Converium - the new Vivendi?
An issue that has been raised with seemingly increased frequency as of late in US securities class actions is the existence of, and occasion predominance of non-US investors in securities class actions filed in the US courts.
The issue often crops up as noted by The D&O Diary at the lead plaintiff stage, and even at the initial complaint stage. But it doesn't disappear, instead popping up again at the motion to dismiss stage and again at the class certification stage.
(Side note - that seems to be enough stages to have a bona-fide Securities Litigation Palooza)
It is the class certification stage that interests us today, as earlier this month, Judge Cote partially granted and partially denied a motion to certify the class in the SCOR Holding (Switzerland) AG (nee Converium), litigation.
In the Converium litigation, Judge Cote certified a class that included:
- US residents who purchased Converium shares on the Swiss Exchange (SWX); or
- Any person who purchased Converium American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") on the NYSE.
Judge Cote specifically denied certification to that portion of the putative class that consisted of non-US investors that purchased shares of Converium (a non-US company) on a non-US Exchange. Such a class of foreign purchasers who bought a foreign issuer's securities on a foreign exchange is known as an "f-cubed class."
Only time will tell if we see the same result in Converium that we saw in Vivendi, namely dozens and dozens of large institutional investors filing individual or group actions in the US courts.
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March 13, 2008 |
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Speaking of Upcoming Events
This Friday, March 14, I will be moderating a webcast, Securities Litigation - What European Investors Need to Know.
The webcast begins at 10:30 AM EDT (14:30 GMT, 15:30 CET) and should last about one hour.
I will be joined by Eric Belfi, Partner at Labaton Sucharow, Kevin LaCroix, Director at OakBridge Insurance Services and author of The D&O Diary, and a surprise guest.
More details are available on the registration page, here.
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March 12, 2008 |
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Updates to the Securities Litigation Events Calendar
Here is the next round of updates to our securities litigation conferences, webcasts, and other events list.
For the full list, please go here.
As always, readers are encouraged to send information on securities litigation related events to us via the "Contact Us" link on the upper left hand side of this blog.
Real Estate Mortgage Market Litigation
April 18, 2008
Seattle, WA
Highlights:
• Individual and class action claims against those who lent money or sold them loans allege violations of state or federal laws and regulation
• Investors Suing Lenders: Firms are Trying to Force Lenders to Make Re- Purchases and Subsequent Buy-back Litigation as They Face High Rates of Default;
• Allegations of Securities Fraud in the Face of Falling Stock Prices; Issues of Withholding Information about Business Problems Resulting in Subprime Meltdown
The conference brochure is available here or for more details, visit the conference webpage
Securities Litigation: Planning and Strategies: 33rd Annual Advanced Course of Study
May 1-2, 2008
Langham Hotel, Boston, MA
Highlights:
• Trends in Class Actions, Derivative Suits, Mutual Fund Litigation, Trials, and Other Civil Proceedings
• Litigating with the SEC's Division of Enforcement
• Securities Arbitrations and Mediations: The Process and FINRA Rules
• Litigation Developments in Contested Deals and Proxy Battles
• Recent Delaware Decisions regarding Takeovers
The conference brochure is available here or for more details, visit the conference webpage
Damages in Securities Litigation
May 5, 2008
The Harvard Club, Boston, MA
Highlights:
• Case law developments in identifying affected securities and establishing causation
• Subprime mortgage-related litigation: What to look for and where to look
• Challenges in proving damages
• Remedies regulators are pursuing and best practices in dealing with the SEC
The conference brochure is available here or for more details, visit the conference webpage
Subprime Lending Litigation: The Mortgage Meltdown
May 8 - 9, 2008
Milliennium Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Highlights:
• Developments in Securities Litigation; Plaintiffs’ Theories and Exposure of Subprime Lenders, Securitization Participants, Fund Managers, Investment Banks and Rating Agencies
• Responding to Investigations by Regulators
• Stoneridge and Beyond: Likely Impact of the Case; Placing It in the Broader Context of the Supreme Court’s Recent Securities Law Jurisprudence
The conference brochure is available here or for more details, visit the conference webpage
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March 11, 2008 |
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The SCAS 50 for 2007
Today we released our fifth annual "SCAS 50" report.
Based on data from the SCAS database, the SCAS 50 lists the top 50 plaintiffs' law firms ranked by the total dollar amount of final securities class action settlements occurring in 2007 in which the law firm served as lead or co-lead counsel.
We look at the data in three main ways for each firm - total settlement dollars, total number of settlements, and average value per settlement. I have listed the top five firms in each category below.
The full report is available here.
2007's Top 5 - Total settlement value:
1. Milberg Weiss
2. Grant & Eisenhofer
3. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler
4. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins
5. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
2007's Top 5 - Average settlement value:
1. Grant & Eisenhofer
2. Milberg Weiss
3. Labaton Sucharow
4. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler
5. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
2007's Top 5 - Number of settlements:
1. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins
2. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler
3. Milberg Weiss
4. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
5. Weiss & Lurie
5. Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll
A few observations.
1. Comparing the 2007 numbers to last year's rankings, we see that settlement values do indeed seem to be rising. The cutoff for the Top 20 last year - $94.1 million; For this year - $148.5 million. The increase cascades all the way to the end of the list, where last year $8.5 million would get you on the list, but this year, the price of admission is $17.5 million.
2. It is somewhat surprising to see Bernstein Litowitz in the top 5 for the number of settlements (as opposed to dollar value or average) as the firm is known to be very selective in choosing cases, and thus is potentially involved in fewer cases at any given time.
3. This is the first time that both Cohen Milstein and Weiss & Lurie have been ranked in the top 5 for one of our categories. One might ordinarily say that it is nice to see some fresh faces at the top, but both firms (or their predecessor firms) are old stalwarts in the plaintiffs bar. We have yet to see any of the truly new faces in securities litigation (Motley Rice, Kahn Gauthier, etc.) high up on these rankings.
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