Unpacking Bed Bath & Beyond’s ‘Self-Inflicted’ Crisis

September 07, 2022

Alon Kapen, a corporate attorney at Farrell Fritz who isn’t involved with the lawsuit, said his review of the complaint shows there’s still much more that needs to be determined to understand if there is any truth to the allegations, and what role, if any, Arnal might have played.

“The timing of the filings by Cohen are the most fascinating and juiciest [points] in the complaint,” the lawyer said, zeroing in on a paper Form 144 filing stating that Cohen planned to sell his large stake and options in Bed Bath & Beyond. What’s interesting, Kapen pointed out, is that while the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to make businesses file Form 144 digitally, the new rule “doesn’t kick in for a few weeks,” meaning Cohen could get away with turning in the paper form that essentially delayed the process of telling the public of his intent to sell. An electronic filing, on the other hand, would have been posted online almost immediately.

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