Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Contingencies

v3.4.0.3
Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Contingencies

NOTE 15 – CONTINGENCIES

 

As previously disclosed, on July 25, 2014, purported class action lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Company and certain of its current or former officers and/or directors, which have been consolidated under the caption Rand-Heart of New York, Inc. v. NetSol Technologies, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:14-cv-05787 PA (SHx). Plaintiffs subsequently filed consolidated amended complaints, which asserted claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the Company’s motions, the Court now has dismissed all of plaintiffs’ claims except those related to the scope of the Company’s release of its next generation product, NFS Ascent™, during the narrow proposed class period of October 24, 2013 to November 8, 2013. The Company has filed an answer and affirmative defenses denying the remaining claims. On February 26, 2016, the parties executed a Stipulation of Settlement to fully resolve the consolidated class action lawsuit, and filed a motion seeking the Federal Court’s approval of the settlement. On March 28, 2016, the Court issued an order preliminarily approving the settlement and providing for notice to class members. The Court also scheduled the final settlement approval hearing for June 27, 2016. The Company expects the cost of settlement to be fully covered by its insurers. The Company believes that plaintiffs’ allegations are meritless and, in the event that the Court does not approve the parties’ settlement, it intends to vigorously defend all claims asserted. If the settlement is not approved and the litigation continues, at this stage of the litigation the Company is unable to form a professional judgment that an unfavorable outcome is either probable or remote, and it is not possible to assess whether or not the outcome of these proceedings will or will not have a material adverse effect on the Company.

 

On October 27, 2015, a shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed in the California state court entitled McArthur v Ghauri, et al., Case No. BC599020 (Los Angeles, Cty.), naming current and former members of the Company’s board of directors as defendants. The complaint alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties based on the same alleged factual premise as the pending federal securities class action described above. The Company is named as a nominal defendant only and no damages are sought from it. The parties in the California lawsuit recently reached an agreement-in-principle providing for the settlement of that case. The proposed settlement is on the terms and conditions set forth in a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) dated March 16, 2016. Pursuant to the MOU, the parties shall in good faith attempt to present to this Court the appropriate motion(s) for approval of the settlement. The parties are continuing to negotiate and document the terms of the proposed settlement, which is subject to the Court’s approval.

 

In addition, on December 30, 2015, a virtually identical shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed in Nevada state court, Paulovits v. Ghauri, et al., Case No. CV15-02470 (Washoe Cty.). The Nevada complaint names the same defendants and is based on the same alleged facts as the earlier-filed California case. On April 29, 2016, the Company filed a motion to dismiss or stay the Nevada proceeding on multiple grounds, including that is it duplicative of the first-filed California action. The individual defendants joined in the Company’s motion and also filed a separate motion to dismiss the Nevada complaint for failure to state a claim.