While the vast majority of investor actions continue to be filed in the United States, G&E is a leader in the continued expansion of international shareholder litigation. The Firm is currently overseeing numerous cases abroad. This experience has been extremely beneficial to Firm clients since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, which precluded investors who purchased securities on foreign exchanges from suing under U.S. federal securities laws.
G&E adopts a global litigation strategy to evaluate international litigation options and to maximize recoveries for its clients. For example, G&E represented 44 institutional investors in litigation with Steinhoff and various affiliates in the Netherlands that resulted in a historic $1.6 billion settlement. G&E also negotiated a $1.5 billion settlement on behalf of over 180 institutional investors against Fortis in the Netherlands and Belgium. That settlement was reached after seven years of litigation and several months of mediation. G&E achieved a $1 billion settlement against Royal Bank of Scotland in the United Kingdom—the second largest securities fraud recovery in the history of the country, which is a notoriously difficult jurisdiction for large scale plaintiffs’ litigation. In Royal Dutch Shell, a case that ultimately was resolved through a court proceeding in the Netherlands, G&E obtained a $450 million shareholder settlement with Royal Dutch Shell that brought together over 175 institutional investors from across Europe to settle claims arising from Shell’s overstatement of its proven oil and gas reserves. While some investors were already parties to a U.S. class action proceeding in the District of New Jersey, given the large number of European institutions involved and Shell’s status as an Anglo-Dutch company, G&E sought a European solution for its clients.
Aside from international litigation, G&E also advises institutional investors with regard to international arbitrations, which provide the remedy of choice for many investors who have suffered expropriatory, arbitrary, discriminatory or other unfair treatment. G&E represents more than 100 institutional investors in an arbitration matter in Brazil on behalf of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. investors, and is also pursuing two other arbitrations against Vale S.A. and IRB-Brasil Resseguros S.A.
G&E is currently serving as global counsel or evaluating numerous cases in countries throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia, and the Asia Pacific region, including matters in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
View Representative International Securities Litigation & Arbitration Cases
