Among the industries hit hardest at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak last year was the cruise ship business. As these companies were forced to cease operations, revenues plunged. Several of the companies were hit with securities class action lawsuits as well, though, as discussed below, these lawsuits have not fared well. On May 28, 2021, in the latest ruling in a COVID-19-related securities suit against a cruise ship line, the federal judge in the…

Jeff Lubitz Louis Angelo Panis As readers of this blog are aware, since the outbreak of the pandemic early last year, there has been a flow of COVID-19-related securities class action lawsuits filed in U.S. courts. I have tried to track these cases as they have been filed and to note them on this site. ISS Securities Class Action Services has also been tracking these cases. In the following guest post, Jeff Lubitz and Louis…

Sarah M. Abrams, Esq. An important corporate governance topic – but a subject that I frankly have not addressed frequently this site – is the topic of executive compensation. In the following guest post,  Sarah Abrams, Director, Management Liability Claims at Markel, examines the recent rise in D&O litigation involving executive compensation. I would like to thank Sarah for allowing me to publish her article on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible…

In the following guest post, Angus Duncan of Willis Towers Watson summarizes the result of the 2021 Willis Towers Watson D&O Liability Survey. I would like to thank Angus for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Angus’s…

Readers of this blog are well aware that the D&O insurance in the U.S. and the U.K. has been in a hard market since late 2018. The hard market has apparently affected D&O insurance conditions in other regions as well. According to a May 5, 2021 article on the NewDawnRisk website entitled “Where Next for D&O in the Middle East?” (here), written by Nicky Stokes, Head of Management Liability and Financial Institutions at…

The number of SEC and PCAOB accounting and auditing enforcement actions decreased in 2020 relative to 2019, but monetary settlements increased year-over year, according to a recent report from Cornerstone Research. The report, entitled “Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Activity – 2020 Review and Analysis” (here), analyzes the agencies’ publicly disclosed accounting and auditing enforcement actions between 2015 and 2020. Cornerstone Research’s April 27, 2021 press release about the report can be found here…