In a April 26, 2010 opinion (here) that could have significant implications for motions to dismiss in the many subprime-related securities actions pending against the rating agencies, Southern District of New York Judge Schira Scheindlin rejected the arguments of Moody’s and S&P that the action investors in the Rhinebridge structured investment vehicle (SIV)
Shareholders Launch Follow-on Securities Lawsuit Against Goldman Sachs
The SEC’s high-profile enforcement action against Goldman Sachs and one of its investment bankers may or may not revitalize the waning subprime and credit crisis-related litigation wave, but it has at least sparked an outbreak of follow on civil litigation against Goldman Sachs.
According to their April 26, 2010 press release (here)
Plaintiffs Substantially Prevail in Two Subprime Lawsuit Dismissal Motion Rulings
The conventional view is that plaintiffs may be faring poorly in many of the subprime-related cases. However, plaintiffs have in fact been doing relatively better in ’33 Act claims brought by purchasers of mortgage-backed securities. A recent ruling in the Wells Fargo Mortgage-Backed Certificates Litigation, in which a significant number of plaintiffs’ claims survived the defendants’ motions
Countrywide Reportedly Settles Subprime-Related Securities Lawsuit for $600 Million
In the largest subprime-related securities suit settlement to date, Countrywide Financial has reached an agreement to pay $600 million to settle the securities class action pending against the company and certain of its directors and officers, according to an April 23, 2010 article by Gabe Friedman in The Daily Journal (here, subscription required). The
Schwab Settles Subprime-Related Securities Suit for $200 Million
In one of the most substantial settlements to date to arise out of the subprime-related securities litigation wave, the parties to the consolidated Schwab YieldPlus securities class action lawsuit have reached an agreement to settle the case for $200 million, according to an April 20, 2010 press release from The Charles Schwab Corporation. The
O.K., So The SEC Sued Goldman Sachs – Now What?
The SEC’s blockbuster announcement last Friday of its civil enforcement action against Goldman Sachs and one of its investment bankers rocked the securities markets and made headlines in the financial press around the world. Undoubtedly because of Goldman’s prominence and perhaps also because of the nature of the allegations, the SEC’s action is widely seen
Congress, the Credit Crisis, and Culprits
Congressional fact-finding hearings are generally unedifying spectacles, involving as they do the weird rite of ritual public witness humiliation and accomplishing little except the suggestion of troubling questions about the kind of person who manages to get elected to Congress. Some might say that the series of hearings about Wall Street and the Financial Crisis recently launched
Surge in Rulings in Subprime-Related Securities Cases Continues
The sudden upsurge in the number of subprime and credit crisis-related securities lawsuit dismissal motion rulings, noted in yesterday’s post, is continuing. As outlined below, courts in four separate cases also recently issued rulings. Each of the cases involved ’33 Act claims brought by purchasers of mortgage-backed securities. In each case, a part of the
A Cascade of Subprime Securities Suit Dismissal Motion Rulings
I was only away from the office for a few days last week, but while I was away, an absolute cascade of dismissal motion rulings in subprime and credit crisis-related securities cases arrived. A number of the rulings were sufficiently favorable to the defendants that Alison Frankel commented in an April 1, 2010 article in
Courts Reject Hindsight Assessments, Dismiss Subprime Securities Suits
In recent decisions in separate subprime-related securities class action lawsuits reflecting a common unwillingness to engage in "backward looking assessments," two different Southern District of New York judges granted defendants’ motions to dismiss. In each of the cases, the judge’s recognition of the extent of the financial crisis played into their rulings, and in the