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. Five Banks Face Lawsuit in Australia for FX Collusion

Australian law firm Maurice Blackburn on Monday filed a class-action lawsuit against five international investment banks, accusing them of colluding to rig foreign exchange rates during 2008-2013 so they can profit. They are UBS, Barclays Bank, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and J.P. Morgan. The five banks are accused of colluding to increase the price clients paid for certain investment products in order to fix exchange rates at more costly levels, according to Australian court documents. Click here to read the full article. 

2. Metro Bank Hit With Investor Suit Over $1.2B Reporting Gaffe

Metro Bank PLC was hit with a proposed class action in federal court in California Thursday claiming the British bank misled shareholders about the adequacy of its risk management policies and falsely boosted the value of its stock, which tanked when a £900 million ($1.2 billion) accounting blunder was recently revealed. The putative securities class action was filed by an investor claiming he suffered financial losses after the bank announced in January it had to correct the risk-weighting of certain commercial loans, which meant it had to set aside an additional £900 million to offset the potential risks. Plaintiff Joseph Amann says there are potentially hundreds or thousands of members in the proposed class, which consists of persons or entities who acquired Metro securities between March 6, 2018, and May 1, 2019. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be needed).

3. Sirtex Class Action Settled

Biotechnology company Sirtex has settled a shareholder class action over a profit downgrade in 2016 that caused its shares to plunge. The settlement came on Thursday evening, almost two weeks into a four-week Federal Court trial before Justice Bernard Murphy. While the maximum liability under the claim was put at about $280 million, sources said the case settled for a much smaller amount. The class action was run by Maurice Blackburn, and funded by Melbourne class action specialist Mark Elliott and IFM Bentham. Sirtex was represented by Watson Mangioni. The parties are expected to formally confirm the settlement in court on Friday morning. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be needed).

4. State Court Stays Discovery Under the PSLRA During Pendency of Motion to Strike

On May 15, 2019, Judge Charles T. Lee of the Connecticut Superior Court at Stamford granted a protective order staying discovery pending a motion to strike in an action alleging violations of the Securities Act of 1933 against an issuer, certain officers and the underwriters in connection with an initial public offering (City of Livonia Retiree Health & Disability Benefits Plan v. Pitney Bowes Inc.) Though there have been decisions going both ways on the issue of whether the PSLRA discovery stay applies in state court, this is the first opinion to analyze the issue thoroughly in the wake of Cyan and should serve as persuasive authority in other jurisdictions. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be needed).

5. Post-Cyan Update: Connecticut Trial Court Finds PSLRA Discovery Stay Applies to Securities Act Claims Filed in State Court

In its 2018 landmark decision in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that state courts have concurrent subject matter jurisdiction over class actions that exclusively allege claims under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), and such claims cannot be removed to federal court. Since then, plaintiffs have continued flooding state courts around the country with Securities Act lawsuits in an attempt to circumvent the federal procedural requirements of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA” or “Reform Act”), including, in particular, the automatic stay of discovery before a motion to dismiss is decided. Recently, however, in City of Livonia Retiree Health and Disability Benefits Plan v. Pitney Bowes Inc., the Connecticut Superior Court held that the PSLRA’s automatic discovery stay applies to Securities Act claims filed in both state and federal courts. This decision should be helpful authority for defendants when seeking to stay discovery during the pendency of a motion to dismiss Securities Act claims brought in state court. Click here to read the full article.

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  • Case Spotlight: FX Canada
  • A look back at Antitrust Litigation in 2018
  • Three Non-U.S. Passive Participation Opportunities to Keep on Your Radar
  • EU Proposal May Move European Jurisdiction Risk Profiles Closer to the U.S.
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  • FRT Insights – Quarterly Newsletter: January 2019
• Whitepapers:
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  • A Primer on Global Group Litigation
  • Illustrating The Outer Time Limits By Which Filing Decisions Must Be Made
  • Calculating Inflationary Losses for Comparison to Loss Thresholds
  • Global Landscape Continues to Evolve in the Wake of Morrison Decision

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