Direct Purchaser Class Certified in Zetia MDL
Posted by Bradley J. Demuth on 08/26/2020
In an order entered on August 21, 2020 in the Zetia (Ezetimibe) Antitrust Litigation MDL, Senior United States District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith overruled Defendants' objections and adopted and approved in full United States Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller's prior Report and Recommendation proposing to certify a 35-member class of Zetia ...
Tiffany & Co. Victory Loses Its Luster On Appeal
Posted by Stephen Doherty on 08/25/2020
Tiffany & Co. was born when then 25 year old Charles Lewis Tiffany borrowed $1,000 from his father to start a "stationary and fancy goods" store on Broadway in New York City in 1837. By the turn of the Century, Tiffany had become "America's premier silversmith and purveyor of jewels and timepieces" with branches in the world's most fashionable ...
FinCEN Issues Statement to Explain Its Approach to Enforcement Actions Under the Bank Secrecy Act
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 08/21/2020
On August 18, 2020, the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") issued a statement to clarify its enforcement response under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"). FinCEN is a bureau in the Department of Treasury that was organized to implement, administer, and enforce compliance with the BSA, the nation's first and most comprehensive ...
SEC Charges Former Hertz CEO
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 08/19/2020
On August 13, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") charged former Hertz Rental Car CEO and Chairman Mark Frissora with aiding and abetting Hertz in its filing of inaccurate financial statements and disclosures. While Hertz previously paid $16 million in fines in 2018 to settle SEC charges stemming from this same conduct, the ...
Court Stops Trump Administration from Rolling Back Anti-Discrimination Protections for LGBTQ Patients
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 08/19/2020
On August 17, 2020, a New York federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") from rolling back anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ patients. On June 12, 2020, HHS issued new rules governing health programs administered by federal agencies or with the help of federal financial ...
Ralph Lauren Corp. sues insurer over Covid-19 losses
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 08/18/2020
Last week, Ralph Lauren Corp. sued its insurer, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. ("FMIC"), for breach of contract, declaratory judgment, and violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act as a result of an alleged "fraudulent scheme" to limit payouts for losses resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court ...
SEC Issues Covid-19 Risk Alert
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 08/18/2020
On August 12, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission's (the "SEC") Office of Compliance and Examinations ("OCIE") issued a Risk Alert for broker-dealers and investment advisers. The OCIE explained that it issued this alert because registrants were facing new operational, technological, and commercial challenges stemming from the Covid-19 ...
Consumers Get Big Ninth Circuit Win in False Advertising Case
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 08/10/2020
On July 28, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision to dismiss claims in Moore v. Mars Petcare US, Inc., a case brought against pet food manufacturers for false and misleading advertising of certain pet food products. The plaintiffs had alleged that certain products were marketed as "prescription" pet food even though ...
SEC Announces New Team Focused on Risks Associated with COVID-19
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/31/2020
On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, the SEC announced the formation of a new unit, the Event and Emerging Risks Examination Team, within the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. The new team, comprised of specialized analysts, accountants, and examiners, is tasked with "proactively engag[ing]" financial firms about "current market events" ...
Faruqi & Faruqi Successfully Defends Class Certification of Direct Purchasers of Suboxone at Third Circuit
Posted by David Calvello on 07/29/2020
The Third Circuit, by unanimous decision, recently affirmed class certification for direct purchasers of the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone in an antitrust case alleging that Reckitt Benckiser (now Indivior) took several actions to suppress competition from generic versions of Suboxone, including reformulating Suboxone into a film for ...
Third Circuit Makes Clear that Risk Factors Listed for a Company in Proxy Material Must Have A Significant Degree of Specificity
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/29/2020
On June 18, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a ruling in Jaroslawicz v. M&T Bank Corp., 962 F.3d 701 (3d Cir. 2020) and vacated the dismissal of the Section 14(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 ("Section 14(a)") claim relating to M&T Bank Corp.'s risk disclosure obligations. In doing so, the ...
CFPB Governing Statute Allows for Parallel Enforcement by State Attorneys General
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/28/2020
On July 27, 2020, the Third Circuit ruled that the governing statute for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") permits parallel enforcement actions by state attorneys general. The three-judge panel also upheld Pennsylvania's claims against Navient Corp. that are similar to claims being pursued by the CFPB. Pennsylvania Attorney ...
Taro Agrees to Pay $205 Million to Resolve Price-Fixing Charges
Posted by Raymond N. Barto on 07/28/2020
The Department of Justice announced in tandem a two-count felony charge against Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. ("Taro") for engaging in price-fixing conspiracies and a deferred prosecution agreement resolving those same charges. In the deferred prosecution agreement, Taro admits that between March 2013 and December 2015, it conspired with ...
Maryland Finally Clarifies Muddled Law Regarding an Independent Claim for Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Posted by James M. Wilson, Jr. on 07/28/2020
The Maryland Court of Appeals has clarified existing law to recognize an independent cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. Plank v. Cherneski, Misc. No. 3, Sept. Term, 2019, 2020 WL 3967980 (Md. July 14, 2020). The issue had been unsettled since the Appellate Court ruled over twenty years ago in Kann v. Kann that: [T]here is no universal ...
10 Years Later, Dodd-Frank Takes On New Meaning
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/27/2020
The 10-year anniversary of the signing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 ("Dodd-Frank") has brought attention to the law for a wholly new reason, the COVID-19 crisis. Many experts have credited the law for protecting the financial markets during the tumult caused by the global pandemic. In the aftermath ...
The SEC Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the DOJ’s Antitrust Division
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/27/2020
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") recently announced that it signed an interagency Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the "DOJ"). While not legally binding, the MOU establishes a framework for the SEC and the DOJ to continue regular discussions and review law enforcement ...
SEC Adopts Amendments To Its Proxy Solicitation Rules
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/27/2020
On July 22, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") voted to adopt amendments to its rules governing proxy solicitations. These amendments are threefold: 1. they require proxy voting advice businesses to adopt written policies and procedures designed to ensure that the proxy voting advice is made available to registrants; ...
9th Circuit Rejects Challenge to California Pay-For-Delay Law
Posted by Kristyn Fields on 07/27/2020
In a July 24, 2020 decision, the Ninth Circuit instructed the district court to dismiss without prejudice claims by a generic-drug industry association challenging a California statute prohibiting pay-for-delay agreements. The case came to the panel on interlocutory appeal after a California federal judge rejected the Association for Accessible ...
THE GAP, INC. FILES SUIT IN DELAWARE CHANCERY COURT TO CANCEL STORE LEASES
Posted by Faruqi & Faruqi on 07/24/2020
On July 23, 2020, The Gap Inc. ("The Gap") and its leading subsidiaries including Athleta LLC, Banana Republic, LLC, and Old Navy, LLC sued shopping mall operator Simon Property Group LP ("Simon") in the Delaware Chancery Court seeking an order canceling hundreds of store leases or, in the alternative, letting the retailer avoid rent, retroactive ...
One Dead, Three Injured in Tragic Scaffolding Collapse in New York City
Posted by Camilo Burr on 07/24/2020
On July 16th, 2020, at approximately 4:20 p.m. one construction worker died and three others were hurt when a section of a 12-story building's parapet – located on East 36th Street near Lexington Avenue in Murray Hill – fell from the top of the building on workers below. Specifically, two workers were on a movable platform – similar ...