SAN FRANCISCO – SEB Investment Management AB has been named as the lead plaintiff in a securities class action lawsuit filed against Symantec Corp. and two of its officers, according to an order filed Aug. 23 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The order said Symantec investor James Felix filed the class action May 17 against the company, chief executive officer Gregory Clark and chief financial officer and principal accounting officer Nicholas Noviello, “alleging false and misleading statements in violation of federal securities laws.”
“The plaintiff alleges Symantec revealed in May 2018 that its audit committee was investigating Symantec’s accounting practices in connection with concerns raised by a former employee and that Symantec had contacted the [Securities and Exchange Commission] to advise the SEC of its investigation,” the lead plaintiff appointment order said. “The plaintiff further alleges the defendants issued materially false and misleading statements to investors regarding the accuracy of Symantec’s financial reporting, its internal controls over financial reporting and the nature of the company’s executive compensation programs.”
| symantec.com
Felix’s lawyer issued a notice that gave other Symantec investors until July 16 to declare their interest in serving as lead plaintiff. Meanwhile, another investor, Samuel Broda, also filed a complaint against the defendants May 25. The Aug. 23 order consolidates Felix’s class action lawsuit and Broda’s individual complaint into one case.
The order said five investors applied for the position of lead plaintiff. In addition to SEB Investment, the other candidates were Norfolk County Council, which oversees the Norfolk Pension Fund, Image Securities Ltd., Pedro Reyes and Itai Jaeger.
However, the court said the other four parties either withdrew their request for appointment as lead plaintiff or did not object to SEB being named to the post.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup said in the order that he asked all of the applicants to answer questions “about its qualifications, experience in managing litigation, transactions in the shares at issue and any potential conflicts related to the instant securities litigation,” and only “SEB and Norfolk Pension Fund have submitted answers to the lead plaintiff questionnaire.”
Alsup has given SEB Investment until Sept. 20 to choose a counsel for the class. The consolidated lawsuit must be filed within 42 days of court approval of the counsel selection.