Kevin LaCroix

Kevin M. LaCroix is an attorney and Executive Vice President, RT ProExec, a division of R-T Specialty, LLC. RT ProExec is an insurance intermediary focused exclusively on management liability issues.

SEC: Record Number of Whistleblower Tips and Awards During FY 2020

By Kevin LaCroix

November 24, 2020

https-www-dandodiary-com-wp-content-uploads-sites-893-2020-10-sec-whistleblower-office-300x184-jpg

The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower received a record 6,911 whistleblower tips during FY 2020, which ended September 30, 2020. The nearly 7,000 reports represent a nearly 33% increase over the number of tips received during the prior fiscal year, according to the Office’s recently released annual report. The Office also made awards representing a record high annual dollar value and to a record annual number of individual award recipients during the fiscal year. A…

The D&O Diary

Online Learning Firm Hit with COVID-19-Related Securities Suit

By Kevin LaCroix

November 22, 2020

https-www-dandodiary-com-wp-content-uploads-sites-893-2020-11-k12-300x93-png

Technology-based education firm K12, Inc., which hoped to be able to profit from the pandemic-related shift to virtual learning , has been hit with a securities class action lawsuit alleging that the company’s share price declined after school systems using its platform to address their online learning needs allegedly experienced disappointing results. A copy of the shareholder plaintiff’s November 19, 2020 complaint can be found here. Background According to the complaint, beginning in…

The D&O Diary

SEC Public Company Enforcement Actions Decreased in FY 2020, But Recoveries Increased

By Kevin LaCroix

November 18, 2020

https-www-dandodiary-com-wp-content-uploads-sites-893-2020-10-cornerstoneresearch1-jpg

As I noted at the time, earlier this month the SEC released its enforcement activity report for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020. While the report fully detailed the agency’s enforcement activity, the report did not break out statistics reflecting the SEC’s actions against publicly traded companies. A November 18, 2020 report from Cornerstone Research, written in collaboration with the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business, entitled “SEC Enforcement Activity: Public Companies…

The D&O Diary

Guest Post: Corporate Governance Tales From (Virtual) Open Door Encounters – Part 3

By Kevin LaCroix

November 12, 2020

https-www-dandodiary-com-wp-content-uploads-sites-893-2020-09-richard-leisner-215x300-jpg

After many decades of law practice, legal veteran Richard M. Leisner, a Senior Member in the Trenam law firm in Tampa, found that increasingly he has been called upon to be a sounding board and resource on proposed corporate transactions. In the following guest post, which is the third installment in a three-part series, Richie recounts a number of “open door encounters” – that is, occasions when colleagues came to his office to discuss pending…

The D&O Diary

What Does the Biden Victory Mean for the SEC?

By Kevin LaCroix

November 9, 2020

Now that the Presidential election has been called for Joe Biden, it is time to start asking what a Biden Presidency may mean, including in particular what SEC enforcement and regulatory activity might look like under a Biden Administration. As discussed below, the likelihood is that we will see a more active SEC enforcement division and a shift back toward a more active regulatory approach. The changes at the Commission will start at the…

The D&O Diary

Climate Change as a “Systemic Risk”: Markets, Regulation, and Disclosure

By Kevin LaCroix

November 9, 2020

https-www-dandodiary-com-wp-content-uploads-sites-893-2020-11-globe2-300x300-jpg

If you have not yet seen SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee’s speech delivered last week to the PLI’s annual Institute on Securities Litigation, you should take a few minutes and read what she had to say. In her November 5, 2020 speech, which can be found here, Lee warns that climate change represents a “systemic risk” to markets, the financial system, and our economy. After noting that climate change presents an even greater risk…

The D&O Diary

Petition to SEC Seeks Protection for Companies from Pandemic-Related Securities Suits

By Kevin LaCroix

November 4, 2020

https-www-dandodiary-com-wp-content-uploads-sites-893-2020-11-gavel6-300x201-jpg

Readers of this blog well know that in recent years there has been unprecedented levels of securities class action litigation activity, and that even in the midst of the current global health crisis plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed what one law firm has characterized as a “wave” of COVID-19-related securities litigation. The heightened pace of securities filings over the last several years has already triggered calls for another round of securities litigation reform. Now, organizations…

The D&O Diary

Despite COVID-19 Disruptions, SEC Recoveries at Record Levels in FY 2020

By Kevin LaCroix

November 3, 2020

Fines and other recoveries in SEC enforcement action hit record levels during the agency’s fiscal year ended September 30, 2020, even as pandemic-related work closures dampened the number of enforcement actions the agency was able to file, according to the SEC Enforcement Division’s annual report released Monday. The SEC scored a record total of $4.6 billion in recoveries, largely as a result of big fines and disgorgements in a few large matters, while the 405…

The D&O Diary

Tallying and Analyzing COVID-19-Related Securities Suits

By Kevin LaCroix

November 1, 2020

Since the coronavirus outbreak emerged earlier this year, I have been tracking the COVID-19-related securities class action lawsuits and writing about each of the cases as they have come in. In an October 28, 2020 memo entitled “COVID-19: Lessons from the Second Wave of Securities Fraud Lawsuits” (here), the WilmerHale law firm takes a deeper look at the coronavirus-related securities litigation, with particular focus on the securities suits filed in the May to…

The D&O Diary

Cornerstone Research: Business Bankruptcies Up Significantly in Year’s First Nine Months

By Kevin LaCroix

October 28, 2020

Due to the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of U.S. bankruptcy filings by companies with over $100 million in assets was 84 percent higher during the first three quarters of 2020 compared to the same period last year, according to a new report from Cornerstone Research. The report, entitled “Trends in Large Corporate Bankruptcy and Financial Distress: 2005-Q3 2020” (here), shows that the increase in the number of bankruptcies was…

Kevin LaCroix Blogs

Blog Authors

Latest from Kevin LaCroix