October 4, 2018- Crosby & Higgins Successfully Opposes Motion to Dismiss in US District Court for the Southern District of New York
October 4, 2018
Crosby & Higgins LLP has prevailed on behalf of seven former senior executives of Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. (“NAM”) against a motion to dismiss brought by defendants NAM, Takumi Shibata, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in Alfandary, et al., v. Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-05137-RWS. Defendants sought to dismiss the lawsuit, which alleges that NAM and the other defendants fraudulently rigged the valuation process in connection with employee stock option plans. Plaintiffs allege, among other things, that Defendants misappropriated tens of millions of dollars owed to current and former employees by creating an incentive plan with an artificially low strike price which personally benefited NAM’s current President and CEO, Takumi Shibata. In their motion, defendants argued that the Southern District of New York lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, and instead the case should have been brought in Japan. Judge Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court held in favor of Plaintiffs, concluding that each of the defendants maintained sufficient contacts with the United States so as to warrant jurisdiction. Judge Sweet held it would be fair for the lawsuit to proceed in New York and not Japan.
The C&H team representing the former employees of NAM is led by partner Todd A. Higgins and includes Senior Associate Elizabeth A. Silva.