March 20, 2013
A Bransten Trio Join Judicial Chorus on Misrepresentation
Justice Bransten, a judge in the Commercial Division of the N.Y. S. Supreme (trial) Court, issued three similar decisions last week denying motions to dismiss lawsuits by Allstate over its purchase of hundreds of millions of dollars of MBS. The net result is that various Deutsche Bank, BoA’s Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley entities must continue to face allegations of fraud relating to those purchases.
In the Deutsche Bank case, the court rejected “the notion that defendants are immunized from liability because the Offering Materials generally disclosed that the representations were based on information provided by the originators.” (22)
The court also found that “defendants can be held liable for promoting the securities based upon the high ratings from the credit rating agencies, if, as alleged, thy knew the ratings were based on false information provided to the agencies.” (22) Finally, the court found that “Defendants’ occasional disclaimers cannot be invoked to excuse the wholesale abandonment of underwriting standards and practices.” (24-25)
Justice Bransten joins a growing chorus of judges who reject the notion that vague disclosures can protect parties who engage in rampant misrepresentation. One wonders how this body of law will impact the behavior of Wall Street firms during the next boom.
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