Even though substantial parts of the case have been knocked out, at least one part of the auction rate securities case filed against Raymond James Financial and related entities has survived a renewed dismissal motion, making it the first of the auction rate securities cases to survive the preliminary motions – even if it only
Subprime Litigation: Something Old, Something New?
As the subprime litigation wave has churned on, many of the more recently filed lawsuits have been similar to previously filed suits. But amidst the repetition, there has also been some innovation, or at least variation, as a result of which the subprime litigation wave has continued to evolve. Two recently filed subprime and credit
Auction Rate Securities: Thaw or False Spring?
After New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced (here) earlier today that Citigroup had agreed to a blockbuster settlement regarding auction rate securities, it certainly seemed like the deal would put pressure on other investment banks to adopt similar measures. So perhaps it was not unexpected later in the day that Merrill Lynch
Variations on the Subprime Lawsuit Theme
The subprime litigation wave has been rolling along for well over a year, so it might be expected that by now we have seen many of the likely litigation variations. I suspect there are hosts of new variations yet to come, but the most recent subprime-related lawsuits are substantially similar to prior lawsuits. Yet each
Auction Rate Preferred Securities: What’s Next in Subprime Litigation
Next up as targets in the ever-growing wave of subprime-related class action lawsuits are closed-end funds that issued auction preferred securities. The auction marketplace for these securities, like the market for auction rate municipal bonds, has broken down, and investors who bought the securities are now suing the closed end funds that issued the instruments.
Securities Lawsuit Filings Surge in March
Driven by the growing wave of subprime-related litigation (particularly a spate of auction rate securities lawsuits), the number of new securities class action lawsuit filings surged in March 2008. The total number of new securities class action lawsuit filings — 25 – matches the number of new filings in November 2007, which in turn represented