The facts and circumstances surrounding Bank of America’s credit crisis-induced acquisition of Merrill Lynch remain among the highest profile and most controversial events during the global financial crisis. In a July 29, 2011 opinion (here), Southern District of New York Judge Kevin Castel granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ renewed
Merrill Lynch/BofA Subprime-Related “Double Derivative” Lawsuits Dismissed
In a March 29, 2011 order (here), Southern District of New York Judge Jed Rakoff granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss a pair of subprime-related derivative lawsuits that had been brought against certain directors and officers of Merrill Lynch. Because the plaintiffs — former shareholders of Merrill Lynch who became BofA shareholders at
What Difference Does it Make that Paulson “Instructed” Lewis Not to Disclose the Fed Backstop of the BofA/Merrill Deal?
One of the most interesting aspects of the complicated sequence of events surrounding the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch merger is the suggestion that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson instructed BofA’s CEO Ken Lewis not to disclose to BofA shareholders that the government, in order to keep BofA from backing out of the deal, was backstopping BofA
Are Securities Class Action Opt-Outs Back?
A couple of years ago, a "worrisome trend" developed in securities class action litigation, in which large institutional investors began routinely opting out of plaintiff class to separately pursue their own individual claims under the securities laws. The settlement of these individual opt out actions in many cases rivaled, in the aggregate, the amount of