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Mealey's Securities

  • March 27, 2025

    Judge Denies Norfolk Southern’s Motion To Dismiss Securities Fraud Class Action

    ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principal’s motion to dismiss investors’ securities fraud class action relating to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was denied by a federal judge in Ohio, who found that the investors’ allegations raised an “overwhelming” inference of scienter.

  • March 27, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Securities Class Action Regarding Alleged Emissions Misstatements

    CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Ohio dismissed a securities fraud class action brought by investors against a company, its executives, selling shareholders and underwriters for allegedly  making a series of misstatements regarding the company’s effort to control the emission of ethylene oxide, finding that the investors failed to plead misstatements that trigger the defendants’ liability.

  • March 24, 2025

    Judge: Confidential Witnesses’ Vague Claims Can’t Keep AI Securities Case Alive

    NEW YORK — Despite a heavy reliance on them, confidential witness statements do not establish that an artificial intelligence mobile messaging and customer engagement company intentionally concealed the difficulties faced by a machine learning health care company it purchased, a federal judge said in dismissing a securities action with prejudice.

  • March 24, 2025

    U.S. High Court Denies Certiorari In Note Repayment Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an investment fund’s founder and corporate affiliates after the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgments on the investment fund’s behalf, determining that the lower court properly found that demand notes borrowed by the founder on behalf of the corporate affiliates owned by the investment fund’s founder were valid and due to the now-bankrupt investment fund.

  • March 24, 2025

    Partial Dismissal Granted In Antitrust Suit Involving Broker And Alleged ‘Phishing’

    GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal judge granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss by stock exchange market makers and market participants and a broker-dealer in a Sherman Act and Exchange Act violation suit alleging that the broker used “phishing” emails to illegally access the plaintiff’s brokerage accounts and that the other defendants conspired to defraud the plaintiff by manipulating prices of certain securities.

  • March 21, 2025

    SEC Commissioner Says Nonbinding Interpretations Don’t Provide Clarity

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a statement issued March 20, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw said that the latest nonbinding interpretation issued by the acting commissioner’s office is the latest of at least 10 statements designed to provide market participants with clarity but that they don’t.

  • March 21, 2025

    Judge Excludes Expert In Stock Price Case, Grants Test Maker Summary Judgment

    SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah granted a diagnostic test manufacturer summary judgment in a lawsuit by stockholders for allegedly misrepresenting the accuracy of its COVID-19 tests after the judge found that the stockholders’ expert could not prove loss causation.

  • March 21, 2025

    Federal Judge Holds Company Failed To Register Issuable Securities Via Form F-4

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York dismissed a breach of contract claim in a complaint brought by the holder of warrants against a company that refused to allow the warrant holder to exercise the warrants, finding that the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission Form F-4 registration statement didn’t state “that [the form] registered the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants.”

  • March 20, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Fraud Class Action Against Amazon For Failure To Plead Scienter

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington dismissed investors’ consolidated securities fraud class action against Amazon.com Inc. and several of its executives, finding that they failed to adequately plead scienter when bringing claims that the company made misrepresentations regarding the exploitation of third-party sellers and misrepresentations about Amazon’s infrastructure and fulfillment capacity.

  • March 18, 2025

    U.S. High Court Denies Stay Of Judgment In FINRA Constitutionality Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. denied a broker’s emergency application for a stay of judgment pending the disposition of the broker’s petition for a writ of certiorari; the application asked the high court to prevent an expedited Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proceeding to expel the broker for violating a cease-and-desist order from going forward while the petition on the structure of FINRA is pending.

  • March 18, 2025

    Insurance Mogul Ordered To ‘Pay Disgorgement’ In SEC Fraud Suit Against Him

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge entered judgment against insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, a former owner of insurers in liquidation and rehabilitation, requiring him to “pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment” in response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for judgment, with Lindberg’s consent, in its suit alleging that he, his advisory services company and its former executive defrauded clients of more than $75 million.

  • March 18, 2025

    Advisory Firm Asks High Court To Answer Disgorgement, Materiality Questions

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An investment officer and his investment advisory firm filed a petition for writ of certiorari, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address questions regarding the award of disgorgement and clarity regarding materiality of alleged misrepresentations under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.  The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Securities and Exchange Commission adequately showed that the man and the firm recklessly and repeatedly issued misrepresentations about an investment strategy employed by the firm and affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment and order of disgorgement.

  • March 13, 2025

    Crypto Companies Seek Interpretation Of CEA Venue, Nationwide Service Provisions

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two cryptocurrency companies filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in a suit brought against them by an investor alleging that they conspired to deflate the value of a crypto asset, asking the court to determine whether the paired venue and nationwide service provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA) should be interpreted independently or as a whole.

  • March 12, 2025

    9th Circuit Denies Rehearing To Securities Fraud Defendants On Final Judgment

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied a petition for rehearing en banc of securities fraud participants who were subject to a civil enforcement action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission for their roles in the fraud scheme.  The panel had affirmed final judgment against the parties, finding that SEC properly brought the investigation and enforcement action.

  • March 07, 2025

    Insurance Mogul Files Response To Summary Judgment In SEC Fraud Suit Against Him

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, a former owner of insurers in liquidation and rehabilitation, filed in a North Carolina federal court a response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for summary judgment in its suit alleging that he, his advisory services company and its former executive defrauded clients of more than $75 million.

  • March 07, 2025

    Final Approval Of $9.8M Settlement Granted In Apparel Company Stock Drop Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval to a settlement of a class action brought by investors against executives of apparel company Sequential Brands Group Inc. and the company’s auditing company, with the company executives agreeing to pay $6.25 million and the auditing company agreeing to pay $3.5 million.  The investors alleged the defendants made false and misleading statements regarding the company’s financial well-being, which the investors alleged caused the company’s stock price to drop.

  • March 06, 2025

    Final Approval Of Settlement Granted In Case Against Seller Of BPDN Investments

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval to a $6.2 million settlement between a company that sells borrower payment dependent notes (BPDN) investments and the investors who sued it for allegedly intentionally and negligently misleading investors about those investments, causing the investors to suffer significant losses.

  • March 05, 2025

    Final Approval Of $40M Settlement Granted In Securities Fraud Class Action

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland granted final approval of a $40 million settlement in a securities fraud class action brought by investors against a COVID-19 vaccine contractor that experienced contamination issues at its Bayview, Md., manufacturing facility and several of its executives.

  • March 05, 2025

    Federal Judge Upholds Constitutionality Of Corporate Transparency Act

    PORTLAND, Maine — A federal judge in Maine granted the U.S. Treasury Department’s motion for summary judgment in a case brought by a Maine resident with significant ownership interest in three limited liability companies challenging the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), concluding that “the CTA is a valid exercise of congressional power.”

  • March 04, 2025

    COMMENTARY: Sustainability Recalibration: What Insurers And Policyholders Should Know About ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance Considerations) Under Trump 2.0, Part 1

    By Scott M. Seaman

  • March 03, 2025

    Judge Partly Grants Insured’s Motion For Summary Judgment In D&O Coverage Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge granted in part and denied in part an insured’s motion for summary judgment in a directors and officers liability coverage dispute over an underlying shareholder lawsuit, concluding that the underlying settlement’s stock payment is a covered “loss” under the policies but there are genuine issues of fact as to the consent-to-settle policy provision.

  • March 03, 2025

    Federal Judge Dismisses Investor Claims Over 2023 Norfolk Southern Derailment

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York dismissed all claims brought against Norfolk Southern Corp. and certain of its executives by investors following a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that led to a controlled detonation of toxic chemicals, finding that the railroad company and its employees’ statements about its safety measures and messaging were not misleading and that they did not have an obligation to disclose risks and uncertainties that required disclosure in the offering documents under Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S-K.

  • March 03, 2025

    High Court Asked To Address FINRA Constitutionality, Stay Of Judgment Request

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A broker filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to address the constitutionality of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as well as what constitutes an irreparable injury for purposes of a preliminary injunction, days after filing an emergency application for a stay of judgment pending the disposition of its petition asking the high court to prevent an expedited FINRA proceeding to expel the broker for violating a cease-and-desist order from going forward while the petition for certiorari is pending.

  • February 28, 2025

    SEC, Crypto Company Agree To Drop Enforcement Case, Interlocutory Appeal

    NEW YORK — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 27 filed a joint stipulation to dismiss with Coinbase Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. (collectively Coinbase), with the commission agreeing to dismiss its case alleging that the company engaged in the unregistered sale of securities and Coinbase agreeing to withdraw its request for interlocutory appeal of a federal judge in New York’s split ruling on its motion for judgment on the pleadings before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • February 28, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Quashing Of New York Discovery Subpoenas For German Suit

    NEW YORK — The plaintiff in a German lawsuit over purported securities violations did not establish her right to subpoena her opponent in that suit for discovery in New York federal court under U.S. Code Title 28 Section 1782, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, finding that the necessary factors of Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. had not been satisfied.