?s court?

Posted on November 18, 2008
The issue before the court in Morrison v National Australia Bank was whether to excercise subject matter jurisdiction over the foreign claimants who bought their NAB shares on a foreign exchange. (ASX, LSE, NYSE, NZX: NAB/NABHA) It held that in this case it could not (decision), based on the ‘conduct test’...

Res judicata of US class action judgments

Posted on November 17, 2008
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP has published its annual 10b-5 Guide (2007) this summer, with thanks to Paul A. Ferrillo for this submission. It includes discussion of two cases that have featured here, one of which is Borochoff v. GlaxoSmithKline PLC (p...

Collective redress, four events (well, five)

Posted on October 19, 2008
In the next few weeks four events will take place, so there’s three dates for your diary. The fifth one has already taken place on the 8th of October, a programme in King & Spalding LLP’s University e-Learn Series, entitled The Globalization of U...

Fulbright?s Fifth

Posted on October 15, 2008
Fulbright & Jaworski LLP today published its latest Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings, its fifth such report, alongside the data used for the report. (Also see the UK and US press releases.) The survey covers mostly US (251) and UK (100) respondents...

Fortis SA/NV group litigation forthcoming

Posted on October 13, 2008
On the 9th of October last year it was announced that a consortium of three banks had won control over ABN Amro Holding NV of the Netherlands. (FT) Just shy of a year later, one of those three banks, Fortis SA/NV (Euronext: FORA/FORB), has been displaced by the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands...

More class action resources

Posted on October 08, 2008
One of the resources WV&Z has actually already used deserves more credit and a separate mention. In addition to its long-established Stanford Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, Stanford has created the Stanford Global Class Actions Exchange. Whereas the former only provides information on US federal class action securities litigation, the latter sets its sights on any [...

Parmalat SpA?s latest settlement

Posted on May 02, 2008
Today Parmalat SpA (Milan: PLT) announced it has settled the securities class action pending against it (SDNY). It will issue 10.5 million shares - ‘new’ according to AP, ‘existing’ according to WSJ - worth approximately ?24 million to the class...

Country focus: Italy

Posted on May 02, 2008
The laws have changed in Italy to allow for class actions (azione collettiva risarcitoria) from 30 June this year. Since it’s been in the works for years, a lot has been written about it already. WV&Z offers a few resources to get up to speed, starting with material produced by practitioners: PwC (study paragraph, p...

What when where: four in four

Posted on April 21, 2008
In the next four weeks there are no less than four conferences to go to, one a week. They are, in chronological order: Conference on Securities Litigation, 28, 29 April, London (programme) Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment, 6, 7 May, Copenhagen (programme) Global Shareholder Activism Conference, 15, 16 May, Paris (programme) Pension Fund Investment World Nordic 2008, 19, 20 [...

Wrapping it up, 19 April 2008

Posted on April 19, 2008
Three items of note this time, one bulletin, two articles. Lovells LLP’s class action practice has published its latest bulletin (April 2008). Several members of the practice contribute to it, a number writing about the respective European and US jurisdictions in which they practice...

Converium class includes SWX, NYSE

Posted on April 18, 2008
The post I wrote on 16 January 2007 about Converium Reinsurance Co being partially granted and partially denied its motion to dismiss the class action pending against it following its IPO never did find its way here. It was in the earliest days of WV&Z and on the basis of the case I actually went [...

PwC?s 2007 Study, with a foreign flavour

Posted on April 17, 2008
One of the main themes of PricewaterhouseCooper’s 2007 Securities litigation study is in relation to foreign issues, involving both issuers and purchasers. In her introductory observation (page 1 of 77, all pages ‘of 77′), Grace Lamont, Partner and Leader of the Securities Litigation Practice, states among other things that ‘[w]ith the European Union and individual [...

White Paper for collective redress

Posted on April 07, 2008
The European Commission has presented a White Paper on actions for damages, ’suggesting a new model for achieving compensation for consumers and businesses who are the victims of antitrust violations’. One of the key recommendations is that of collective redress in particular for small value claims...

Wrapping it up, 7 April 2008

Posted on April 07, 2008
John M. Gray holds several functions at public services union UNISON and is a pension representative at the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). In addition, he keeps John’s Labour blog, on political and trade union issues. Bearing that in mind, to read his account of a Trades Union Congress seminar on class actions and plaintiffs’ [...

BP Plc settles US derivative action

Posted on April 02, 2008
BP Plc (LSE, NYSE: BP) has settled the derivative litigation pending against it. (3AN-06-11929CI, Unite Here National Retirement Fund et al vs. The Lord John Browne of Madingley et al; See WV&Z’s archive for previous posts). The notice of and terms of the settlement and more documents relating to the action can be found in [...

What when where: US Chamber, updated

Posted on April 02, 2008
Henry M. Paulson Jr., Secretary of the Treasury was a last-minute addition to the roster of speakers last week at the US Chamber’s Capital Markets Competitiveness conference. (See previous post.) Transcripts of most of the speeches, including Paulson’s, are available from the Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness section...

Who?s who in UK litigation funding

Posted on March 23, 2008
This week’s Legal Week has an extensive overview of the players, law firms and funding specialists alike, in the UK litigation funding market. At least one is missing though, namely accountancy firm Smith & Williamson, which had set up its funding practice in September last year...

Shell adds US to reserves settlement

Posted on March 12, 2008
In the continuing saga that is the Shell Settlement (see the WV&Z archive for previous posts), the latest development came last week with the company’s settlement with US investors. (Royal Dutch Shell Plc: Euronext, LSE, NYSE: RDSA, RDSB; Shell press release, The 10b-5 Daily) The US settlement covers all purchasers of Shell shares on US markets [...

What when where: active activist engagement

Posted on March 11, 2008
There are three coming events, due to take place this week and in the coming months, that are interesting to note here. The first is the third installment of Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler LLP’s annual Rights & Responsibilities of Institutional Investors conference on Thursday this week in Amsterdam...

What when where: pension funds? activism

Posted on December 10, 2007
Wednesday this week, 12 December, London’s Lawrence Graham LLP hosts a morning seminar at its office on shareholder activism and securities class actions in association with Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP of New York. (Thanks to Securities Litigation Watch’s Adam Savett for sending this in...

Woes in US forewarn of ?f-cubed Americana?

Posted on November 28, 2007
(Subscribe) How long will it take for a US pension fund to be appointed lead plaintiff against a US company in a euro-class action? That was the question that came to mind reading an article in the Wall Street Journal today, entitled Adding to Woes of U...

Wrapping it up, 26 November 2007

Posted on November 26, 2007
Two articles of interest of today, in FTfm, the weekly Financial Times fund management insert, and this week’s The Lawyer. The Lawyer reports that Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP, which currently counts 30 UK pension funds among its clients, aims to treble this number over the next 12 months...

Write-offs anew ring up In re Vodafone 2

Posted on November 21, 2007
In March 2005, England-based Vodafone Group Plc (LSE, NYSE: VOD) settled the US securities class action pending against it by creating a US$24.5 million (then £14.1 million) settlement fund. (settlement notice) The respective class of plaintiffs was defined as purchasers of Vodafone?s American Depository Shares, limiting the class to US investors only...

Roundtable publishes Blueprint for policy reform

Posted on November 09, 2007
As announced in this previous post, the Financial Services Roundtable has now published its own capital markets competitiveness report, entitled The Blueprint For U.S. Financial Competitiveness. (full report, executive summary) It follows three such reports published in the past year to date, by the so-called Paulson Committee (November 2006), Bloomberg/Schumer (January 2007) and Daley/Culvahouse (March 2007)...

Warning costs Ericsson $15 billion and a suit

Posted on October 31, 2007
About a fortnight ago Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (OMX: ERIC A, B; NASDAQ: ERIC; LSE: ERI) of Sweden issued a press release stating that it expects a Q3 operating income of SEK 5.6 billion (?609 million, US$879 million), 39% lower than than the previous quarter (Q2) and 36% lower than the same quarter last year (Q3 [...

Bryan Cave presents survey on euro-class actions

Posted on October 30, 2007
Today the Economist Intelligence Unit published a survey entitled Collective litigation in Europe, sponsored by Bryan Cave LLP. (Financial Times) Some of the results echo those of the Legal Week/EJ Legal Big Question survey on the same topic, published last month (see previous post)...

Avon f-cubes In re GSK

Posted on October 25, 2007
It is well reported that Avon Pension Fund, administered by the Bath & North East Somerset Council, is to lead the In re GSK securities class action (Financial Times, Legal Week, Pensions & Investments, The Times) and less well that this is the latest addition to the list of ‘f-cubed’ cases...

A claimant-friendly EU legal framework

Posted on October 22, 2007
Last week The Lawyer ran a Special Report series of articles on the topic of Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution, at least one of which is of interest here, namely the one by Daan F. Lunsingh Scheurleer of NautaDutilh NV. This week’s The Lawyer contains an excerpt of an interview with Anthony Maton, one of [...

What?s more: KapMuG, Lovells? class actions

Posted on October 11, 2007
Asked to comment on KapMuG and Lovells LLP’s recent creation of a practice group focused on class actions in Europe (see previous post), Bernd Jochem of German firm Rotter Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaft has, with thanks, submitted the following on behalf of his firm: As a law firm focussing on investor rights we have not only seen new [...

Litigation Forum: Skadden votes ?foe?

Posted on October 01, 2007
John Malpas, Legal Week’s editor-in-chief, reviews his publication’s recent Litigation Forum in this post on his Editor’s Blog. He there quotes Andrew L. Sandler of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP who didn’t pull his punches during the panel session on the topic of whether class actions are friends or foes: “In the US [...

Kerkorian?s $39 million Daimler opt-out cost

Posted on September 26, 2007
The direct action by Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. against DaimlerChrysler AG (Deutsche Börse, NYSE: DCX), the next week to be renamed Daimler AG, is no more. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the earlier decision and rejected Tracinda’s claim for damages...

Lovells dispute lawyers focus on class actions

Posted on September 25, 2007
City firm Lovells LLP announced on Monday that it has formed a dedicated group of dispute resolution lawyers to focus on class actions. Most of the members of the new group are located across the firm’s European offices. London-based dispute resolution partner Neil Mirchandani, leader of the group, states the following in the press release: The formation [...

Blue Ribbon for Roundtable?s fourth place

Posted on September 17, 2007
After, in chronological order, the Paulson Committee, Bloomberg/Schumer and Daley/Culvahouse, the Washington, DC-based financial institution lobby group The Financial Services Roundtable is to publish its report on capital markets regulation and competitiveness next month, according to today’s FT...

Litigation funding to drive euro-class actions

Posted on September 15, 2007
Legal Week has published the results of its latest Legal Week/EJ Legal Big Question survey, namely on the topic of class actions in Europe. The headline conclusion: “The UK legal community is united in the belief that US-style class action litigation is set to take off throughout Europe, with product liability cited as a key [...

Class action civil justice reform in Denmark

Posted on September 11, 2007
From 1 January 2008, new legislation will come into force in Denmark that will introduce the class action procedure (Gruppesøgsmål) as part of the country’s reform of civil justice. Jens Rostock-Jensen of Danish law firm Kromann Reumert gives a very brief overview of the new rules in his guest column in Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler [...

Counting down to Companies Act?s D-Day

Posted on September 10, 2007
Written about for some time now, those provisions in the Companies Act 2006 relating to the derivative claim are finally about to come into force shortly, from 1 October. DLA Piper UK LLP’s Andrew Dodd is squarely in the camp of those predicting the codification is not to lead to more claims...

WV&Z will return shortly

Posted on August 22, 2007
It’s almost two months since the last post here, during which time I have prepared for and taken the New York bar exam and the MPRE, with many thanks to those of you who wished me well. Now that the exams are behind me, please bear with me; posting will resume shortly...

What when where: f-cubed, competitiveness

Posted on June 26, 2007
The American Bar Association earlier this month hosted a webcast, entitled Class Actions in a Global Economy: Investor Claims Against Non-U.S. Issuers. Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP’s James C. Rutten moderated the panel, consisting of Lynda J...

In re GSK, after Paxil comes Avandia

Posted on June 25, 2007
Drugs have landed GlaxoSmithKline Plc (LSE, NYSE: GSK) in the docket, again. Two years ago it was securities fraud claims surrounding Paxil - in the UK marketed under the name Seroxat - two weeks ago it was the drug Avandia. See the 2005 action’s press release and the 2007 action’s complaint (07 Civ...