The COVID-19 pandemic has brought great economic uncertainty and significant market volatility, creating an environment where investors that are trying to assess the financial impact of the virus are looking to glean any insight they can from a company’s disclosures and are hanging on every statement made by company leaders. This environment of heightened investor focus has, not surprisingly, increased the legal risks that companies, their officers, and their directors face when informing the market about the impact of COVID-19. The coming months are likely to see increased activity from both the SEC Enforcement Division and from plaintiffs’ firms bringing shareholder suits challenging overly optimistic disclosures companies make about their capacity to manage the challenges presented by the pandemic. Consequently, disclosures concerning the business and financial risks to a company posed by COVID-19 must be made with the utmost prudence and caution to limit a company’s exposure to actions brought by the SEC Enforcement Division or shareholder suits.
Peter Fishkind
When Gym Gossip Can Change Your Lifetime
By Peter Fishkind on
As one of the more closely watched insider trading prosecutions of the past few years heads towards trial, observers can look to the investigation surrounding the 2015 acquisition of Life Time Fitness Inc. as a reminder of the dangers that can befall those who seek to engage in a tipping scheme.