Barings BDC, Inc. 10-Q

Item 1. Legal Proceedings. We and certain of our former executive officers have been named as defendants in two putative securities class action lawsuits, each filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (and then transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina) on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired our common stock between May 7, 2014 and November 1, 2017. The first lawsuit was filed on November 21, 2017, and was captioned Elias Dagher, et al., v. Triangle Capital Corporation, et al. , Case No. 5:18-cv-00015-FL (the “ Dagher Action”). The second lawsuit was filed on November 28, 2017, and was captioned Gary W. Holden, et al., v. Triangle Capital Corporation, et al. , Case No. 5:18-cv-00010-FL (the “ Holden Action”). The Dagher Action and the Holden Action were consolidated and are currently captioned In re Triangle Capital Corp. Securities Litigation , Master File No. 5:18-cv-00010-FL. On April 10, 2018, the plaintiff filed its First Consolidated Amended Complaint. The complaint alleged certain violations of the securities laws, including, among other things, that the defendants made certain materially false and misleading statements and omissions regarding our business, operations and prospects between May 7, 2014 and November 1, 2017. The plaintiff seeks compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees and costs, among other relief, but did not specify the amount of damages being sought. On May 25, 2018, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. On March 7, 2019, the court entered an order granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss. On March 28, 2019, the plaintiff filed a motion seeking leave to file a Second Consolidated Amended Complaint. On September 20, 2019, the court entered an order denying the plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a Second Consolidated Amended Complaint and dismissing the action with prejudice. On October 17, 2019, the plaintiff filed a notice of appeal seeking review of the court’s September 20, 2019 order. The plaintiff filed its opening brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on January 6, 2020. The defendants filed their response brief on February 28, 2020, and the plaintiff filed its reply brief on March 27, 2020. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral argument on the appeal on December 9, 2020. On February 22, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the court’s September 20, 2019 order dismissing the action with prejudice. The deadline for the plaintiff to file a petition for a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court has expired. Consequently, the complaint is dismissed with prejudice and the case is over. Other than as set forth above, neither we, the Adviser, nor our subsidiaries are currently subject to any material pending legal proceedings, other than ordinary routine litigation incidental to our respective businesses. We, the Adviser, and our subsidiaries may from time to time, however, be involved in litigation arising out of operations in the normal course of business or otherwise, including in connection with strategic transactions. Furthermore, third parties may seek to impose liability on us in connection with the activities of our portfolio companies. While the outcome of any current legal proceedings cannot at this time be predicted with certainty, we do not expect any current matters will materially affect our financial condition or results of operations; however, there can be no assurance whether any pending legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations in any future reporting period.