January 2017
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
` An overview of securities class action settlements, opt-in litigations and disbursements alongside illustrative indices covering both new cases and historical settlements. January 2017 www.issgovernance.com © 2016 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services In this Issue: SPOTLIGHT ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 THIRD-PARTY CLASS ACTIONS CONTENT ......................................................................................................... 4 UPCOMING SETTLEMENTS.............................................................................................................................. 5 OPT-IN NON-NORTH AMERICAN LITIGATIONS ................................................................................................. 6 DISBURSEMENTS............................................................................................................................................ 7 MARKET DATA (OCTOBER 2015 – NOVEMBER 2016) ...................................................................................... 8 RESOURCES.................................................................................................................................................. 11 THE RECOVERMAX ADVANTAGE ................................................................................................................... 12 © 2017 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services 2 of 12 SPOTLIGHT Australia as a Growing Hub of Litigations In the world of opt-in litigations, Australia has historically been the most active market by volume, even surpassing Canada to be the most active market for any litigation type behind the U.S. Until recently, that large volume of activity did not result in many pursued actions moving to settlement. Since June 1, 2016, there have been four settlements in Australia, including: Gunns Limited (confidential settlement); Newcrest Mining ($25 million settlement); OZ Minerals ($24 million settlement); and Billabong ($34 million settlement). For claimants who were hesitant to invest time and resources to participate in Australian actions, these settlements may suggest the value of pursuing such claims. Looking at 2017, there are 14 open litigations in Australia (Allco, WorleyParsons, Iluka, Slater & Gordon, MG Unit, QRxPharma, Bellamy’s, MacMahon, QBE, Treasury Wine, Vocation, Spotless Group, UGL, and Hastie Group). It is important for every investor in Australia to perform diligence on these actions and determine whether or not participating is appropriate. Securities Class Action Services has spent the last five years helping carry the significant burden of filing for Australian litigations, resulting in millions of recoveries with minimal involvement for clients. To learn more about how we help our clients file in an easy and organized fashion in Australia and other opt-in jurisdictions, visit our website or contact us today. © 2017 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services 3 of 12 THIRD-PARTY CLASS ACTIONS CONTENT Each month ISS will be including third-party content from industry partners to provide further insight into global securities litigations, as well as any recent trends, and upcoming or recently past events. $50 Million WorleyParsons (Australia) Action Proceeds, by Jenny Wiggins Australian Courts declined an effort by WorleyParsons to dismiss the litigation. Slater & Gordon (Australia) Action Allegations Expanded, by Misa Han and Jonathan Shapiro Australian Securities and Investment Commission has contacted Slater & Gordon to gather further documents that may impact Maurice Blackburn’s action against Slater & Gordon. Note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the those of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. or Securities Class Action Services Inc. If you have suggestions for content to include in RecoverMax Monitor, please send the information to [email protected]. © 2017 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services 4 of 12 UPCOMING SETTLEMENTS JANUARY 25 – FEBRUARY 25 Claim Deadline Settlement Amount Pfizer, Inc. (2004) 28-Jan-17 $486,000,000 Pacific Coast Oil Trust 02-Feb-17 $7,600,000 Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. 10-Feb-17 $3,950,000 A10 Networks, Inc. 10-Feb-17 $9,837,500 Digital Domain Media Group, Inc. 13-Feb-17 $5,500,000 Sino-Forest Corporation (Canada) 14-Feb-17 $36,799,566 For more information, visit RecoverMax on ISS Link or contact us. © 2017 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services 5 of 12 OPT-IN NON-NORTH AMERICAN LITIGATIONS Country Registration Deadline UGL Limited Australia 31-Jan-17 QBE Insurance Group Limited* Australia 01-Feb-17 Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. * Australia 01-Feb-17 Vocation Limited (Maurice Blackburn)* Australia 01-Feb-17 MG Unit Trust (Murray Goulburn)* Australia 01-Feb-17 Slater & Gordon Ltd. (ACA Lawyers)* Australia 01-Feb-17 Volkswagen AG (Pomerantz) Netherlands 01-Feb-17 Spotless Group Holdings Limited (Slater & Gordon)* Australia 01-Feb-17 Sims Metal Management Limited Australia 01-Feb-17 Spotless Group Holdings Limited (ACA Lawyers)* Australia 01-Feb-17 WorleyParsons Limited* Australia 02-Feb-17 Iluka Resources Ltd.* Australia 02-Feb-17 Tesco PLC (Deminor) United Kingdom 03-Feb-17 Macmahon Holdings Limited (2014) Australia 10-Feb-17 Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Deminor) Germany 15-Feb-17 Volkswagen AG (Deminor) Germany 15-Feb-17 Volkswagen AG (Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann) Netherlands 01-Mar-17 (Stibbe) QRxPharma Limited* Australia 01-Mar-17 Toshiba Corporation (DRRT) Japan 01-Mar-17 Bellamy's Australia Limited (Slater & Gordon)* Australia 01-Mar-17 Bellamy's Australia Limited (Maurice Blackburn)* Australia 01-Mar-17 Bellamy's Australia Limited (ACA Lawyers)* Australia 01-Mar-17 Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (DRRT) (Grant & Japan 01-Apr-17 Eisenhofer) (Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check) Tesco PLC (DRRT) (Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.) (Kessler Topaz United Kingdom 15-Apr-17 Meltzer & Check) Allco Finance Group Limited Australia 30-Jun-17 *Registration date is for Securities Class Action Services purpose only. If you like to join the Action, please contact mailto:[email protected]. For more information, visit RecoverMax on ISS Link or contact us. © 2017 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services 6 of 12 DISBURSEMENTS Settlements with Recent Disbursement Dates Claim Settlement Disbursement in the Last 60 Days Deadline Amount Date Rural/Metro Corporation (2011) (Delaware Chancery 01-May-16 $97,793,881 28-Nov-16 Court) (RBC Capital) Countrywide Financial Corp. (2010) (C.D. Cal.) 15-Dec-13 $500,000,000 30-Nov-16 Impax Laboratories, Inc. (2014) (N.D. Cal.) 19-Dec-15 $4,750,000 02-Dec-16 Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (S.D.N.Y.) 17-May-12 $426,218,000 06-Dec-16 (Equity/Debt Securities) (Underwriter Defendants) Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (S.D.N.Y.) 17-May-12 $90,000,000 06-Dec-16 (Equity/Debt Securities) (D&O Defendants) Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) 03-Apr-15 $170,000,000 06-Dec-16 (2008) Kinross Gold Corporation 17-Sep-15 $33,000,000 12-Dec-16 Electronic Data Systems Corp. (2002) 19-Apr-06 $137,500,000 13-Dec-16 Billabong International Limited (Australia) 16-Nov-15 $34,037,550 14-Dec-16 China MediaExpress Holdings, Inc. 02-Oct-15 $12,000,000 16-Dec-16 Kinross Gold Corporation (Canada) 31-Aug-15 $9,955,480 17-Dec-16 Broadcom Corp. (2006) (Ernst & Young) 26-Dec-12 $13,000,000 19-Dec-16 MiMedx Group, Inc. (2013) 18-Jan-16 $2,979,000 19-Dec-16 Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (2008) 28-Dec-15 $125,000,000 19-Dec-16 (Citco Defendants) Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (2008) 23-May-16 $55,000,000 19-Dec-16 (PwC Defendants) Duke Energy Corporation (2012) (W.D. N.C.) 13-Jul-15 $146,250,000 20-Dec-16 Regions Financial Corporation (2010) 09-Sep-15 $90,000,000 21-Dec-16 Pfizer, Inc. (2010) 30-Jul-15 $400,000,000 22-Dec-16 Broadcom Corp. (2006) (Individual Defendants) 13-Aug-10 $160,500,000 23-Dec-16 Apollo Group, Inc. (2006) 03-Aug-15 $13,125,000 23-Dec-16 Washington Mutual, Inc. (2007) 08-Dec-11 $208,500,000 30-Dec-16 Wachovia Preferred Securities and Bond/Notes 28-Dec-11 $627,000,000 30-Dec-16 Belo Corp. (2013) (Texas District Court) 01-Jul-15 $4,500,000 30-Dec-16 ITT Educational Services, Inc. (2013) 22-Mar-16 $16,962,500 17-Jan-17 For more information, visit RecoverMax on Link or contact us. © 2017 ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services 7 of 12 MARKET DATA (DECEMBER 2015 – DECEMBER 2016) New Case Index: New Federal & State Cases by Month 60 500 450 50 400 350 40 300 30 250 200 20 150 New Case Index Number New of Cases 100 10 50 0 0 Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2015 2016 No. of State Cases 12 11 7 13 14 8 19 14 10 10 9 8 5 No. of Federal Cases 17 25 19 31 17 27 21 22 36 27 24 41 25 Federal Index 89 132 100 163 89 142 111 116 189 142 126 216 132 State Index 300 275 175 325 350 200 475 350 250 250 225 200 125 Total Federal & State Index 143 170 122 209 143 213 187 174 235 183 161 230 148 No. of Federal Cases No. of State Cases Federal Index State Index Total Federal & State Index In Summary: › Securities Class Action Services identified 577 cases filed in 2016. › In December, New Case filings declined to 34 from 53 in November 2016 and higher by one for the same month in 2015. › Federal Court filings decreased to 25 from 41, while State Court filings decreased to 5 from 8 in the prior month. › Four proposed Opt in litigation were launched in December 2015. › Of the 34 newly filed litigations,