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Mealey's Securities

  • October 07, 2025

    6th Circuit Grants Mandamus Petition in FirstEnergy Bribery Securities Case

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted FirstEnergy Corp.’s petition for mandamus related to an order to compel investigatory documents from law firms retained by FirstEnergy, which was suspected of wrongdoing in a securities bribery scandal; the panel found the documents are protected by the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine.

  • October 06, 2025

    High Court Won’t Hear Petition On Securities Fraud Materiality Requirement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied an auditor’s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the court to determine when the materiality requirement for securities fraud liability is satisfied.

  • October 06, 2025

    High Court Won’t Address Question Of Nonsignatory Enforcement Of Arbitration

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 declined to hear a trading company’s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the court to determine whether a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement can compel a signatory to arbitrate a dispute between them to address a split among appellate courts. The trading company sought to arbitrate securities fraud claims brought against it by investors who signed an arbitration agreement with another party to the alleged fraud.

  • October 06, 2025

    Supreme Court Denies Latest Cert Petition In Direct Listing Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6 denied a shareholder’s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the court to determine whether, under federal securities laws, a plaintiff must prove he bought shares registered in an offering for which the company issued false and misleading statements in order to bring a direct listings suit against the company.

  • October 02, 2025

    Judge Finds Investor Failed To Show Oil-Related Fund Made Misstatements About Risk

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted an oil-related exchange traded fund and its managing partner and executive’s motion to dismiss a putative securities fraud class action against them for alleged misstatements made about risks, adverse events, trends and uncertainties that could impact the fund, holding that the investors failed to show that the fund or related parties made misleading statements and did not establish a strong inference of scienter.

  • October 01, 2025

    $15M Deal In Pipeline Securities Fraud Case Endorsed ‘Overwhelmingly,’ Class Says

    PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 30 filed a reply brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million on grounds that the agreement has been “overwhelmingly endorsed by the Class.”

  • September 30, 2025

    Judge: Investors Failed To Link Stock Drop To Biotech Company’s Misstatements

    SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California granted a biotechnology company and its subsidiary’s motion to dismiss a securities fraud class action brought by investors alleging that the companies provided misleading information during the company’s acquisition of the subsidiary, finding that the investors did not establish loss causation because they did not link any of the companies’ corrective disclosures to a prior misstatement.

  • September 25, 2025

    Judge Finds Pension Fund Didn’t Allege Stock-Drop Losses Caused By Misstatements

    SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California dismissed a pension fund’s class action complaint against a biopharmaceutical company and certain of its executives after the company’s stock price dropped when a collaborating company ended their collaboration agreement, finding that while it alleged sufficient facts to satisfy falsity and scienter requirements under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the pension fund did not sufficiently allege that its losses were caused by the company’s alleged misstatements.

  • September 24, 2025

    Judge Approves $300,000 Settlement In Securities Action Over False Statements

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $300,000 settlement in a securities class action brought by investors against an aerospace-based  communication network product company and two of its executives that alleged that the company provided materially false and misleading statements about its production yields and their impact on the company’s revenue growth.

  • September 24, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Financial Services Institutions Owed No Duty To Collapsed Client

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of investors’ allegations that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. engaged in insider trading by selling stocks before news of a total return swaps client collapse became public, finding that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs owed no fiduciary duty to the client.

  • September 24, 2025

    3rd Circuit Denies Rehearing In Securities Suit Against Reinsurer

    PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied the petition of a reinsurer and three former executives to rehear its decision to vacate a lower court’s discovery and summary judgment rulings in investors’ suit against the reinsurer and executives over allegations that they violated federal securities laws by omitting historical loss ratios from loss reserves disclosures; the panel had found that the omitted historical loss ratios were material and that discovery had not been completed.

  • September 22, 2025

    J&J, Amicus Warn Of ‘Problematic’ Talc Securities Class Ruling

    PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) in a Sept. 19 amicus curiae brief in support of a petition for rehearing warns the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that its ruling holding Johnson & Johnson liable for new “signals” about existing facts threatens the ability to rebut assumptions about the integrity of market pricing with widespread fallout.  Earlier, Johnson & Johnson and certain executives told the court in their petition that the divided opinion will have a “problematic” influence in district court cases involving billions of dollars.

  • September 22, 2025

    Robinhood Markets Argues Decision In IPO Suit Ignores Precedent, Statutory Text

    PASADENA, Calif. — Financial services company Robinhood Markets Inc., certain of its senior executives and directors and underwriters of the company’s initial public offering (IPO) filed a petition for rehearing en banc in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a securities action brought against them by investors, arguing the panel majority’s decision to vacate in part a lower court’s decision to dismiss the complaint so the lower court could apply the correct standard as to the shareholders’ theories based on Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933’s “misleading” prong ignores the plain text of Section 11 and is contrary to binding precedent.

  • September 18, 2025

    SEC: Mandatory Arbitration Won’t Impact Registration Statement Acceleration

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a policy statement on Sept. 17 informing the public that the presence of a mandatory arbitration provision won’t impact decisions regarding the acceleration of the effectiveness of registration statements.

  • September 18, 2025

    Investment Adviser Appeals Preliminary Injunction Denial In Disciplinary Action

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An investment adviser and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA)-registered broker has appealed to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a federal judge’s denial of his motion for a preliminary injunction to preclude FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission from engaging in disciplinary action against him.

  • September 17, 2025

    Complaint: Scam Related To Nonexistent Fracking Technology Costs Investors $40M

    TYLER, Texas — A receiver for multiple entities has sued individuals and companies in Texas federal court related to a scheme that defrauded investors out of at least $40 million by selling shares in numerous corporate entities that falsely claimed that they had developed “industry-disrupting technologies,” for hydraulic fracturing operations, as well as for other industries.

  • September 16, 2025

    Pension Funds Fail To Plead Falsity Regarding Airplane Part Defects

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut dismissed pension funds’ securities fraud class action against an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation and certain of its officers and directors, finding the pension funds did not adequately plead falsity or scienter regarding statements made about a powdered metal defect in airplane engine parts the company manufactured.

  • September 16, 2025

    ‘Problematic’ Talc Securities-Class Ruling Requires Rehearing, J&J Warns

    PHILADELPHIA — A panel opinion allowing courts to put aside the rigorous analysis traditionally required for class certification and creating a new standard for price impact disclosures in securities actions will have a “problematic” influence in district court cases involving billions of dollars, Johnson & Johnson entities defending claims that they hid the presence of asbestos in talc from shareholders tell the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • September 12, 2025

    Investors’ Fraud Suit Against Technology Company After Data Breach Dismissed

    NEW YORK — A federal judge dismissed investors’ securities fraud class action against a global technology company, finding the investors failed to allege the company and its officers and directors made material misstatements about its internal securities controls before and after a data breach and failed to allege scienter with respect to their fraud claims.

  • September 10, 2025

    Fund’s Managing Members, Related Entities To Pay $12.5M For Securities Violations

    MADISON, Wisc. — A federal judge in Wisconsin ordered the managing members of an investment fund and their associated entities to pay about $12.5 million in disgorgement and the managing members to pay $5 million each in civil penalties and permanently enjoined the managing members from working with securities on behalf of others after a jury found they had violated federal securities laws and regulations by inflating the value of certain investments, paying management fees based on the inflated valuations and reporting nonexistent income.

  • September 08, 2025

    9th Circuit: SEC Not Required To Show Pecuniary Harm For Disgorgement

    PASADENA, Calif. — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s disgorgement award against an individual in a civil enforcement action the Securities and Exchange Commission brought against 14 individuals and entities, finding the SEC is not required to show investors suffered pecuniary harm when asking for a disgorgement award.

  • September 05, 2025

    United States Urges High Court To Find No Private Right Of Action In ICA Provision

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States and four other entities filed amicus curiae briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, agreeing with closed-end funds (CEFs) that the court should find that Congress did not intend there to be a private right of action in Section 47(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (ICA) and reverse the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision finding the funds violated the ICA.

  • September 04, 2025

    SEC, CFTC Issue Project Crypto-Crypto Sprint Statement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Divisions of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission announced a cross-agency initiative to further the SEC’s Project Crypto and the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint in order to coordinate their efforts to enable the trading of certain spot crypto assets.

  • September 04, 2025

    3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Securities Claims Over Walmart’s Opioid Sales

    PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a putative class complaint brought by an investor against Walmart Inc. and certain of its executives, finding that Walmart’s statements regarding criminal and civil investigations into its sale of opioids conducted by federal officials in Texas were not misleading and that its disclosures during the investigation were sufficient.

  • September 04, 2025

    Hearing Held On Viability Of Juul Share Dilution Claims

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A hearing was held Sept. 3 in the Delaware Chancery Court on motions filed by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI), its founders and board members and affiliated investment vehicles to dismiss a derivative complaint accusing them of breach of fiduciary duty for allegedly orchestrating financing that diluted the value of JLI shares before giving 1.2 billion JLI shares to the investment vehicles at a low price.