In an unpublished per curiam opinion dated May 24, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the credit crisis-related securities class action lawsuit pending against certain former officers of the bankrupt mortgage REIT, HomeBanc. A copy of the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion can be found here.
Confidential Witness Statements Lead to Dismissal Motion Denial in Regions Financial Subprime Securities Lawsuit
In a decision that largely turned on detailed confidential witness statements, on June 7, 2011, Northern District of Alabama Judge Inge Prytz Johnson denied the motions to dismiss in the Regions Financial Corporation subprime-related securities lawsuit. This ruling is the latest of a series of decisions involving the company. The June7 ruling can be found
Oppenheimer Settles Subprime-Related Fund Securities Suits for $100 Million
The parties to two of the consolidated subprime-related securities lawsuits pending against Oppenheimer Funds have settled the case for a total of $100 million. This settlement has a number of interesting features, as discussed further below, including in particular aspects of the allocation of the total settlement amount between the two consolidated fund actions. The
Second Circuit Holds Rating Agencies Cannot Be Held Liable as ’33 Act Underwriters
In a May 11, 2011 opinion (here), a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of rating agency defendants in litigation filed under the Securities Act of 1933 and involving mortgage-related securities issues by Lehman Brothers and IndyMac and the Residential Asset Securitization Trust (RUST). The Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s
Catching up on Rulings in Key Subprime-Related Securities Cases
Over the last few days, there have been a series of rulings in high-profile lawsuits arising out of the subprime meltdown and credit crisis. As discussed below, just in the past week there were dismissal motion rulings in cases involving Freddie Mac, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, and AIG. Though some or all of the claims in these cases
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
Credit Suisse Subprime Securities Suit Settled for $70 Million
In resolution of a securities case that at one time had actually been dismissed and that even after being revived was substantially narrowed based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Morrison decision, the parties to the Credit Suisse subprime-related securities class action lawsuit have reached a settlement by which the company has agreed to pay the
Prior Years’ Filing Trends Carry Over as 2011’s First Credit Crisis Securities Suit Arrives
The filing of new subprime meltdown and credit crisis-related securities suits dwindled as 2010 progressed, which some commentators interpreted to suggest that the litigation filing phenomenon might finally have run its course. But though we have now begun the fifth year since the first subprime-related securities suit arrived in February 2007, it appears the process
Puerto-Rican Bank Settles Subprime-Related Securities Suit
According to Popular, Inc.’s January 27, 2011 press release (here), the Puerto Rican bank holding company has reached an agreement in principle to settle the subprime related securities lawsuit pending against the company, as well as in the related ERISA lawsuit. The securities suit has settled for $37.5 million, and the ERISA suit
Interview with Max Berger of Bernstein Litowitz on Current Securities Litigation Trends
In recent days, I have published a series of posts with analysis of and commentary on recent trends in securities class action litigation. As part of this continuing series of posts, I thought it would be useful to include commentary from the plaintiffs’ perspective. With that in mind, I reached out to Max Berger at