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Mealey's Securities

  • April 19, 2024

    9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Investors’ Suit Against Gaming Company

    SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a California federal judge’s decision to dismiss a putative class complaint brought by investors against a gaming company and certain of its officers, agreeing that the investors did not show that the company misled investors through false statements about the technical aspects of its mobile gaming platform.

  • April 19, 2024

    Jury Finds SEC Showed Man Used Info From Employer For Insider Trades

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal jury in California found a man liable after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of using confidential information about the acquisition of his employer to buy stock options in a different company.

  • April 19, 2024

    SEC Settles With 1 Of 2 Former Execs It Said Faked Records

    NEW YORK — In separate orders, a New York federal judge issued final judgment against one of two former executives the Securities and Exchange Commission accused of falsifying their former employer’s public investor materials after she settled with the commission and scheduled a settlement conference with the other former executive, against whom the judge previously entered summary judgment.

  • April 19, 2024

    SEC Tells Supreme Court Cross-Appeal Rule Not Triggered By Disgorgement Remand

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly remanded the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement action against a venture capitalist for re-calculation of disgorgement after amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the SEC tells the U.S. Supreme Court, saying a cross-appeal requirement was not triggered.

  • April 18, 2024

    Court: Positive Outlook Doesn’t Outweigh Disclosures In Asbestos Securities Class

    NEW YORK — Even while putting a positive spin on Garrett Motion Inc.’s future, the company repeatedly warned investors about the dire financial situation posed by the asbestos-related liabilities it acquired in its spinoff from Honeywell International Inc., and the company was unlikely to believe it could mislead the market given the public nature of its information, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said April 17 in affirming dismissal of a securities class action.

  • April 18, 2024

    SEC: Media Company, CEO Misled Investors About Relationships With Other Entities

    NEW YORK — In an April 17 complaint filed in a New York federal court, the Securities and Exchange Commission says that a media group and its chairman and chief executive officer engaged in a multimillion dollar fraud by issuing false statements that the media group developed sports content for two telecommunications companies, despite not being poised to launch any content with either company.

  • April 18, 2024

    Netflix: Investors’ Suit Does Not Show Company Misled About Password Sharing

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Streaming company Netflix Inc. and certain of its executives moved to dismiss with prejudice a putative class complaint brought by investors in a California federal court alleging the company made material misrepresentations about how it was affected by users sharing passwords, saying the investors did nothing to rectify the issues that led to an earlier version of their complaint being dismissed.

  • April 17, 2024

    SEC Again Seeks Dismissal Of Enforcement Action After Judge’s Sanctions

    SALT LAKE CITY — The Securities and Exchange Commission again moved to dismiss its own case against several groups it accused of using a cryptocurrency scheme to defraud investors out of at least $49 million, saying it will allow the commission more time to determine whether to refile the case after a federal judge in Utah imposed sanctions on it for using false information when applying for a temporary restraining order (TRO).

  • April 17, 2024

    Advocacy Group Appeals Finding That SEC Can’t Call Voting Advice ‘Solicitation’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An advocacy group that acted as an intervener defendant on April 16 appealed to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a federal judge’s ruling that the Securities and Exchange Commission acted in excess of its authority when it issued rule changes redefining proxy voting advice as a type of “solicitation.”

  • April 17, 2024

    Federal Judge: SEC Shows Municipal Advisers Violated Multiple Rules

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted a motion for partial summary judgment from the Securities and Exchange Commission, finding that a municipal advisory company and certain of its executives did not disclose potential conflicts of interest in contracts with municipal entities.

  • April 16, 2024

    Federal Judge Rules SEC Showed Municipal Adviser Failed To Disclose Material Info

    SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California on April 15 issued a mixed order on a motion for partial summary judgment by the Securities and Exchange Commission, finding that the SEC adequately showed that a municipal advisory company and its co-founder withheld material information from municipal bond clients about the co-founder’s former employer but that there is a triable issue over whether the co-founder disclosed a fee-splitting agreement with his former employer to the clients.

  • April 16, 2024

    Delaware High Court Partly Revives Investor Claims Against Dating Site Companies

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court partially reversed a decision from the state’s Court of Chancery in a putative class case brought by shareholders questioning the fairness of a technology company’s spinoff from a controlled subsidiary, finding that the investors adequately alleged that one member of a separation committee lacked independence from the tech company.

  • April 15, 2024

    Judge Partly Grants Insurer’s Motion To Compel In D&O Coverage Dispute Over Merger

    WILMINTON, Del. — A Delaware judge on April 12 granted in part and denied in part a directors and officers liability insurer’s motion to compel discovery in a coverage dispute over claims that directors, officers and controlling shareholders breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the 2019 merger of Viacom and CBS Corp.

  • April 15, 2024

    SEC: Attorney, Developer Entities Misused Investor Cash For Unrelated Projects

    LAS VEGAS — In a complaint filed in a Nevada federal court, the Securities and Exchange Commission says an attorney and three entities she managed defrauded foreign investors by selling securities to fund the construction of skilled nursing facilities in the Las Vegas area before using the funds for unrelated purposes.

  • April 15, 2024

    Federal Judge Finds Broker’s Client’s Claims Precluded By SLUSA

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York dismissed a putative class complaint brought against an investment company and certain of its employees by a client who said the company failed to disclose that a team heading a new investment program was involved in arbitration with the team members’ former employer, finding that the client’s claims are barred by the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA).

  • April 12, 2024

    Supreme Court Finds Pure Omissions Not Actionable Under SEC Rule

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held April 12 that a private securities action cannot be brought on the basis of an omission on filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission if the omission does not render other statements misleading, finding that pure omissions are not actionable under SEC Rule 10b-5.

  • April 12, 2024

    Retirement Fund Says Health Company Misled Investors About Profit Margins

    NEW YORK — A retirement system filed a putative class complaint against a health care company in a New York federal court, saying the company and certain of its executives made material representations to investors, including allegedly overstating margins of profit by hundreds of millions of dollars, leading to a decline in stock value.

  • April 12, 2024

    Federal Judge: Tech Firm Does Not Show Loss Causation In Stock Spoofing Case

    NEW YORK — While a federal judge in New York found that a technology company adequately alleged that an investment company knowingly ran a manipulative scheme involving “spoofing” the tech company’s stock, the judge found that the tech company did not adequately show that it suffered a loss as a result of the scheme and thus granted the investment company’s motion to dismiss.

  • April 11, 2024

    Federal Judge: Investors Cite No False Claims In Gene Therapy Securities Suit

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed a putative class complaint filed by investors against a biopharmaceutical company and certain of its executives, finding that the investors did not substantiate their claim that the company issued false and misleading statements about a gene therapy program it was testing before the Food and Drug Administration ordered a hold on testing.

  • April 10, 2024

    Pharma Companies Seek High Court Review Of Ruling Reversing FCA Suit Dismissal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pharmaceutical companies accused of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reversal of a district court’s dismissal of a qui tam suit against them, arguing, in part, that the panel “created a circuit split by holding that a relator can avoid the public disclosure bar by ‘stitching together’ public disclosures.”

  • April 10, 2024

    Amici Support Facebook Before High Court, Say Split Over Disclosure Must End

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Multiple groups filed a total of three amicus curiae briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the court should grant a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the company formerly known as Facebook Inc., echoing the social media giant’s argument that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals deepened a circuit split over what public companies must disclose when it partly revived a putative class complaint brought by investors.

  • April 10, 2024

    Musk: SEC Response Illustrates Need For High Court Review Of Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a reply brief in further support of his petition for a writ of certiorari, Elon Musk reiterates to the U.S. Supreme Court that a consent judgment he signed with the Securities and Exchange Commission violated his constitutional right by imposing prior restraint, arguing that the SEC’s resistance to “scrutiny of its settling authority underscores exactly why the Court should grant review.”

  • April 10, 2024

    Securities Claim Over Walmart’s Opioid Sales Tossed For Lack Of False Statements

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware dismissed a putative class complaint brought by an investor against Walmart Inc. and certain of its executives, finding that the investor did not substantiate the claim that Walmart misled investors about the potential impacts of criminal and civil investigations into its sale of opioids conducted by federal officials in Texas.

  • April 09, 2024

    9th Circuit Revives Investors’ Suit Against Entertainment Company

    PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly revived a suit by shareholders of Genius Brands International Inc. who claim the company and its CEO made misleading statements to investors, saying a California federal judge erred in finding that some of the company’s claims were not materially misleading.

  • April 09, 2024

    Jury Finds Terraform, CEO Liable For Misleading Investors In SEC Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal jury in New York found that crypto asset firm Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd. and its founder and chief executive officer are liable for all claims brought against them by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the company and its founder of issuing many false statements about the company’s crypto assets.