Voila!

Plaintiffs frequently bring securities class actions arguing that the corporate disclosure of a regulatory issue has rendered earlier statements about regulatory compliance false or misleading.  But are general corporate statements concerning regulatory compliance material to investors?

In Singh v. Cigna Corp., 2019 WL 1029597 (2d Cir., March 5, 2019), the Second Circuit addressed this issue.  Following an audit by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), Cigna received a letter stating that it had “substantially failed to comply with CMS requirements regarding coverage determinations, appeals, benefits administration, compliance program effectiveness and similar matters.”  After Cigna disclosed the letter and CMS’s proposed sanctions, its stock price declined.

The plaintiffs argued that these compliance issues rendered a number of prior Cigna statements false or misleading.  In particular, Cigna had disclosed that it (a) had “established policies and procedures to comply with applicable requirements,” (b) had “a responsibility to act with integrity in all we do, including any and all dealings with government officials,” and (c) “expect[ed] to continue to allocate significant resources” to compliance.

The Second Circuit found that all of Cigna’s statements, however, were immaterial as a matter of law.  The statements were “tentative and generic,” and, given that Cigna talked about allocating significant resources to compliance, “seem to reflect Cigna’s uncertainty as to the very possibility of maintaining adequate compliance mechanism in light of complex and shifting government regulations.”  Accordingly, the court affirmed the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims.

Holding: Dismissal affirmed.

Quote of note: “This case presents us with a creative attempt to recast corporate mismanagement as securities fraud.  The attempt relies on a simple equation: first, point to banal and vague corporate statements affirming the importance of regulatory compliance; next, point to significant regulatory violations; and voila, you have alleged a prima facie case of securities fraud!  The problem with this equation, however, is that such generic statements do not invite reasonable reliance.  They are not, therefore, materially misleading, and so cannot form the basis of a fraud case.”