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Last week, Governor Cuomo signed into law a bill to amend the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”) to extend the statute of limitations to six years for financial fraud claims brought under the Martin Act.  One of the strongest blue sky laws in the country, New York’s Martin Act gives wide latitude to the state’s Attorney General to investigate and prosecute financial fraud, both criminally and civilly.  The statute is a particularly useful weapon in the state’s arsenal, as it does not require the Attorney General to prove scienter, or fraudulent intent, in order to prevail.
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Continue Reading New York Legislature Extends Statute of Limitations for Martin Act Claims

On December 7, New York Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten dismissed a $500 million lawsuit against UBS AG (“UBS”) brought by Ace Decade Holdings Limited (“Ace Decade”), a British Virgin Islands company, for lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens.  Ace Decade alleged that UBS fraudulently induced it to invest in shares of…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a trial court’s dismissal of the National Credit Union Administration’s (NCUA’s) residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) fraud claims against Nomura Home Equity Loan Inc.  The appellate court held that the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) extended all applicable deadlines for…

Last week, a German regional court in Braunschweig ordered that shareholder litigation against Volkswagen AG proceed to a German court of appeals.  The 170 separate shareholder suits allege that Volkswagen defrauded investors when it concealed that the company falsified emissions data in 11 million of its diesel vehicles.   Together, the suits bring claims of nearly…

Financial services companies and their directors and officers are frequently the target of lawsuits alleging dishonest or fraudulent conduct.  Additionally, federal and state agencies increasingly target directors and officers for misconduct in the management of corporations and are devoting significant resources to investigating companies in the finance sector.

When properly structured, insurance provides one way…

On May 23, 2016, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a judgment which dismissed antitrust claims against 16 big banks.  The plaintiffs’ claims arose from the alleged manipulation of what has been called “the world’s most important number”—the London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), a primary benchmark for global short-term interest rates.  According to the…

On March 14, almost six months after Volkswagen AG (“VW”) admitted to installing software in its diesel vehicles to cheat emissions testing, VW was hit with a $3.6 billion lawsuit in Germany.  The case was filed in Braunschweig on behalf of 278 institutional investors, including investors from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg…

Companies engaged in the capital markets are at risk of claims and lawsuits alleging investment mismanagement and other misconduct.  For this reason, they typically purchase directors and officers liability (“D&O”) insurance policies to provide a defense against, and indemnification for, allegations of wrongful acts in the course of their delivery of financial services.  To ensure…

The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of Commerzbank AG’s fraud claims concerning a collapsed structured investment vehicle against Morgan Stanley on February 23.  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pub. Sch. Employees’ Ret. Sys. v. Morgan Stanley & Co., No. 13-2095-CV (2d Cir. Feb. 23, 2016).

The case has had a rather convoluted procedural history.  Commerzbank brought the…

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently announced two major decisions.  First, for cases registered on and after January 1, 2016, the Court will now publish on its website the names of the arbitrators sitting in ICC cases, their nationality, whether the appointment was made by the Court or by the parties, and which…