It is always useful to look at aggregate securities lawsuit filing data to try to determine what trends and themes can be discerned, but occasionally it is also useful to look at a single new filing whether it might suggest anything. To choose one example, a closer look at a new securities class action lawsuit filed on October 14, 2009 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Advanta Corporation and certain of its directors and officers seems to reflect a variety of different securities litigation tendencies and motifs.
Advanta at one time was the country’s largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards, through its subsidiary, Advanta Bank Corp. As reflected in the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ October 14, 2009 press release (here), the lawsuit alleges that the defendants failed "to disclose the impact of the economic environment and the deteriorating credit trends on its business and that the Company failed to adequately and timely record losses for its impaired loans and customer delinquencies, causing its financial results to be materially false."
Specifially, the complaint (which can be found here) alleges that:
(a) Advanta’s assets contained tens of millions of dollars worth of impaired credit card receivables for which the Company had not accrued losses; (b) prior to and during the Class Period, Advanta had been extremely aggressive in granting credit to customers without verifying the customers’ ability to pay, to such a degree that by the summer of 2009, Advanta customers’ default rate would be almost six times worse than industry average; (c) Advanta’s manipulation of its cash rewards program angered customers and caused the Company to lose good, creditworthy customers; (d) Advanta’s credit receivables were unduly risky due to the Company’s practice of issuing credit cards to small business owners without, in many instances, verifying income; (e) defendants failed to properly account for Advanta’s continuing delinquent customers and the credit trends in the Company’s portfolio, resulting ultimately in large charges to reflect impairments; and (f) the Company was not on track to be profitable in 2008.
The complaint alleges that the company’s share price plunged after its October 2007 disclosure that it was experiencing a higher rate of delinquencies. The complaint alleges that thereafter the news only got worse, and in May 2009 the company announced in May 2009 the cancellation of "millions of cards held by small businesses." On June 30, 2009, the FDIC entered a cease and desist order (here) against Advanta Bank following allegations of unsafe and unsound banking practices.
Though the complaint references these more recent events, the putative class period proposed in the complaint runs from October 31, 2006 through November 27, 2007.
This complaint is of course a reflection of the specific circumstance alleged with respect to this one company and its banking subsidiary. Nevertheless, the complaint also reflects a number of different securities litigation themes and trends, some of which are well-established and some of which may only just be emerging.
First, this case is yet another example of the kinds of litigation that may emerge in connection with the growing numbers of troubled banks. As I have noted in numerous posts (most recently here), though the level of litigation involving failed and troubled banks is still well below what might be expected given the number of distressed institutions, a number of lawsuits have begun to emerge and there may yet be more in the future.
Second, while I have noted elsewhere that as 2009 has progressed the wave of subprime and credit crisis related litigation definitely seems to have slowed (or even just merged into larger litigation developments to the point that it may no longer be its own separately identifiable category of litigation), this case suggests that it is far too early to declare that the litigation wave has ended. Obviously, there may yet be other cases that raise similar credit related lawsuits in the months ahead.
This case also demonstrates with respect to the subprime and credit crisis-related litigation wave that the lawsuits encompass a wide variety of kinds and categories of credit, including, as shown here, credit card debt. As noted here with respect to the litigation involving American Express, there have been prior credit crisis securities lawsuits filed with respect to issues concerning credit card debt.
Third, the 23-month gap between the end of the proposed class period and the filing of this lawsuit is yet another example of the significant number of filings in the second and third quarter of 2009 that involve class period cutoff dates in the distant past. As noted in prior posts (most recently here), this phenomenon might suggest that while the plaintiffs’ lawyer were previously preoccupied filing numerous credit crisis and Madoff related lawsuits, they developed a backlog of cases that they have now started to work off.
Indeed, just in the past several days there have been several other cases with long past class period cutoff dates, including the lawsuit recent filed involving RHI Entertainment (filed on October 8, 2009, class period cutoff of June 19, 2008); Men’s Wearhouse (filed on October 8. 2009, class period cutoff date of January 9, 2008); and EnergySolutions (filed October 9, 2009, class period cutoff date of October 14, 2008).
Apparently, as the Advanta case suggests, the backlog may even include other credit crisis cases, which is yet another reason that, as noted above, there may be still other credit crisis cases yet to come.
In any event, I have added this case to my list of subprime and credit crisis-related securities lawsuits, which can be found here. If this case is any indication, there could be others credit crisis securities cases yet to come.
Courtroom Drama: While we all remain interested in the developments in the ongoing trial in the Vivendi securities class action lawsuit, there is certainly nothing new about courtroom drama, and some of the most compelling courtroom tales have an ancient and venerable pedigree.
A particularly engaging tale of courtroom drama is told in The Life and Times of Constantine the Great, a biography of the Roman emperor by D.G. Kousoulas. During Constantine’s reign, Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria and one of the protagonists in the long-running Arian controversy, was accused by his foes of murder. An inquest of bishops and imperial officials was convened.
At the inquest, the accusers presented their case against Athanasius, and even produced a blackened hand, allegedly that of the victim, Arsenius. Kousoulas describes the scene:
After the accusers had enjoyed a moment of triumph as they passed the blackened hand around, Athanasius asked in a quiet voice if any of those present knew Arsenius personally. A number of bishops claimed to have known the murdered bishop well. Would they recognize him if they saw him, Athanasius asked. Certainly, they replied, "if he were alive." At that point Athanasius signaled to a man who was standing near the doorway, his face covered with his cloak. The man, his face still covered, moved to the front. "Lift your cloak," Athanasius said. The man removed the cloak and [as a contemporary account noted] "lo and behold it was Arsenius himself." Athanasius moved closer and drew first one and then the other sleeve. Aresenius had both of his hands. "Has God given a man more than two hands?" Athanasius asked with a sarcastic smile.
***
For a moment there was stunned silence. Then one of the accusers declared loudly that all this was sorcery and devil’s work. The man was not Arsenius although he had his face, he was not even human but an illusion produced by Athanasius with his knowledge of black magic. Athanasius asked the bishops to come and touch the man he was accused of having murdered. The meeting turned into a brawl, and Dionysius, the imperial officer attending the meeting on orders from Constantine, had to hurry Athanasius out to save his life.