The second quarter of 2021 began with significant developments across the securities class action landscape. Specifically, a large number of U.S. cases successfully moved through the litigation life cycle bringing positive developments to damaged investors.
The following case updates and statistics are from the first three weeks of April 2021.
- Seven settled cases worth $165.7 million announced claim deadline dates, providing important steps for eligible investors to take in order to participate and recover lost assets. The Mexican Government Bonds action is a partial settlement – two big banks agreed to pay $20.7 million while a dozen other non-settling defendants remain. For the seven cases listed, the average time period between the initially filed court complaint and upcoming claim deadline date is 3.37 years (or approximately 40 months).
| Company / Case Name | Settlement Amount | Claim Deadline |
| World Wrestling Entertainment | $39,000,000 | June 10, 2021 |
| Universal Health Services | $17,500,000 | July 8, 2021 |
| Momo | $5,000,000 | July 8, 2021 |
| E-mini Index Futures | $15,000,000 | August 12, 2021 |
| CenturyLink | $55,000,000 | August 13, 2021 |
| NewLink Genetics | $13,500,000 | August 16, 2021 |
| Mexican Government Bonds | $20,700,000 | October 13, 2021 |
- Five active cases announced tentative settlements worth $200.6 million. It is important to note each of these cases require formal approval by the presiding judge prior to the official legal settlement and an announced claim deadline date. Interestingly, the oldest filed complaint is from the CoreCivic action (August 23, 2016), while the most recently filed complaint is from the Nutraceutical International action (May 13, 2020).
| Company / Case Name | Settlement Amount | Court Venue |
| Tableau Software | $95,000,000 | USDC New York (Southern) |
| CoreCivic | $56,000,000 | USDC Tennessee (Middle) |
| WageWorks | $30,000,000 | USDC California (Northern) |
| Nutraceutical International | $17,500,000 | Delaware Chancery Court |
| YRC Worldwide | $2,100,000 | USDC New York (Northern) |
- Nine settled cases worth $575.6 million disbursed to eligible investors. For the nine cases listed, the average time period between claim deadline date and disbursement date was an impressive 15 months. This duration is very positive as the class action payout from previous years averaged 16-to-18 months. The quickest payout was from LifeLock at nine months while the slowest payout was from Cobalt International Energy at just over 24 months (not terribly surprising due to the large settlement amount).
| Company / Case Name | Total Settlement | Court Venue |
| Cobalt International Energy | $389,600,000 | USDC Texas (Southern) |
| FleetCor Technologies | $50,000,000 | USDC Georgia (Northern) |
| Adeptus Health | $44,000,000 | USDC Texas (Eastern) |
| Diamond Resorts International | $25,500,000 | Delaware Chancery Court |
| PPG Industries, Inc. | $25,000,000 | USDC California (Central) |
| LifeLock | $20,000,000 | USDC Arizona |
| Rent-A-Center | $11,000,000 | USDC Texas (Eastern) |
| Sierra Oncology | $7,200,000 | California Superior Court |
| Fenix Parts | $3,300,000 | USDC Illinois (Northern) |
In addition to the above settlement and disbursement activity, there were 25 newly filed cases in the U.S. This includes 23 cases filed in Federal Court and two cases filed in State Court (both in Delaware Chancery Court). Not surprisingly, the most active Federal venue is USDC New York (Southern) with five of the newly filed 23 Federal cases.
One critical April 2021 update outside of the United States is with the Steinhoff International Holdings Ltd. action. While there is no confirmed legal settlement at this time, recent developments are moving in that direction. It is reported that Steinhoff is making €370 million available to eligible claimants who had previously acquired stock on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange or the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In addition, funds to damaged investors may also be available from Steinhoff’s former auditor, Deloitte, and its D&O insurers.
Participation within the Steinhoff settlement by investors will require a number of authorization documents; ISS Securities Class Action Services is closely monitoring these developments and will soon update its clients of next steps and the specific requirements to participate.
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By Jeff Lubitz, Executive Director, ISS Securities Class Action Services
