NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of investors that purchased UP Fintech Holding Limited (NASDAQ: TIGR) securities pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s initial public offering conducted on or about March 20, 2019 (the “IPO” or “Offering”) or between March 20, 2019 and May 16, 2019 (the “Class Period”). Investors have until January 6, 2020 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
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On February 22, 2019, Fintech filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the SEC in connection with the IPO, which was declared effective by the SEC on March 19, 2019 (the “Registration Statement”). The Registration Statement was filed with respect to the underlying Class A ordinary shares represented by the ADSs to be sold in the IPO.
On March 20, 2019, Fintech filed a prospectus for the IPO (the “Prospectus”), which incorporated and formed part of the Registration Statement (collectively, the “Offering Documents”). That same day, Fintech announced the pricing of its IPO of 13 million ADSs, each representing fifteen Class A ordinary shares of the Company, at $8.00 per ADS. The ADSs began trading the same day on the NASDAQ under the symbol “TIGR.” Fintech raised $104 million in proceeds from the IPO.
The complaint, filed on November 6, 2019, alleges that the Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation. Additionally, throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, in the Offering Documents and during the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Fintech was experiencing a material decrease in commissions because of a negative trend related to risk averse investors in the market; (ii) Fintech was unable to absorb costs associated with the rapid growth of its business and its status as a publicly listed company on a U.S. exchange; (iii) Fintech was incurring significant additional expenses related to, inter alia, employee headcount and employee compensation and benefits; (iv) all of the foregoing had led to Fintech significantly increasing operating costs and expenses; and (v) as a result, the Offering Documents were materially false and/or misleading and failed to state information required to be stated therein, and the Company’s Class Period statements were likewise materially false and/or misleading.
On May 17, 2019, during pre-market hours, Fintech issued a press release announcing its unaudited first quarter 2019 financial results—the Company’s first quarterly earnings announcement following the IPO (the “1Q19 Press Release”). In that press release, Fintech disclosed a 4.1% decrease in commissions, noting that “[i]nvestors were relatively risk averse at beginning of this year which leads to moderated trading activities and a slight decrease in trading commission.” The 1Q19 Press Release also disclosed, among other issues, that Fintech’s operating costs and expenses and net loss attributable to the Company had begun to skyrocket as a result of increases in expenses related to employee headcount, employee compensation and benefits, and office space and leasehold improvements, as well as rapid customer growth, expanded market data usage for its customers, and additional professional expenses as a listed company.
Specifically, with respect to Fintech’s drastically increasing operating costs and expenses and net loss attributable to the Company, the 1Q19 Press Release disclosed that total operating costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2019 increased by 36.4% to $14.0 million from $10.3 million in the first quarter of 2018, and that employee compensation and benefits increased by 60.8% from $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2018 to $7.8 million in the first quarter of 2019.
On this news, Fintech’s ADS price fell $1.21 per share, or 17.34%, to close at $5.77 per share on May 17, 2019.
If you purchased UP Fintech securities during the Class Period or pursuant and/or traceable to the IPO, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at investigations@bespc.com, or telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you.
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Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York and California. 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.
