In an interesting and potentially significant February 22, 2010 opinion (here), Southern District of New York Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald denied defendants’ motions to dismiss the plaintiffs’ ’34 Act claims in the Ambac Financial subprime-related securities suit. Judge Buchwald also denied the motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ ’33 Act claims relating to the
Two More Subprime-Related Securities Suits Dismissed
Just when it seemed as if the dismissal motion rulings in the subprime-related securities suits might be breaking more favorably to the plaintiffs, two February 18, 2010 rulings granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss in two separate subprime cases. While only one of the two dismissals was with prejudice, both represent substantial defense victories.
Investors in Failed Georgia Bank File Suit
As the number of failed banks has surged over the past couple of years, one anticipated byproduct has been a corresponding wave of litigation against the failed institutions’ former directors and officers. The thing is, the anticipated wave really has not yet materialized. But nevertheless some suits are coming in, as demonstrated most recently
Congressional Panel Report: Commercial Real Estate Woes Mean More Bank Failures Ahead
After an initial flurry of bank failures in January, the pace of bank closures more recently has slowed. There has been only one failed bank so far in February, and there were none at all this past Friday night, the first failure-free Friday in several weeks. The apparent bank closure slowdown does not, however, mean
Previously Dismissed Credit Suisse Subprime Securities Suit Allowed to Proceed
In an interesting February 11, 2010 decision (here), Southern District of New York Judge Victor Marrero allowed plaintiffs, whose subprime-related securities class action lawsuit Marrero had previously dismissed, leave to file a second amended complaint against Credit Suisse Global and certain of its directors and officers.
Judge Marrero also found the securities
Those Belated Securities Lawsuit Filing Blues, 2010 Edition
One of the most distinctive attributes of the 2009 securities class action lawsuit filings was the prevalence, particularly in the second half of the year, of new lawsuits in which the filing date came well after the date of the proposed class period cutoff. There has been much discussion over the cause of the belated
BofA: Securities Fraud Enforcement and Individual Liability
In a flurry of headline-grabbing events involving Bank of America last Thursday, the SEC announced the renewed settlement of its enforcement suit against the company, while at the same time New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced his office’s initiation of a separate fraud action against the company and two former company officials. These high-profile
BAE Systems Settles Corruption Allegations:
On February 5, 2010, BAE Systems announced (here) that it has entered separate settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Serious Frauds Office, pursuant to which the company will pay a total of nearly $450 million to settle long-standing investigations of improper payments.
Under the U.S. plea deal, the company
Will the SEC’s New Interpretive Guidance Open the Door to Climate Change Disclosure Suits?
On February 2, 2010, the SEC published its interpretive release providing guidance to public companies on the SEC’s existing disclosure requirements as they apply to climate change. The release can be found here. A February 4, 2010 memo from the Gibson Dunn law firm analyzing the SEC’s release can be found here.
Rating Agencies Are Not ’33 Act “Underwriters”
Rating agencies are not susceptible to ’33 Act liability as "underwriters," even if they helped structure the mortgage backed securities at issue, according to February 1, 2010 ruling (here) by Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan in which he dismissed Moody’s and McGraw-Hill (S&P’s parent) from the Lehman Brothers Mortgage-Backed Securities