RLX Wins Dismissal With Prejudice of Securities Suit

Skadden secured the dismissal with prejudice of a putative securities class action against China-based e-vapor company RLX Technology Inc. Two months after the company’s IPO, Chinese regulators proposed national regulations classifying e-cigarettes, including RLX’s e-vapor products, as tobacco products under China’s existing tobacco monopoly regime. The plaintiffs alleged that RLX failed to warn that regulators were preparing to introduce these “imminent” proposed regulations and misrepresented the attendant risks in violation of the Securities Act of 1933. On September 30, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the company’s motion to dismiss all claims. The court agreed that RLX’s statements did not misrepresent the company’s financials or the prospect of more stringent regulation of e-cigarettes in China.