NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that class actions have been commenced on behalf of stockholders of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS), NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NRXP, NRXPW), Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT), and Bumble, Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL). Stockholders have until the deadlines below to petition the court to serve as lead plaintiff. Additional information about each case can be found at the link provided.
FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS)
Class Period: February 1, 2018 – November 12, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 15, 2022
In September 2016, the Company, then known as First Cash Financial Services Inc., finalized its merger with pawnshop provider 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 again changed its name to FirstCash Holdings, Inc.
The Military Lending Act (“MLA”) provides protections for active-duty service members and their dependents in connection with the extension of consumer credit. Among other protections, the MLA limits the interest rates that may be charged on consumer loans to active-duty armed forces members and their covered dependents to no more than 36%. Further, the MLA prohibits lenders from requiring covered parties to submit to arbitration, as well as 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 members of the military or their dependents in violation of the MLA, violations relating to debt collection, failure to prevent or timely detect problematic conduct due to inadequate internal compliance, and failure to maintain required records (the “Order”). In the Order, Cash America agreed to cease and desist from the 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 in order to provide redress to affected consumers.
In 2015, the Department of Defense expanded the MLA to cover more credit products, including pawn loans. Newly covered creditors, which included pawn brokers, had until October 3, 2016 to bring their operations into compliance with the new rules.
In response to the expansion of the MLA, which prohibited the Company from issuing loans with interest rates higher than 36%, FirstCash claimed that it was “unable to offer any of its current credit products, including pawn loans, to members of the U.S. military or their dependents.” The Company also claimed throughout the Class Period that it employed robust systems, policies, and 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 was engaged in widespread and systemic violations of the MLA and had made thousands of loans to active-duty service members 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., had violated the MLA by charging higher than the allowable 36% annual percentage rate on over 3,600 pawn loans to more than 1,000 active-duty service members and their dependents. The CFPB also alleged that FirstCash had violated the 2013 CFPB Order prohibiting future MLA violations, which remained in effect and applied to FirstCash following the September 2016 merger of the Company and First Cash America
As a result of these revelations, the price of FirstCash stock plummeted over $7 per share, or 8%, in a single day to close at $78.64 per share on November 12, 2021 on abnormally high trading volume. The stock continued to fall in subsequent days as the market digested the news, dropping another $10 per share by November 18, 2021.
For more information on the FirstCash class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/FCFS
NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NRXP, NRXPW)
Class Period: June 1, 2021 – November 4, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 21, 2022
NRx is a clinical-stage small molecule pharmaceutical company that develops various therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system disorders and life-threatening pulmonary diseases. The Company’s products include, among others, ZYESAMI, an investigational pre-commercial drug for COVID-19 related respiratory failure.
In June 2021, NRx announced that it filed an application with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) requesting Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) for ZYESAMI (Aviptadil-acetate) to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients suffering with respiratory failure (the “ZYESAMI EUA Application”).
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, 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) the ZYESAMI EUA Application contained insufficient data regarding the potential benefits and risks of ZYESAMI; (ii) accordingly, the FDA was unlikely to approve the ZYESAMI EUA Application in its present form; and (iii) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On November 4, 2021, NRx issued a press release “announc[ing] that the [FDA] has declined to issue an [EUA] for ZYESAMI® (aviptadil). The FDA stated that it was unable to issue the EUA at this time due to insufficient data regarding the known and potential benefits of the medicine and the known and potential risks of ZYESAMI in patients suffering from Critical COVID-19 with respiratory failure.”
On this news, NRx’s 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 go to: https://bespc.com/cases/NRXP
Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT)
Class Period: February 26, 2021 – December 27, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 25, 2022
Clarivate is an information services and analytics company that provides structured information and analytics for discovery, protection, and commercialization of scientific research, innovations, and brands.
On December 27, 2021, Clarivate disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that “[o]n December 22, 2021, Clarivate . . . concluded that the financial statements previously issued as of and for the 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 because of an error in such financial statements[.]” Specifically, Clarivate reported that “[t]he error relates to the treatment under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (‘GAAP’) relating to an equity plan included in the CPA Global business combination which was consummated on October 1, 2020 (‘the CPA Global Transaction’). In the affected financial statements, certain awards made by CPA Global under its equity plan were incorrectly included as part of the acquisition accounting for the CPA Global Transaction.”
On this news, Clarivate’s stock price declined by $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 investigation go to: https://bespc.com/cases/CLVT
Bumble, Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL)
Class Period: September 10, 2021 SPO
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: March 25, 2022
According to the lawsuit, the SPO’s registration statement contained inaccurate statements of material fact because it failed to disclose that: (1) Bumble’s paying user growth trends had abruptly reversed in 3Q21 and Bumble had actually lost tens of thousands of paying users during the quarter; (2) paying users had been more reluctant to sign up for the Bumble app during 3Q21 because of the recent price hike for paid services on the app; (3) a material number of paying users were leaving the Badoo app and/or could not make payments through the Badoo app due, in substantial part, to problems arising from Bumble’s transition of its payment platform; and (4) as a result, Bumble’s business metrics and financial prospects were not as strong as the registration statement had represented. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
For more information on the Bumble class action go to: https://bespc.com/cases/BMBL
About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. 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, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Contact Information:
Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.
Brandon Walker, Esq.
Alexandra B. Raymond, Esq.
(212) 355-4648
investigations@bespc.com
www.bespc.com
