Financial Recovery Technologies Fast Five provides you with the top news in shareholder class actions. Stay up-to-date on the latest developments in settled (U.S./Canada) claims filing opportunities, Antitrust settlements, Global Group Litigation matters and more. For more information, contact your Financial Recovery Technologies representative or email us.

1. Bayer Faces Class Action Suit Over Monsanto Takeover in Germany, Law Firm Says

Bayer faces a billion-dollar investor class action lawsuit in Germany over the takeover of U.S. seed manufacturer Monsanto, specialist law firm Tilp Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft said. Tilp said it was representing more than 250 institutional investors and a large number of private investors who believed Bayer misled them about the economic risks of the $63 billion acquisition and are demanding damages. The value of the lawsuits amounts to more than one billion euros ($1.13 billion), the law firm said. Tilp said it believed Bayer deceived shareholders about the risks of consumer lawsuits pending in the United States linked to the glyphosate-containing weed killer Roundup, which was brought into the company with the 2016 Monsanto acquisition. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be required).

2. Gensler on SPACs: Treat Like Cases Alike

In remarks before the Healthy Markets Association, SEC Chair Gary Gensler shared his thoughts on the regulation of SPACs with a theme drawn from antiquity: Aristotle’s maxim that we must “treat like cases alike.” That concept, in Gensler’s view, should apply as finance evolves in response to new technologies and new business models. Take SPACs, for example—a type of transaction that, while not exactly new, has really “taken off in the last couple of years.” A SPAC, he said, is really an alternative method of conducting an IPO. The question addressed by Gensler in his remarks is how “this competitive market innovation [should] be treated under our public policy framework,” in effect, giving us a preview of what we may see in SPAC rulemaking, possibly next year. Click here to read the full article.

3. Investors Reach $90M Deal to End Juul, Altria Marketing Suit

A proposed class of investors has moved for initial approval of a $90 million deal with tobacco company Altria Group Inc. and vaping company Juul Labs Inc. that would end the shareholders’ claims the companies knowingly marketed to underage consumers. Lead plaintiffs Donald and Sarah Sherbondy and Construction Laborers Pension Trust of Greater St. Louis said in a memo supporting their Thursday motion for preliminary approval of the settlement that the deal is one of the largest recoveries ever achieved in a securities class action in Virginia and the Fourth Circuit. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be required).

4. In 2022, Companies Will Wake Up to the Risks of Greenwashing

Two recent landmark cases are putting Australian companies on notice that net zero emission commitments, made by companies, must be credible and substantiated. As the climate emergency heightens Australian corporates are yielding to pressure to make climate related disclosures and statements. Companies, however, will need to be careful when making disclosures and commitments as they can give rise to liability risks where such commitments are considered misleading or deceptive under the Australian Consumer Law; Corporations Act and ASIC Act 2001. Potentially misleading disclosures and claims in the environmental or climate change context could be seen as ‘greenwashing.’ Click here to read the full article.

5. Highlights From the Year in Securities Litigation

Far fewer securities class-action lawsuits were filed in 2021 than any year in recent memory. This according to Brad S. Karp, the chairman of Paul Weiss, who moderated the Private Securities Litigation panel at Practicing Law Institute’s 53rd Annual Institute on Securities Regulation and is a member of its faculty. Karp offered a few explanations for the drop in the number of cases. First, he said the plaintiffs bar has stopped filing federal court class actions objecting to mergers, perhaps because of increased judicial scrutiny. Instead, merger objections are being filed as individual actions. Second, (at least before the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19), the equity markets were skyrocketing, with the Dow and the Standard and Poor’s indices “up seemingly almost every day.” Click here to read the full article.

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This communication and the content found by following any link herein are being provided to you by Financial Recovery Technologies (FRT) for informational purposes only and do not constitute advice. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but FRT makes no representation or warranty with respect to this communication or such content and expressly disclaims any implied warranty under law. Opinions expressed in this communication may change without prior notice. Firms should always seek legal and financial advice specific to their unique situation and objectives.