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The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) who purchased shares between July 26, 2016 and April 18, 2018. The action, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the Company violated federal securities laws.
In particular, the Philip Morris lawsuit alleges that (1) Philip Morris was experiencing a faster decline in overall cigarette and e-cigarette (or “heated tobacco”) sales volumes during the first quarter of 2018 than investors had been led to believe; (2) Philip Morris’ much-lauded sales initiatives had stalled; (3) Philip Morris was experiencing adverse sales headwinds in key markets; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, defendants’ statements about Philip Morris’ business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Shareholders have until November 5, 2018 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery does not require that you serve as lead plaintiff. You may choose to be an absent class member.
The holding firm Philip Morris International Inc. was established in Virginia in 1987. In markets outside of the United States of America, our subsidiaries, affiliates, and their licensees produce and sell cigarettes and other goods containing nicotine. Our future is being built around smoke-free products because they offer consumers a much better alternative to continue to smoke cigarettes. We work to ensure that our smoke-free goods adhere to adult consumer preferences and stringent regulatory standards through multidisciplinary product development capabilities, cutting-edge facilities, and scientific substantiation. In the long run, we hope that these products will take the place of cigarettes, benefiting adult smokers, society, our business, and our shareholders.
A separate and distinct legal entity from its direct and indirect subsidiaries is Philip Morris International Inc. Therefore, the rights of creditors of such subsidiary must be respected before our right, and thereby the right of our creditors and stockholders, to participate in any distribution of the assets or earnings of any subsidiary, unless claims of our firm itself as a creditor may be recognized. Being a holding company, we primarily obtain our cash through the receipt of dividends and the repayment of debt owed to us by our subsidiaries. This includes cash for making payments on our debt instruments. Our primary wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries are currently not constrained in their ability to pay cash dividends or to make other distributions with regard to their common stock by long-term debt or other arrangements.
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) define sufficient internal control over financial reporting, which management of Philip Morris International Inc. (“PMI”) is responsible for developing and maintaining. Internal control over financial reporting at PMI is a procedure created to offer a level of assurance that financial reporting is reliable and that financial statements are prepared for external use in compliance with generally accepted accounting standards in the United States of America.
We have adopted the Philip Morris International Code of Conduct, which is in accordance with the provisions of Item 406 of Regulation S-K, and which applies to all of our employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, and persons performing similar functions. Additionally, we have established a code of ethics and corporate conduct for our board of directors members. These documents are freely accessible on our website.
In the lawsuit, Philip Morris International Inc. and a few of its officers are named as defendants. It is alleged that the defendants misrepresented PMI’s business, operations, financial situation, and prospects for product sales, including those of Platform 1 products, and/or failed to disclose relevant information. Damages are one of the many types of remedy demanded in the lawsuit. We will actively fight this case because we think it has no validity. The Southern District of New York’s other putative shareholder class action cases and this case were combined by the court in November 2018.
The Philip Morris International Inc. 2017 Stock Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors (the “2017 Non-Employee Directors Plan”) was also approved by PMI’s shareholders in May 2017. A PMI member is referred to as a non-employee director.
a member of the board who does not work full-time for PMI or any company in which PMI holds stock, either directly or indirectly
having at least 50% of the combined voting power of all classes of stock eligible to vote in the election of directors in the company.
such a company. Under the 2017 Non-Employee Directors Plan, up to 1 million shares of PMI common stock may be granted.
There were 954,084 shares available for issuance under the scheme as of March 31, 2020.
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