Tenth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Securities Act Claims Against Banks That Underwrote Stock of Failed Mortgage Lender

RMBS

On July 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order dismissing claims brought by investors against banks that had underwritten a mortgage lender’s stock offerings. Slater v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., No. 11-2170, 2013 WL 3390038 (10th Cir. Jul. 9, 2013). The lender, which focused on the adjustable-rate mortgage market, attempted to raise new capital through a series of stock offerings in 2007 and 2008 before filing for bankruptcy in 2009. Investors in those offerings filed suit after the stock price dropped following the lender’s disclosure that it had been subject to margin calls triggered by a decline in the value of certain Alt-A mortgages that backed securities the lender had purchased. The investors alleged that documents related to the offerings violated Section 11 of the Securities Act because they did not disclose, among other things, the existence of the Alt-A MBS. In affirming dismissal of the claims against the underwriters, the Tenth Circuit concluded that plaintiffs had not alleged “an actionable misrepresentation or omission at the time of [the] stock offerings.” The court explained that the lender was not under any obligation to disclose the MBS to make its statements true and accurate, and that the picture it provided was materially accurate, in part because the prospectus warned that the lender’s liquidity conditions could worsen.