In re China Valves Technology Securities Litigation
In re China Valves Technology Securities Litigation
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Lead plaintiff Bristol Investment Fund, Ltd. (“Bristol”) and plaintiff Joseph Gibbons (“Gibbons”) (collectively, “plaintiffs”) filed an amended consolidated class action complaint (“CCAC”) after this Court dismissed Bristol’s amended complaint in full. Familiarity with the Court’s prior opinion is presumed.
Bristol and Gibbons allege that China Valves and the Individual Defendants improperly failed to disclose material facts concerning the related party nature of two of the Company’s acquisitions and a third transaction, and materially overstated China Valves’ financial results in the registration statement made effective on December 14, 2009 (the “Registration Statement”) and in the subsequent prospectus supplements (collectively, “Offering Documents”) in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”)
Background
I. The Parties
A. Plaintiffs
Bristol, which was designated lead plaintiff on June 29, 2011,
The CCAC adds as a plaintiff Joseph Gibbons, who is alleged to have “purchased China Valves securities on November 16, 2010 at artificially inflated prices.”
B. Defendants
China Valves is a Nevada corporation with its principal place of business in Kaifeng City, China.
The Auditor Defendants issued an audit opinion dated March 15, 2009 with respect to the Company’s financial statements for 2007 and 2008 and consented to its incorporation into the Offering Documents.
II. Substantive Allegations
A. Changsha Valve Transaction
On December 14, 2009, Able Delight Investment Limited (“Able Delight”) agreed to purchase Watts Valve (Changsha) Company (“Changsha Valve”), a subsidiary of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (‘Watts Water”).
China Valves filed an amended 8-K on November 18, 2010 (“November 8-K”), explaining that it acquired Changsha Valve through Able Delight, that it had arranged for Qing Lu to form Able Delight, that the $8.93 million difference in the publicly announced price and the SAIC price represented money used to satisfy Changsha Valve’s third-party debts, and that it paid Qing Lu $50,000 for her assistance.
Plaintiffs allege that defendants had motive and opportunity to conceal the related-party nature of the transaction “because [it was] highly suspicious and would raise the ire of analysts and investors” and that defendant Siping Fang had a motive to inflate the company’s financial results due to certain performance-based salary incentives.
Plaintiffs further allege that China Valves failed to disclose that Changsha Valve was under investigation for FCPA violations at the time of the acquisition.
B.Hanwei Valve Transaction
Plaintiffs challenge also the manner in which defendants purchased Shanghai Pu-dong Hanwei Valve, Co., Ltd. (“Hanwei Valve”). China Valves announced its intent to purchase Hanwei Valve on February 11, 2010, and subsequently described the transaction in its April 9, 2010 8-K as an asset purchase for $21 million.
Plaintiffs further allege that defendants knew or recklessly disregarded all of these facts,
C. The Binjie Fang Receivable
The final related-party transaction that plaintiffs allege is a $322,725 loan to Binjie Fang from Zenghou City ZD Valve Co. Ltd. (“ZD Valve”), a China Valves subsidiary, recorded at the end of 2009
D. China Valves’ 2008 and 2009 Financial Statements
Plaintiffs allege also that China Valves misstated its financial results in 2008 and 2009. They rely on differences between
_Revenue_Gross Profit_Net Income_
_SEC_SAIC SEC_SAIC SEC_SAIC
2008 $65,947.615 $55,598,826 $25.865,463 $15.567.721_
2009 $95,370.012 $67.604.98 5 346.842.676 $17.421.555 $23.353.093 $5.647.195
The Court’s previous opinion held that Bristol had failed to allege that differences between SEC and SAIC figures were not due to differences in accounting principles or, in any case, that the figures reported to the SEC, as opposed to the SAIC numbers, were incorrect.
E. The Auditors
As to the Auditor Defendants, plaintiffs allege false and misleading audit reports and opinions regarding China Valves’ financial statements. They allege first that the audit report related to the 2007 and 2008 financial statements was false and misleading and that the report was incorporated into the Offering Documents.
F. The November 8-K and the Citron Report
Many of these alleged misstatements and omissions were publicized in China Valves’ November 8-K and/or in a report by Citron Research (“Citron Report”).
On January 13, 2011, Citron Research issued its report on China Valves.
Discussion
I. Legal Standard
To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a plaintiff must plead facts sufficient “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.”
In deciding a motion to dismiss, a court considers the complaint and “any written instrument attached to the complaint, statements or documents incorporated into the complaint by reference, legally required public disclosure documents filed with the SEC, and documents possessed by or known to the plaintiff and upon which it relied in bringing the suit.”
II. Exchange Act Claims
A. Elements
To state a claim under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5,
A Section 10(b) claim must satisfy also the pleading standard under Rule 9(b) and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”).
1. Alleged Related Party Transactions
Plaintiffs allege Section 10(b) violations based on three alleged related party transactions. Central to these allegations are several accounting rules that govern the disclosure of related party transactions. Plaintiffs specifically point to Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 850-10-50-1, which requires that a company disclose certain material related party transactions in its financial statements. Rule 4-08(k)(l) under SEC Regulation SX also requires disclosure of related party transactions.
a. The Changsha Valve Transaction
i. Materiality of Defendants’ Failure to Disclose the Alleged Related Party Nature of the Transaction
The Court previously dismissed Bristol’s Changsha Valve related party claim because it “failed to allege that China Valves’ omission regarding Qing Lu’s relationship to Bin Li and Siping Fang was material or even required by Item 404 in the first instance.”
Mr. Gibbons, the newly added plaintiff, allegedly bought stock on November 16, 2010, two days before China Valves released the November 8-K. The rationale of the earlier decision on this point therefore does not apply to him.
At the time that Gibbons purchased stock, China Valves’ public statements and SEC filings had omitted the facts that Able Delight was formed in order to serve as a middle person in the transaction, that Qing Lu received $50,000 compensation for her role in the transaction, that Able Delight in fact was a shell company for Changsha Valve, which it had purchased from Watts Water, and that the $15 million consideration paid actually was $6.07 million in consideration to Watts Water, with the remaining $8.93 million applied towards Changsha Valve’s outstanding third-party obligations.
ii. Scienter
Plaintiffs allege that defendants had motive and opportunity to omit or misstate certain details regarding the Changsha
Defendants in turn argue that the allegations regarding investor and analyst concern are too general and that Bin Li— the person obliged to contribute the stock that Fang would receive if the company met certain financial targets — has an interest in ensuring that Fang would receive the payout only if properly deserved. This, they contend, would serve as a counterweight to any motive possessed by Fang.
Plaintiffs’ motive and opportunity allegations cannot withstand the motions to dismiss. Allegations that a director or officer stands to benefit financially from a company’s improved financial performance are insufficient,
The allegations regarding conscious misbehavior and recklessness are more com-
Finally, plaintiffs adequately have alleged loss causation based on the drop in China Valves’ share price after it filed its November 8-K disclosing, among other things, that the Changsha Valve purchase was a related-party transaction.
Hi. The FCPA Investigation into Changsha Valve
The Court’s previous dismissal of Bristol’s FCPA-related claim was premised on its failure to allege adequately that the omission was material when Bristol purchased stock in January 2011.
Plaintiffs have failed, however, to allege facts sufficient to raise a strong inference of scienter. The CCAC does not allege that anyone at China Valves even knew about the FCPA investigation into Changsha Valve during the Relevant Period. Indeed, plaintiffs state only that
a. The Hanwei Valve Transaction
This Court previously dismissed Bristol’s Section 10(b) claim regarding the Hanwei Valve transaction on materiality grounds, having found that “the related party nature of the Hanwei Valve acquisition boils down to an issue of timing.”
b. The Binjie Fang Receivable
This Court previously dismissed Bristol’s claim that defendants’ failure to disclose ZD Valve’s $322,725 loan to Binjie Fang was a material omission on the grounds that (1) it had not alleged “whether or when this receivable was collected or that it existed at the time that Bristol purchased stock,” and (2) $322,725 is a negligible amount compared to China Valves’ overall operations.
2. China Valves’ 2008 and 2009 Financial Results
Plaintiffs allege material misstatements in defendants’ 2008 and 2009 financial statements filed with the SEC. The Court’s previous opinion dismissed this claim, reasoning that plaintiff failed to allege any plausible basis for believing that
Plaintiffs’ core allegation remains the same: that China Valves’ 2008 and 2009 financial results — specifically, its reported revenue, gross profit, and net income— must be false because they do not match the company’s SAIC filings. The most significant difference alleged is between China Valves’ 2009 net income, which was reported to the SEC as $23,353,093 and to the SAIC as $5,647,195.
First, they they now allege that the SEC filings are more likely false than the SAIC filings because “[businesses that file false SAIC filings face a variety of penalties, including fines and revocation of the entity’s business license.”
In addition, plaintiffs fail sufficiently to allege that the filing discrepancies were not due to differences in Chinese and U.S. accounting standards. The CCAC alleges that the Committee of European Securities Regulators (“CESR”) indicated that there were no “significant differences between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’) ____ [or] IFRS and Chinese GAAP on revenue recognition,”
Auditor Defendants argue that plaintiffs misconstrue the CESR report, and the Court agrees.
“[H]as only been able to undertake limited work in relation to Chinese GAAP as most of the information available to it has only come from two sources, namely the IASB and the Chinese Ministry of Finance. From this work, CESR concludes that China’s standards (ASBEs) look substantially similar to IFRS mainly as a result of how they have been derived.”116
This reveals only that, based on limited information, Chinese GAAP is similar to IFRS, and that U.S. GAAP may or may not have been similar to IFRS by 2008/2009. Plaintiffs’ citation to a law firm’s submission to the SEC on behalf of a client is equally unpersuasive. Thus, plaintiffs have failed to allege adequately a material misrepresentation.
S. China Valves’ Statement of Intent to Change Auditors
Plaintiffs allege that the Company falsely announced that it was negotiating with a Big Four audit firm to take over for the Auditor Defendants and that it “maintains ‘the highest standards of financial transparency.’ ”
A Claims Against the Auditor Defendants
Plaintiffs’ Section 10(b) claim against the Auditor Defendants is dismissed, as well. Plaintiffs allege that the Auditor Defendants are liable because their audit opinion regarding China Valves’ financial state
First, plaintiffs do not state a claim as to the audit opinion regarding either the 2007 or 2008 financial statements. They make no specific allegations that the 2007 financial statements contained material misstatements or omissions. As to the 2008 financial statements, the Court’s prior holding that plaintiffs had not plausibly pled a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves demands dismissal here. The Auditor Defendants’ liability is in an important respect derivative of the Company’s—if plaintiffs have failed to allege a material misstatement or omission in the first place, they have failed to allege that the Auditor Defendants erred in not discovering and/or disclosing the phantom misstatement.
Second, plaintiffs do not state a claim as to the audit opinion in China Valves’ 2009 10-K because it was stated as an opinion.
C. Section 20(a) Claim
Plaintiffs argue that the Individual Defendants are liable as controlling persons under Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act, which provides that:
“Every person who, directly or indirectly, controls any person liable under any provision of this chapter ... shall also be hable jointly and severally with and to the same extent as such controlled person to any person whom such controlled person is liable ... unless the controlling person acted in good faith and did not directly or indirectly induce the act or acts constituting the violation or cause of action.”123
To state a claim under Section 20(a), a plaintiff must allege both a primary violation and control over the primary violator, which “may be established by showing that the defendant possessed ‘the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of
Plaintiffs have stated a primary violation with respect to the Changsha Valve transaction. They sufficiently allege Section 20(a) control person liability against Siping Fang, Jianbao Wang, Renrui Tang, Ichi Shih, and Binjie Fang, all of whom held senior management positions in the company. Plaintiffs also state a Section 20(a) claim against the audit committee defendants, Zengbiao Yu, Peter Li, and William Haus, all of whom signed China Valves’ 2009 10-K, which contains alleged material misstatements concerning the Changsha Valve transaction.
III. Securities Act Claims
A. Elements
To state a claim under Section 11 of the Securities Act, a plaintiff must allege that: “(1) she purchased a registered security ...; (2) the defendant participated in the offering in a manner sufficient to give rise to liability under section 11; and (3) the registration statement ‘contained an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.’ ”
B. Applicable Pleading Standard
Scienter, reliance, and loss causation are not elements of claims under Sections 11 or 12.
The Court previously dismissed Bristol’s Section 11 and 12 claims, finding that they did not separate its allegations of fraud and negligence adequately. The CCAC, however, cures this defect, as it is structured in such a way that the fraud allegations are confined in one section, wholly separate and apart from the Section 11 and 12 allegations. Specifically, paragraphs 34 through 142 of the CCAC are devoted to alleging the basic facts of each challenged transaction and statement. This section applies to the entire complaint and is devoid of any allegations of fraud. Paragraphs 143 through 173 recite plaintiffs’ Securities Act allegations, which also avoid any allegations of fraud. Then, in a separate section entitled “Defendants’ False and Misleading Statements Under the Exchange Act,” at paragraphs 174 through 282, plaintiffs state their fraud claims under Section 10(b). This structure is sufficient to avoid triggering Rule 9(b)’s application to the Securities Act claims. As a result, plaintiffs need not plead scienter or loss causation.
C. Section 11 Claims
Plaintiffs allege Section 11 liability against China Valves, Siping Fang, Ichi Shih, Zengbiao Yu, Peter Li, William Haus, Binjie Fang, and the Auditor Defendants for alleged material misstatements in the December 14, 2009 Registration Statement and the related prospectuses filed December 29, 2009, January 4, 2010, and January 5, 2011. These Individual Defendants and China Valves primarily rely on their materiality arguments in seeking to dismiss these claims.
Bristol allegedly purchased China yalves’ stock on January 5, 2011 through the third offering under the December 2009 Registration Statement and thus is entitled to raise a Section 11 claim.
Plaintiffs argue also that Bristol may raise a claim also based on alleged misstatements and omissions in the December 29, 2009 and January 4, 2010 prospectuses also under the Second Circuit’s recent decision in NECA-IBEW.
Because China Valves’ November 8-K cured nearly all of the Company’s previous misstatements regarding the Changsha Valve transaction, the sole remaining omissions that Bristol may allege are that (1) Qing Lu is married to Bin Li and (2) Changsha Valve was under investigation for FCPA violations. This Court already has held that China Valves’ failure to disclose Qing Lu’s relationship to Bin Li is not sufficient, standing alone, to satisfy
Bristol’s Section 11 claim against the Auditor Defendants is dismissed as well. The claim is premised on the argument that the Offering Documents incorporated the Auditor Defendants’ audit report related to China Valves’ 2007 and 2008 financial statements.
D. Section 12(a)(2) Claims
Defendants do not contest that China Valves was a “statutory seller” under Section 12(a)(2) or that Bristol’s January 5, 2011 purchase was pursuant to a prospectus. Thus, Bristol’s Section 12(a)(2) claim survives to the extent that it relates to China Valves’ failure to disclose Changsha Valve’s potential FCPA liability in the January 5, 2011 prospectus.
E. Section 15 Claim
For the reasons stated above relating to control under Section 20(a), plaintiffs have adequately alleged control person claims as to all of the Individual Defendants except Bin Li.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the Auditor Defendants’ motion to dismiss the CCAC [DI 85] is granted in all respects. The motion of China Valves and the Individual Defendants [DI 89] is granted to the extent that
1. Claim I is dismissed as to Jianbao Wang and, except insofar as it relates to China Valves’ alleged failure to disclose the FCPA investigation into Changsha Valve, as to China Valves and all other Individual Defendants.
2. Claim II is dismissed as to China Valves except insofar as it relates to China Valves’ alleged failure to disclose the FCPA investigation into Changsha Valve.
3. Claim III is dismissed as to Bin Li and, except insofar as it relates to China
4. Claim IV is dismissed as to China Valves and the Individual Defendants, except insofar as it relates to the alleged failure to disclose the alleged related-party nature of the Changsha Valve transaction.
5. Claim V is dismissed as to Bin Li and, except insofar as it relates to the alleged failure to disclose the alleged related-party nature of the Changsha Valve transaction, as to all other Individual Defendants.
SO ORDERED.
. In re China Valves Tech. Sec. Litig., 11 Civ. 0796, 2012 WL 4039852 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 12, 2012).
. 15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b), 78t(a).
. 15 U.S.C. §§ 77k(a), 77Z(a)(2), 77o.
. Order on Motion to Appoint Lead Plaintiff [DI 34].
. CCAC ¶ 7.
. Id.
. Id. V 8.
. Id. ¶ 9.
. Id.
. Id.
. Id. ¶¶ 10-20.
. Id. ¶ 10.
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 11.
. Id. ¶¶ 12-14. Wei served from December 16, 2010 through the end of the Relevant Period, Tang from May 27, 2010 until December 16, 2010, and Shih from July 1, 2009 through May 27, 2010. Shih signed the 2009 10-K and Registration Statement.
. Id. ¶ 15.
. Id. ¶¶ 16-18.
. Id. ¶ 19.
. Id. ¶ 21.
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 67.
. Id. ¶ 66.
. Id. ¶¶ 68-69.
. Id. ¶ 75.
. Id. ¶ 67.
. Id. ¶¶! 68, 72.
. Id. ¶ 69.
. Id. ¶¶ 71-74.
. Id. ¶ 71.
. Id. ¶ 73.
. Id.n 234-35.
. Id. ¶ 75.
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 84.
. Id. ¶ 76.
. Id. ¶ 77.
. Id. ¶ 78.
. Id. ¶¶ 78-80.
. Id. ¶ 241.
. Id.n 86-87.
. Id. ¶’88.
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 90.
. Id. ¶ 201.
. Id. ¶ 245.
. Id. ¶ 247.
. Id. ¶ 93.
. Id.
. Id. ¶¶ 46-65.
. In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *6.
. CCAC ¶¶ 48, 55.
. Id. ¶¶ 57-62.
. Id. ¶ 150.
. Id. ¶¶ 151, 167. China Valves made three separate offerings pursuant to the December 1, 2009 registration statement. The prospectus supplements for those offerings were filed on December 29, 2009, (id. ¶¶ 153-54) January 4, 2010 (id. ¶ 159), and January 5, 2011 (id. ¶ 165).
. Id. ¶¶ 21, 254.
. Id.
. Citron Research is “one of the longest-running online stock commentary websites,” operating in order to “provide truthful information in an entertaining format to the investing public.” Who Is Citron, Citron Research, http://www.citronresearch.com/whois-citron-2/.
. CCAC ¶ 222. The 8-K did not disclose that Qing Lu is Bin Li's wife, that Bin Li held 34 percent of China Valves’ shares, or that Bin Li is Siping Fang's first cousin. Id. ¶ 225.
. Id. ¶ 224.
. Id. ¶ 283.
. Id. ¶ 284.
. Id. ¶ 286.
. Id. ¶ 287.
.Id. ¶ 283.
. Id.
. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).
. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 663, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955).
. Allaire Corp. v. Okumus, 433 F.3d 248, 249-50 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
. ATSI Commc'ns Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 493 F.3d 87, 98 (2d Cir. 2007).
. ECA & Local 134 IBEW Joint Pension Trust of Chi. v. JP Morgan Chase Co., 553 F.3d 187, 197 (2d Cir. 2009) (quoting Lawrence v. Cohn, 325 F.3d 141, 147 (2d Cir. 2003)).
. 15 U.S.C. § 78t.
. Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b); ATSI Commc’ns Inc., 493 F.3d at 99 ("[Pjrivate securities fraud actions must also meet the PSLRA’s pleading requirements or face dismissal.”).
. See, e.g., Rombach v. Chang, 355 F.3d 164, 170 (2d Cir. 2004) (quoting Mills v. Polar Molecular Corp., 12 F.3d 1170, 1175 (2d Cir. 1993)); see also 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b)(1) (complaint must “specify each statement alleged to have been misleading, the reason or reasons why the statement is misleading, and, if an allegation regarding the statement or omission is made on information and belief, the complaint shall state with particularity all facts on which that belief is formed”).
. 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b)(2).
. ECA, 553 F.3d at 198.
. Id. (citing Novak v. Kasaks, 216 F.3d 300, 307-08 (2d Cir. 2000)).
. Id. at 198-99 (quoting Novak, 216 F.3d at 311).
. Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308, 324, 127 S.Ct. 2499, 2510, 168 L.Ed.2d 179 (2007).
. Id.
. 17 C.F.R. § 210.4 — 08(k)(l).
. Id. § 229.404(a).
. Id. § 229.403(a).
.In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *7.
. CCAC n 67-68
. ECA, 553 F.3d at 204 (citation and internal quotations omitted).
. CCAC ¶¶ 234-35. Specifically, Siping Fang was the beneficiary of a “make good escrow agreement,” which provided that he would receive 12,583,032 shares of common stock held by Bin Li upon the fulfillment of certain earnings targets. Id.
. Id. ¶ 240.
. Id. ¶¶ 245-47.
. China Valves' & Independent Defendants’ Memorandum in Support of Motion [DI 90] at 36-37 (citing CCAC ¶ 235).
. Id. at 38-40, 42.
. Id. at 41.
. ECA, 553 F.3d at 201 ("If scienter could be pleaded solely on the basis that defendants were motivated because an inflated stock price or improved corporate performance would increase their compensation, virtually every company in the United States that experiences a downturn in stock price could be forced to defend securities fraud actions. [Incentive compensation can hardly be the basis on which an allegation of fraud is predicated.” (citation and internal quotations omitted)).
Moreover, plaintiffs do not plead that financial gains related to any alleged omissions or misstatements concerning the Changsha Valve transaction were necessary or sufficient to trigger the release of shares to Siping Fang.
. E.g., In re Lehman Bros. Sec. & Erisa Litig., 799 F.Supp.2d 258, 293-94 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).
. ECA, 553 F.3d at 202.
. Id.
. See, e.g., Novak, 216 F.3d at 309 ("Finally, allegations of GAAP violations or accounting irregularities, standing alone, are insufficient to state a securities fraud claim.... Only where such allegations are coupled with evidence of 'corresponding fraudulent intent,’ ... might they be sufficient.” (citations omitted)).
. CCAC ¶ 240.
. Plaintiffs do not adequately allege that the officers, directors, and audit committee members had scienter based on a duty to monitor. The complaint alleges broadly that these individuals had a duty to monitor the Company's “transactions and financial statements,” id. ¶¶ 245, 305, alleging nowhere how and why the individual defendants, aside from Siping Fang, would have learned the true nature of the Changsha Valve transaction.
. In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *8.
. Id. ¶77.
. Id. ¶¶ 78, 83.
. Id. ¶ 241.
. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants essentially admitted knowledge based on the fact that the Company conducted its own FCPA investigation. Id. This would be compelling if there were any indication as to when the Company conducted that investigation. Based on the available statements, it appears that this could have taken place in 2009, 2010, or 2011. Id. ¶ 78; Mitnick Decl. [DI 63] Ex. H at 14.
. In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *7.
. Plaintiffs’ failure to allege material falsity based on comparing SEC and SAIC filings is discussed at greater length in relation to the financial statements claim.
. In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *7, *7 n. 80; see also id. at n. 81 (addressing plaintiff’s failure to allege loss causation).
. In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *5-*6.
. CCAC ¶ 46. As the Court discussed in its previous opinion, the cases that plaintiffs cite for the proposition that discrepancies between SEC and SAIC filings are sufficient to show a material misstatement are not persuasive. Lewy v. SkyPeople Fruit Juice, Inc., 11 Civ. 2700, 2012 WL 3957916 (Castel, J.) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 10, 2012), for example, is entirely distinguishable because plaintiffs in that case alleged that the author of a report (akin to the Citron Report here) conducted an in-country investigation and discovered, among other things, that the company’s operations were too small to support the revenue that it claimed in its SEC filings. Id. at *4. Moreover, the plaintiffs alleged that the revenue reported to the SEC was ten times higher than the revenue reported to the SAIC. Id. Similarly, the plaintiffs in In re Advanced Battery Technologies, Inc. Sec. Litig., 11 Civ. 2279, 2012 WL 3758085 (McMahon, J.) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 29, 2012) alleged that in-country investigators uncovered that the company's operations and efficiency could not possibly account for its high profit margins relative to competitors, and also alleged discrepancies over nearly four years that included a reported SAIC operation loss of $1 million compared to a reported SEC profit of $10 million. Id. at *2-*3.
. CCAC ¶ 48.
. E.g., In re L & L Energy, Inc. Sec. Litig., 908 F.Supp.2d 1147, 1153-54 (W.D.Wash. 2012) (“Although conspicuously absent from the Second Amended Complaint, the Court need not turn a blind eye toward the corresponding provisions of United States law when evaluating the strength of the inference of falsity. Wilful misstatements in an SEC filing may result in the temporary suspension of trading in the company's securities, injunctive relief, civil penalties, imprisonment for up to twenty years, and/or criminal fines up to $5,000,000 for individuals or $25,000,000 for corporations. 15 U.S.C. § 781, § 78u(d), and § 78ff(a). The only reasonable inference is that corporations make false statements to both the SAIC and the SEC at their peril.”).
. CCAC ¶ 57.
. Id. ¶ 58.
. Id. ¶ 60.
. Auditor Defendants' Memorandum in Support of Motion [DI 87] at 19-20.
. Steckman Decl. [DI 86], Ex. 9. The copy of the report included in the Steckman Declaration is missing pages 1 and 3. The quoted language comes from page 3 and can be accessed at http://www.esma.europa.eu/system/ files/07_761.pdf.
. Id. at 4.
. Plaintiffs fail to allege loss causation as well. They rely on the Citron Report’s statement that China Valves’ financial results “are simply too good to be true. The words ’too good’ is [sic] not being used lightly here,” CCAC ¶ 287, in claiming that “the Citron Report certainly gave investors notice that the Company's reported financial results might be inflated.” Plaintiffs’ Memorandum in Opposition to China Valves’ & Independent Defendants' Motion [DI 95] at 45. This is entirely speculative and fails adequately to show that the drop in share price was linked to defendants’ alleged misrepresentations on their 2008 and 2009 financial statements.
. CCAC ¶¶ 227-28, 293.
. Id. ¶ 227.
. Id. ¶ 254.
. China Valves Technology, Inc., Annual Report (Form 10-K) (Mar. 29, 2010) at F-2 ("We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of China Valves Technology, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2009 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.”).
. In re Lehman Bros., 799 F.Supp.2d at 299, 302-04; see also Perry v. Duoyuan Printing, Inc., 10 Civ. 7235 GBD, 2013 WL 4505199, at *5 (Daniels, J.) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2013); Fait v. Regions Fin. Corp., 712 F.Supp.2d 117, 121 (S.D.N.Y. 2010), aff'd 655 F.3d 105 (2d Cir. 2011).
. 15 U.S.C. § 78t(a).
. SEC v. First Jersey Sec. Inc., 101 F.3d 1450, 1472-73 (2d Cir. 1996) (quoting 17 C.F.R. § 240.12b-2 and adopting this standard for a Section 20(a) claim).
. E.g., In re Satyam Computer Servs. Ltd. Sec. Litig., 915 F.Supp.2d 450, 482 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).
. E.g., In re Alstom SA, 406 F.Supp.2d 433, 492 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) ("Minority stock ownership and the ability to appoint a minority of the board do not create power to direct management and policies, and thus do not constitute sufficient control under Section 20(a).”).
. In re Morgan Stanley Info. Fund Sec. Litig., 592 F.3d 347, 358-59 (2d Cir. 2010) (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 77k(a)).
. Id. at 359 (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 771(a)(2)).
. 15 U.S.C. § 77o.
. Rombach, 355 F.3d at 169 n. 4.
. Id. at 171.
. Id. ("We hold that the heightened pleading standard of Rule 9(b) applies to Section 11 and Section 12(a)(2) claims insofar as the claims are premised on allegations of fraud.”).
. Mills v. Polar Molecular Corp., 12 F.3d 1170, 1175 (2d Cir. 1993).
. In re Wachovia Equity Sec. Litig., 753 F.Supp.2d 326, 374-75 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).
. Rombach, 355 F.3d at 169 n. 4.
. NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund v. Goldman Sachs & Co., 693 F.3d 145 (2d Cir. 2012).
. See In re China Valves, 2012 WL 4039852, at *7.
. Siping Fang, Zengbiao Yu, Peter Li, William Haus, and Binjie Fang all are alleged to have signed the December 2009 Registration Statement. See 15 U.S.C. § 77k (providing a cause of action against signers of the registration statement, directors at the time of filing, and accountants who prepared or certified any part of the registration statement or valuation contained within).
Plaintiffs include Jianbao Wang as a Section 11 defendant in CCAC, paragraph 23. Wang is not alleged to have signed the Registration Statement or to have been a director at the time it was filed, nor do plaintiffs defend their claim against him in their brief. Thus, any Section 11 claim against Jianbao Wang is dismissed.
. CCAC ¶¶ 21, 151, 254.
. Plaintiffs do not allege that the Auditor Defendants consented to the incorporation of their 2009 10-K audit opinion into the Offering Documents. In re AOL Time Warner, Inc. Sec. & “ERISA" Litig., 381 F.Supp.2d 192, 236 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (“Section 11 imposes liability on an auditor only for material misstatements or omissions in an audit report that is included in an SEC registration statement with the auditor’s consent.”).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re CHINA VALVES TECHNOLOGY SECURITIES LITIGATION
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published