Justia U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Securities Law
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought an enforcement action against Defendant Charles Kokesh for misappropriating funds from four SEC-registered business development companies (BDCs) in violation of federal securities laws. After a jury returned a verdict in favor of the SEC, the district court entered a final judgment permanently enjoining Defendant from violating certain provisions of federal securities laws, ordering disgorgement of $34.9 million plus prejudgment interest of $18.1 million, and imposing a civil penalty of $2.4 million. Defendant appealed, arguing that the court’s imposition of the disgorgement and permanent injunction was barred by 28 U.S.C. 2462, which set a five-year limitations period for suits “for the enforcement of any civil fine, penalty, or forfeiture.” He also argued that the district court erred by precluding him from presenting evidence of attorney and accountant participation to show his lack of knowledge of the misconduct. After review, the Tenth Circuit held that both the permanent injunction and the disgorgement order were remedial and not subject to section 2462. The Court rejected the evidentiary claim. View "SEC v. Kokesh" on Justia Law

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Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. agreed to supply parts for three types of aircraft manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and The Boeing Company. For these aircraft, Spirit managed production of the parts through three projects. Each project encountered production delays and cost overruns, and Spirit periodically reported to the public about the projects’ progress. In these reports, Spirit acknowledged risks but expressed confidence about its ability to meet production deadlines and ultimately break even on the projects. Eventually, however, Spirit announced that it expected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars on the three projects. Spirit’s stock price fell roughly 30 percent following the announcement. The plaintiffs brought this action on behalf of a class of individuals and organizations that had owned or obtained Spirit stock between November 3, 2011, and October 24, 2012. The named defendants were Spirit and four of its executives, whom plaintiffs alleged misrepresented and failed to disclose the projects' cost overruns and production delays, violated section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 10b-5. The trial court granted defendants' motion to dismiss, concluding in part that plaintiffs failed to allege facts showing scienter. Finding no reversible error in the trial court's order, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "Anderson v. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings" on Justia Law

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Plaintiffs, shareholders of ZAGG Inc., a publicly held Nevada corporation, filed a shareholder-derivative action seeking damages, restitution, and other relief for ZAGG. They alleged that past and present officers and directors of ZAGG violated section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, breached their fiduciary duties to ZAGG, wasted corporate assets, and were unjustly enriched. The district court dismissed the suit on two alternative grounds: (1) Plaintiffs filed suit before presenting the ZAGG Board of Directors (the Board) with a demand to bring suit and they failed to adequately allege that such demand would have been futile; and (2) the complaint failed to state a claim. Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal on both of the district court's alternative grounds. Because the Tenth Circuit denied the challenge to the first ground, it did not address the second. View "Pikk v. Pedersen" on Justia Law

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American Fidelity Assurance Company sued the Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) for claims arising from BNYM’s conduct as Trustee of a trust holding mortgage-backed securities owned by American Fidelity. BNYM did not assert a personal jurisdiction defense in its first two motions to dismiss or in its answer. In its third motion to dismiss, BNYM argued it was not subject to general jurisdiction in Oklahoma. The district court denied the motion, concluding BNYM had waived the defense by failing to raise it in prior filings. BNYM challenges that decision in an interlocutory appeal. Finding no reversible error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "American Fidelity Assurance v. Bank of New York Mellon" on Justia Law

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Plaintiffs appealed the district court’s dismissal of a securities class action against ZAGG, Inc. and its former CEO and Chairman, Robert Pedersen, alleging violations of the antifraud provisions of the securities laws. The plaintiffs alleged Pedersen failed to disclose in several of ZAGG’s SEC filings the fact that he had pledged nearly half of his ZAGG shares (or approximately 9 percent of the company), as collateral in a margin account. The district court dismissed the complaint for a failure to plead particularized facts giving rise to a strong inference that Pedersen acted with an intent to defraud as required by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). The Tenth Circuit found that the PSLRA subjected plaintiffs to a heightened pleading requirement of alleging intent to defraud with particularized facts that give rise to an inference that is at least as cogent as any competing, nonculpable explanations for a defendant’s conduct. After review, the Tenth Circuit agreed with the district court that the plaintiffs did not meet that standard here. View "Swabb v. ZAGG, Inc." on Justia Law

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Patipan Nakkhumpun, lead plaintiff in a securities class action, represented investors who purchased securities in Delta Petroleum Corporation. Defendants were former officers and a board member of Delta who allegedly violated section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Commission by misleading investors through statements about (1) a proposed transaction with Opon International, LLC and (2) Delta’s financial condition. The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss, holding that Nakkhumpun had failed to allege: (1) loss causation regarding the statement about the Opon deal; and (2) falsity regarding the statements about Delta’s financial condition. Nakkhumpun moved for leave to amend, and the district court denied the motion on the ground of futility. On appeal, the parties disputed whether Nakkhumpun adequately pleaded falsity, scienter and loss causation with regard to the Opon transaction, and falsity and scienter with regard to Delta's financial condition. Upon further review, the Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Court concluded Nakkhumpun adequately alleged falsity, scienter and loss causation on the Opon transaction, but failed to adequately plead regarding Delta's financial condition. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "Nakkhumpun v. Taylor" on Justia Law

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Greyfield Capital was a defunct Canadian company. Two "con-men" found a signature stamp belonging to the company's former president, and used it as an officially-sanctioned "seal" to appoint themselves corporate officers, issue millions of unregistered shares in their names. The men then took the unregistered, issued shares to create a penny stock "pump-and-dump" scheme. Regulators began looking for those who had helped facilitate the sale of Greyfield's unregistered shares. Regulators were led to petitioners ACAP and Gary Hume. ACAP was a penny stock brokerage firm in Salt Lake City, and Gary Hume was its head trader and compliance manager. Petitioners did not dispute their liability stemming from the Greyfield scheme, rather, they disputed the sanctions they received. FINRA decided to fine ACAP $100,000 and Mr. Hume $25,000, and to suspend Hume from the securities industry for six months. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviewed and sustained these sanctions. ACAP and Hume then petitioned the Tenth Circuit to appeal the SEC's decision. After review, the Tenth Circuit could not "see how [it] might overturn the agency's decision." Accordingly, the Court affirmed the SEC's decision. View "ACAP Financial v. Securities & Exchange Comm'n" on Justia Law

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Plaintiff-appellant National Credit Union Administration Board ("NCUA") appealed the district court's order dismissing as untimely its complaint against defendants-appellees Barclays Capital Inc., BCAP LLC, and Securitized Asset Backed Receivables LLC. This case arose from the failure of two of the nation's largest federally insured credit unions: U.S. Central Federal Credit Union and Western Corporate Federal Credit Union. The NCUA was appointed conservator and later as their liquidating agent. The NCUA determined that the Credit Unions had failed because they had invested in residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS") sold with offering documents that misrepresented the quality of their underlying mortgage loans. The NCUA set out to pursue recoveries on behalf of the Credit Unions from the issuers and underwriters of the suspect RMBS, including Barclays, and began settlement negotiations with Barclays and other potential defendants. As these negotiations dragged on through 2011 and 2012, the NCUA and Barclays entered into a series of tolling agreements that purported to exclude all time that passed during the settlement negotiations when "calculating any statute of limitations, period of repose or any defense related to those periods or dates that might be applicable to any Potential Claim that the NCUA may have against Barclays." Significantly, Barclays also expressly made a separate promise in the tolling agreements that it would not "argue or assert" in any future litigation a statute of limitations defense that included the time passed in the settlement negotiations. After negotiations with Barclays broke down, the NCUA filed suit, more than five years after the RMBS were sold, and more than three years after the NCUA was appointed conservator of the Credit Unions. Barclays moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim on several grounds, including untimeliness. Barclays initially honored the tolling agreements but argued that the NCUA's federal claims were nevertheless untimely under the Securities Act's three-year statute of repose, which was not waivable. While Barclays's motion to dismiss was pending, the district court in a separate case involving different defendant Credit Suisse, granted Credit Suisse's motion to dismiss a similar NCUA complaint on the grounds that contractual tolling was not authorized under the Extender Statute. Barclays amended its motion to dismiss asserting a similar Extender Statute argument. The district court dismissed the NCUA's complaint, incorporating by reference its opinion in Credit Suisse. The NCUA appealed, arguing that its suit was timely under the Extender Statute. The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded: "while it is true that the NCUA's claims are outside the statutory period and therefore untimely, that argument is unavailable to Barclays because the NCUA reasonably relied on Barclays's express promise not to assert that defense." View "National Credit Union v. Barclays Capital" on Justia Law

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This appeal stemmed from a putative securities fraud class action brought by lead plaintiff Nitesh Banker on behalf of all persons who purchased common stock in Gold Resource Corporation (GRC) during the class period between January 30, 2012, and November 8, 2012. GRC, a Colorado corporation, was a publicly traded mining company engaged in Mexico in the exploration and production of precious metals, including gold and silver. GRC’s aggressive business plan called for a dramatic increase in mining production during its initial years. Plaintiff alleged the "El Aguila" project experienced severe production problems during the class period, and that defendants knew about these problems but concealed them from investors. Plaintiff alleged GRC and four of its officers and directors committed securities fraud in violation of federal securities laws. He also asserted claims against individual defendants as "control persons." The district court dismissed the complaint with prejudice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), holding that plaintiff failed to meet the heightened pleading standard for scienter required by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Plaintiff appealed. But finding no reversible error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "In re: Gold Resource Corp." on Justia Law

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In 2009, Bancorp sought to conduct a secondary stock offering to raise about $90 million. In its securities filings the company alerted potential investors that it had significant investments in mortgage backed securities, and that these investments had suffered badly during the financial crisis of 2008. The company stated that it had conducted internal analyses and consulted independent experts and now expected the level of delinquencies and defaults to level off and the market for its securities to rebound soon. But the company also stressed that if adverse market conditions persisted longer than the company expected it would have to recognize further losses. Bancorp’s opinion about the immediate future didn’t bear out. In the fifteen months after the offering, the company had to recognize about $69 million more in losses. Plaintiffs alleged in their lawsuit against Bancorp that the statements rendered in the offering statement about the prospects for its securities portfolio was false and should have given rise to liability under section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933. The district court disagreed, holding that Bancorp’s failed market predictions, without more, weren’t enough to trigger liability. "To establish liability for an opinion about the future more is required. But what?" Agreeing with the district court, the Tenth Circuit affirmed.View "MHC Mutual Conversion Fund, et al v. Sandler O'Neill & Partners, et al" on Justia Law