In the most recent development in Cohen v. Capital One Funding LLC [1], a case seeking to certify a class asserting that New York State’s usury laws can apply to securitized credit card debts, Capital One-affiliated defendants have prevailed in their efforts to have the claims dismissed. Plaintiffs sought to apply New York’s statutory caps
Noteworthy Cases
Five Banks Settle LIBOR Manipulation Suit for $22 Million
Last week, Judge Naomi Buchwald of the Southern District of New York provided final approval of a nearly $22 million settlement between a class of indirect investors and five Wall Street banks that the plaintiff investors accused of manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in violation of the Sherman Act. The plaintiffs are over-the-counter…
Kirschner v. JPMorgan Chase Bank: Case Update
In a previous post, we discussed Kirschner v. JPMorgan Chase Bank,[1] an action in which the trustee of bankrupt Millennium Labs brought state law securities fraud claims on behalf of a group of “approximately 400 mutual funds, pension funds, universities, [CLO]s and other institutional investors,” against banks that organized a $1.765 billion syndicated…
Do US-Style Securities Class Actions Have a UK Future?
Until 2010, securities fraud class actions pursued in American federal courts dominated the means by which investors sought redress for alleged fraud committed around the world. Securities fraud litigation in non-U.S. legal systems was fraught with risks, such as fee-shifting rules and limited precedent. However, once the U.S. Supreme Court decided Morrison v. National Australia…
Jury Acquits Lead Defendant in $2 Billion Mozambican Loan Fraud Trial
In the latest development in a prosecution previously covered on this blog, Privinvest Group executive Jean Boustani was acquitted of all charges on Dec. 2 by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, following a six-week trial.
The case centered on nearly $2 billion in loans from Credit…
Capital Markets Litigation Team Defeats Jurisdictional Challenge to Ponzi Scheme Dispute
Lowenstein Sandler’s Capital Markets Litigation team recently defeated a fund administrator’s renewed motion to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, a second key victory in an action for common law fraud, securities fraud, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations, among other claims. The plaintiffs, investors in a tax lien fund, seek to recoup millions of…
Capital One Affiliates Seek Dismissal of Usury Putative Class Action
In the latest development in one of two federal cases examining whether New York usury laws can limit the interest rates charged on credit card debts that are securitized, the Capital One affiliate defendants have moved to dismiss the action brought by plaintiff credit card holders. The plaintiffs alleged that their interest rates, ranging from…
Second Circuit Gives Green Light to Foreign Litigants Seeking Discovery in the U.S.
As cross-border business continues to grow, litigation too is increasingly crossing borders. In a recent decision addressing several issues of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit opted to aid international litigants, interpreting Section 1782 of Chapter 28 of the United States Code to allow discovery in aid of foreign proceedings…
Credit Card ABS: Securitization and State Usury Laws
Consumer lending as we know it today – and credit card lending in particular – depend on securitization for significant access to capital. However, the ability of banks to bundle and sell credit card debt-backed securities may be thrown into disarray depending on the outcomes of a pair of pending cases: Cohen v. Capital One…
Syndicated Loans: Have They Been Securities All Along?
In a case pending in federal court in New York, Kirschner v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 17-cv-06334-PGG (S.D.N.Y.), a bankruptcy trustee may upend what has long been accepted wisdom on Wall Street: securities laws apply to stocks, bonds, equity options, and the like – but not to syndicated loans.
Kirschner is brought by the…