FRT’s Fast Five: Week Ending October 23, 2020
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. Investor to Ask 2nd Circ. to Revive Benchmark-Rigging Suit
An investor has let a New York federal court know he plans to appeal to the Second Circuit an August ruling that squashed his suit against numerous major banks for allegedly plotting to fix interbank exchange rates, including one tied to the Japanese yen. Jeffrey Laydon filed a notice of appeal in in federal court Friday, but the brief filing does not include legal arguments for the appeal. As named plaintiff he hopes to represent a putative class of investors who allegedly lost out because the banks fixed rates for the London Interbank Offered Rate for Japanese Yen, a benchmark interest rate used for borrowing money on the financial markets. Major banks such as Barclays Bank PLC are among the many institutions defending against the claims. But in August, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels sided with eight large banking entities seeking to dismiss the third amended complaint in the case. The judge said then that the claims are too “foreign” to be litigated in U.S. courts. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be needed).
2. Valeant Securities Suit Was Launched on Time, 3rd Circ. Told
Investors in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. urged the Third Circuit to revive their claims that the company engaged in a price-gouging scheme that cost stockholders billions, arguing Tuesday that a lower court should have paused the time limit for them to sue. During an oral argument held via Zoom, the investors said the New Jersey federal judge who tossed the case should have applied the equitable tolling precedent established in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1974 decision in American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah. That ruling held that the two-year statute of limitations for class action plaintiffs to opt out and file individual claims is paused until a decision on class certification. Click here to read the full article (subscription may be needed).
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter how we work and live across the globe. It is also altering claims trends and risk exposures. According to a new report, Covid-19 – Changing Claims Patterns, from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), with the reduction in economic activity during lockdown phases, traditional property and liability claims have been subdued. To date, AGCS said it has only seen a few liability claims that are Covid-19 related. However, liability claims are typically long-tail with a lag in reporting, so general liability and workers’ compensation claims may yet materialize. A number of outbreaks of coronavirus have been linked to gyms, casinos, care homes, cruise ships or food/meat processing plants. Insolvencies, as well as event-driven litigation, could be potential sources of D&O claims. To date, there has been only a small number of securities class action lawsuits related to Covid-19 in the U.S. Click here to read the full article.
Leading law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is investigating casino giant Crown Resorts after its share price dived sharply on news the company may have breached anti-money laundering laws. The share price fell 8.1 per cent on Monday after Crown Resorts disclosed anti-money laundering agency AUSTRAC had identified potential non-compliance at Crown Melbourne with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Click here to read the full article.
5. The Implications of Introducing Contingency Fees to Victorian Class Actions
On 30 June 2020, the Justice Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Act 2020 (Vic) commenced. This introduced a new section 33ZDA to the Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) which will allow the Supreme Court of Victoria to award contingency fees to plaintiff lawyers in class actions. We’ve already explained what contingency fees are and how this amendment will operate. It’s been heralded as a significant change since lawyers in Victoria aren’t permitted to enter into a costs agreement with a client that allows them to charge a contingency fee. The same prohibition exists in other Australian jurisdictions. But is this amendment as significant as it seems? Perhaps yes. Perhaps no. This article looks at some of its implications. Click here to read the full article.
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