NEW YORK, Feb. 23 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bragar Eagel & Squire, PC, a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of shareholders of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS), NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NRXP, NRXPW), Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT) and Bumble, Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL). Shareholders have until the deadlines below to ask the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information on each case can be found at the link provided.
FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS)
Course period: February 1, 2018 – November 12, 2021
Lead Applicant Deadline: March 15, 2022
In September 2016, the company, then known as First Cash Financial Services Inc., completed its merger with pawnbroker and payday lender Cash America International, Inc. (“Cash America”). Following the merger, the combined company changed its name to FirstCash Inc. Similarly, following a December 2021 merger with lending company American First Finance, the company changed its name again to FirstCash Holdings, Inc.
The Military Loans Act (“MLA”) provides protections for active duty military members and their dependents under the extension of consumer credit. Among other protections, the MLA limits the interest rates that can be charged on consumer loans to active duty members of the armed forces and their covered dependents to a maximum of 36%. In addition, the MLA prohibits lenders from requiring covered parties to submit to arbitration, as well as from imposing other limitations.
In November 2013, Cash America entered into a consent order with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) for making loans to covered service members or their dependents in violation of the MLA, violations related to the recovery of receivables, failure to prevent or detect in a timely manner problematic behavior due to inadequate internal compliance and failure to maintain required records (the “Order”). In the Order, Cash America agreed to cease and desist from violations and to implement a plan designed to ensure its future compliance with the terms of the Order. The CFPB fined Cash America $5 million and ordered it to deposit $8 million into an account to provide relief to affected consumers.
In 2015, the Department of Defense expanded the MLA to cover more credit products, including pawnbrokers. Newly covered creditors, including pawnbrokers, had until October 3, 2016 to bring their operations into compliance with the new rules.
In response to the MLA expansion, which prohibited the company from issuing loans with interest rates above 36%, FirstCash claimed it was “unable to offer any of its current credit products , including pawnbrokers, to members of the U.S. military or their assigns.” The Company also asserted throughout the Class Period that it used systems, policies and robust procedures to ensure its regulatory compliance and adherence to applicable laws, rules and regulations governing its business, including the MLA.
Despite these assurances, unbeknownst to investors throughout the Class Period, FirstCash engaged in widespread and systemic violations of the MLA and provided thousands of loans to active duty military and their dependents at usurious rates. On November 12, 2021, the CFPB filed a lawsuit alleging that FirstCash and its subsidiary, Cash America West, Inc., violated the MLA by charging more than the allowable annual percentage rate of 36% on more than 3,600 loans on pledge to more than 1,000 assets. -service service members and their dependents. The CFPB also alleged that FirstCash violated the CFPB’s 2013 order prohibiting future violations of the MLA, which remained in effect and applied to FirstCash after the company’s September 2016 merger with First Cash America.
Following these revelations, FirstCash’s stock price fell more than $7 per share, or 8%, in a single day to close at $78.64 per share on November 12, 2021 on trading volume abnormally high. The stock continued to decline in the following days as the market digested the news, losing another $10 per share by November 18, 2021.
For more information on the FirstCash class action, please visit: https://bespc.com/cases/FCFS
NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NRXP, NRXPW)
Course period: June 1, 2021 – November 4, 2021
Lead Applicant Deadline: March 21, 2022
NRx is a clinical-stage small molecule pharmaceutical company developing various therapies for the treatment of central nervous system disorders and life-threatening lung diseases. The Company’s products include, among others, ZYESAMI, an investigational pre-commercial drug for respiratory failure related to COVID-19.
In June 2021, NRx announced that it had filed an application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) requesting an Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) for ZYESAMI (Aviptadil-Acetate ) to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure. (the “EUA ZYESAMI Application”).
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, the Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the company’s business, operations and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) ZYESAMI’s EUA application contained insufficient data regarding the potential benefits and risks of ZYESAMI; (ii) as a result, the FDA was unlikely to approve ZYESAMI’s EUA application in its current form; and (iii) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all material times.
On November 4, 2021, NRx issued a press release “announcing[ing] that the [FDA] refused to issue a [EUA] for ZYESAMI® (aviptadil). The FDA has said it is unable to issue the EUA at this time due to insufficient data regarding the known and potential benefits of the drug and the known and potential risks of ZYESAMI in patients with COVID-19. critical with respiratory failure.
On this news, NRx stock price fell $2.27 per share, or 25.45%, to close at $6.65 per share on November 5, 2021.
For more information on the NRx Pharmaceuticals class action lawsuit, please visit: https://bespc.com/cases/NRXP
Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT)
Course period: February 26, 2021 – December 27, 2021
Lead Applicant Deadline: March 25, 2022
Clarivate is an information and analytical services company that provides structured information and analysis for the discovery, protection and commercialization of scientific research, innovations and brands.
On December 27, 2021, Clarivate disclosed in a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that “[o]n December 22, 2021, Clarivate . . . concluded that the financial statements previously issued as at and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021 should no longer be relied upon due to an error in these financial statements[.]Specifically, Clarivate reported that “[t]The error relates to the treatment under United States generally accepted accounting principles (‘GAAP’) relating to a share plan included in the CPA Global business combination which was completed on October 1, 2020 (the ‘transaction Global CPA’). In the relevant financial statements, certain awards made by CPA Global under its stock ownership plan were incorrectly included as part of the acquisition accounting for the CPA Global transaction.
On this news, Clarivate stock price declined $1.70 per share, or approximately 6.92%, from $23.58 per share to close at $22.88 per share on December 28, 2021.
For more information on the Clarivate survey, visit: https://bespc.com/cases/CLVT
Bumble, Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL)
Course period: September 10, 2021 SPO
Lead Applicant Deadline: March 25, 2022
According to the lawsuit, the SPO’s registration statement contained misrepresentations of material facts because it failed to state that: (1) Bumble’s paid user growth trends had abruptly reversed in 3Q21 and Bumble had in fact lost tens of thousands of paying users in the quarter; (2) paid users had been more reluctant to sign up for the Bumble app during 3Q21 due to recent price increases for paid services on the app; (3) a significant number of paying users were leaving the Badoo App and/or unable to make payments through the Badoo App due, in large part, to issues resulting from Bumble’s transition of its payment platform; and (4) as a result, Bumble’s business metrics and financial outlook were not as strong as the registration statement had represented. When the real details entered the market, the lawsuit claims investors suffered damages.
For more information on the Bumble class action, visit: https://bespc.com/cases/BMBL
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, PC:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, PC is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivatives and other complex litigation before state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the company, please visit www.bespc.com. Lawyer advertisement. Prior results do not guarantee similar results.
Contact information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, CP Brandon Walker, Esq. Alexandra B. Raymond, Esq. (212) 355-4648 [email protected]www.bespc.com
