|  | | 2011 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
Securities Suit Filings Continue to Mount in Second Quarter
Kevin LaCroix
The D & O Diary. July 1, 2011
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EXCERPT Largely driven by M&A-related litigation and securities suits against U.S.-listed Chinese companies, federal securities class action lawsuit filings continued to mount during the second quarter of 2011. With 48 new securities suits during the second quarter, the year-to-date total mid-way through the year stands at 105. The 2011 filings are on pace to finish the year with about 210 new lawsuits, which is well above the 1997-2009 average of 195. The M&A lawsuits included in my tally are those that were filed in federal court and that allege a violation of federal securities laws. There were ten M&A-related federal securities lawsuits during the second quarter, or about 20% of all second quarter filings. Many of the M&A-related lawsuits are being filed in state court and so don’t enter into the count of federal securities suits. In addition, there are a number of federal court M&A-related lawsuits that don’t allege violations of the federal securities laws; these suits typically allege breaches of fiduciary duties. M&A-related litigation overall, including all state and federal court suits, continues to surge. Because many of these suits are filed in state court, it is difficult to get complete information. But based on the filings I have been able to track, and counting all state and federal suits of which I am aware, there have been a total of at least 125 merger-related lawsuits YTD involving as many as 90 transactions (some transactions have drawn multiple lawsuits). While this information may be incomplete, it is clear that there are many more merger-related lawsuits now being filed than traditional securities class action lawsuits. […] |
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