With the flurry of securities class actions filed against U.S.-listed Chinese companies showing no signs of letting up, Los Angeles O’Melveny & Myers partner Seth Aronson finds himself boarding a plane for Shanghai or Beijing just about every other month. The securities litigator represents both Chinese companies that have gone public in the U.S. through a traditional IPO, and those that go public via a reverse merger. The latter method opens companies up to more regulatory scrutiny, Aronson said, because it doesn’t involve the same type of financial reporting rigor as a traditional IPO. Aronson has been keeping in closer touch with lawyers in O’Melveny’s capital markets practice, among other areas, through a new transnational task force the firm launched last week. Aronson heads up the group, which numbers about a dozen lawyers in the U.S. and China.
Q: What’s the most common question your China-based clients ask?
