Berman DeValerio has negotiated a $340 million proposed settlement of class-action claims against six underwriters of IndyMac mortgage-backed securities who were accused of misleading investors in offering documents.
The application to provide notice of the proposed settlement to class members, filed Sept. 11 in a New York federal court, would result in the one of the largest federal class-action recoveries for investors in mortgage-backed securities, or MBS. Berman DeValerio represents the lead plaintiffs in the matter, the Wyoming State Treasurer’s Office and the Wyoming Retirement System.
If approved by the Court, the settlement would resolve claims that the offering materials for 50 MBS offerings issued by now-defunct IndyMac Bank contained untrue statements because they mischaracterized the underwriting practices used to originate and acquire the underlying loans.
“We are extremely satisfied with this settlement, which offers a meaningful remedy for investors,” said Nicole Lavallee, managing partner of Berman DeValerio’s San Francisco office.
In addition to Ms. Lavallee, Berman DeValerio attorneys representing the Wyoming funds included Joseph J. Tabacco, Jr., Patrick T. Egan, Jay Eng and Anthony D. Phillips.
The State Treasurer’s Office and Wyoming Retirement System are court-appointed lead plaintiffs in the class action, which was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of IndyMac MBS offerings issued in 2006 and 2007. The Office of the Wyoming Attorney General is also overseeing the litigation.
The underwriter defendants in the case are Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. (in its own right and as successor-in-interest to Bear Stearns & Co., Inc.), RBS Securities, Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and UBS Securities LLC. The class action settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is overseeing the case.
The agreement, if approved, will bring the total value of IndyMac MBS settlements to $346 million. A $6 million partial settlement with former officers and directors of IndyMac was approved in December 2012.
The case is In re IndyMac Mortgage-Backed Securities Litigation, Master Docket No. 09 Civ. 04583 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y.).
*In August 2017, our firm name changed to Berman Tabacco. Case references and content published before that date may refer to the firm under our prior name, Berman DeValerio.