All class action articles
-
Special ReportInvestor litigation outside the US on the rise
Class-action lawsuits have been a staple of the litigation landscape in the US for decades, but this trend is now spreading, with investor litigation on the rise across the UK and Europe
-
Special ReportPassive investors: price/market reliance and the due diligence question
Towards the end of October 2024, the High Court in London struck out claims for £335m (€402m) being sought from Barclays for misdemeanours dating back over ten years.
-
Special ReportUK group litigation funding: Devil in the detail
Third-party litigation funding (TPLF) has become a key ‘must-have’ for opt-in group litigation in Europe, but in July 2023 the UK Supreme Court made a ruling that potentially threw a spanner in the works for such funding used in UK lawsuits.
-
Special ReportSecurities litigation: the view from our institutional clients
Over the last year we have continued to see a steady stream of new group investor actions brought across Europe, arising from serious alleged governance failures.
-
Special ReportWeighing the costs and benefits of making a claim
ABN-Amro, Airbus, ING, Petrobras and Stellantis are among the major corporations defending class action lawsuits in the Dutch courts. They are likely to be joined by Philips within the next 12 months.
-
Special Report
Merseyside Pension Fund: Looking after one’s own benefits the wider economy
The £10bn (€12bn) Merseyside Pension Fund has long been recognised as an active asset owner that takes its responsibilities as a shareholder seriously.
-
Special ReportClass actions & investor litigation: Getting the priorities right in pursuit of better corporate behaviour
Greater investor activism and a wave of recent financial scandals has encouraged many European pension funds to become more active.
-
Special ReportLead plaintiff: Control, influence and accountability
Institutional investors are not known, historically, for being active investors, preferring instead to allow their long-term investment horizons to ride out any short-term blips.
-
NewsGerman parliament extends scope of class action law to rating agencies, auditors
Reformed regulation aims to speed up proceedings, giving more powers to higher regional courts
-
NewsGerman Parliament to debate reform of class action law
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has argued that the reform bill is urgent to avoid halting cases brought before the higher regional courts
-
NewsNBIM to lead class action for first time, joining AP7 against SVB
AP7 reveals it is also leading class action in US against failed Signature Bank
-
Opinion PiecesSecurities litigation can be worth the effort
Pension funds and other institutional investors face an uphill challenge when it comes to managing their investor action responsibilities.
-
Special ReportColorado fire and police settle with Cognizant
In August 2021, Fire and Police Pension Association Colorado (FPPA), alongside other plaintiffs, reached a settlement with Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation for $95m (€88.7m).
-
Special ReportUSS settlement with Petrobras and PWC Brazilian subsidiary
In February 2018, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) reached a settlement with PWC’s Brazilian subsidiary as part of a class action lawsuit against Petrobras.
-
Special ReportDouble-edged benefits of litigation financing
European pension funds have become familiar with class action litigation, often tying it in with their fiduciary responsibilities as shareholders. Cases against UBS regarding its takeover of Credit Suisse; EY as auditor of fraudulent German payments firm, Wirecard; and Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed in March, are the headliners of 2023.
-
Special ReportClass actions by European investors on the rise in the name of good governance and fiduciary duty
Deepwater Horizon, Volkswagen (Dieselgate), Wirecard, Silcon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse are recent, high-profile examples of corporate wrong doing resulting in losses for investors. As stewards of retirement savings and guardians of beneficiaries’ interests, it is only natural that pension funds should scrutinise the investments they are making – or outsourcing to asset managers to make – on their members’ behalf. This is a central plank of fiduciary duty.
-
Special ReportEuropean pension fund class actions take off on a steep learning curve
What positive developments can we report relating to class actions in UK and European pension funds? What regulatory challenges still need to be overcome to facilitate (for instance, simplify) the environment for class action by UK and European institutions? Where are the key gaps in knowledge among pension funds?
-
Special ReportClass actions: Is Europe catching up with the US?
Europe’s institutional investors are latching on to the rewards of joining class actions against investee companies. Many of these are securities lawsuits, pursued when a publicly listed company has not properly disclosed or has misrepresented significant information, affecting the share price when the truth emerges. But so far, the vast majority of these have been in the US. In 2022, nearly $4.9bn (€4.6bn) was recovered in the US courts, according to Institutional Shareholder Services. So, what about class actions in Europe? “The US has had a class action system for over a hundred years that can be adopted for almost every cause of action, whereas the UK has only had class actions since 2015 and it is only available for competition cases,” says Harry McGowan, partner in the securities litigation department at law firm Stewarts.
-
Special ReportShareholder class actions in Europe: the benefits and risks of participating
Litigation outside the United States, and in particular in Europe, has been on the rise since the US Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank. In Morrison, the US Supreme Court ruled that “foreign” (non-US) investors cannot bring federal securities lawsuits in US courts to recover investment losses relating to foreign-issued securities traded on foreign exchanges (known as “F-cubed” claims). As former Justice Antonin Scalia explained, the concern was to prevent the US from becoming “the Shangri-La” of class-action litigation for lawyers representing those allegedly cheated in foreign securities markets. Although federal courts have since struggled to apply Morrison’s effect test consistently, it is clear, more than 10 years later, that the decision has had its intended effect.
-
Special ReportManaging risk in securities class actions
Securities class actions (SCA) are a form of collective redress. Shareholders seek compensation for losses suffered as a result of some form of corporate misconduct. They rely upon free market forces, its rules, regulations and factors affecting market price. For professional shareholders such as institutional investors, it is best to look upon any involvement with SCAs as another form of investment yielding a potentially, significant return in future. The duties of any institutional investor – whether as a fiduciary or otherwise – is to focus on what is in the best interests of the fund and its beneficiaries. It does not require the expenditure of more money (or the value of management time) than is likely to be received. What is necessary is the consideration of the issues and the management of risks.
