Friday, April 5, 2013

BofA, Regions Suggestion of Judicial Notice


From: RDShatt@aol.com
To: mwb@blbglaw.com, steven@blbglaw.com, rkaplan@kaplanfox.com, ffox@kaplanfox.com, dkessler@ktmc.com, gcastaldo@ktmc.com, bkarp@paulweiss.com, dkramer@paulweiss.com, asoloway@paulweiss.com
Sent: 4/4/2013 8:49:47 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Bank of America Corp., SDNY Master File No. 09 MDL 2058 (PKC)

United States District Court
Southern District of New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10007-1312
IN RE BANK OF AMERICA CORP. Master File No. 09 MDL 2058 (PKC)
SECURITIES, DERIVATIVE, AND
EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME
SECURITY ACT (ERISA) LITIGATION
:::::
ECF CASE

Suggestion of Judicial Notice
To the Honorable United States District Court of the Southern District of New York:
I am an amicus objector in this case and have previously sent to the Court by U.S. mail my amicus objection, which I have supplemented with a letter to the Court dated March 26, 2013.
I urge that the Court take judicial notice of the below Reuters news report to the effect that Judge Stein "questions [the] fairness" and will not "rubber-stamp" the settlement in In re Citigroup Securities Litigation Master File No. 07 MDL CIV 9901 (SHS), which is also pending in the Southern District of New York and has a fairness hearing scheduled for Monday, April 8, 2013.
Judge questions fairness of Citigroup $590 million settlement
By Jonathan Stempel
Mon Apr 1, 2013 7:28pm EDT

(Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge on Monday signaled he will not rubber-stamp Citigroup Inc's proposed $590 million settlement of a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets. 
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein asked lawyers for the bank and its shareholders to address several issues at an April 8 fairness hearing, including requested legal fees and expenses of roughly $100 million, and the absence of payments by former Citigroup executives.

Citigroup spokesman Mark Costiglio declined to comment. Peter Linden, a partner at the law firm Kirby McInerney who represents the shareholders, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Stein joined other judges in recent years to question the fairness of large legal settlements in the financial industry.

Citigroup awaits a decision from the federal appeals court in New York on whether Stein's colleague Jed Rakoff properly rejected a $285 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged defrauding of investors.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan cited that case in delaying a decision to approve the SEC's $602 million insider trading settlement with a unit of Steven Cohen's hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LP.

The $590 million settlement resolved claims by Citigroup shareholders from February 26, 2007 to April 18, 2008 that the bank failed in those years to properly write down risky debt, often backed by subprime mortgages, and concealed the risks.

Citigroup lost $27.68 billion in 2008, and by March 2009 its market value had sunk roughly $250 billion from the start of the class period. The shareholder settlement is separate from a $730 million accord with bondholders last month.

According to court papers, the shareholder settlement also resolved claims against several former top Citigroup officials, including Chief Executive Charles Prince and senior adviser Robert Rubin. Stein asked whether this was proper.
"Does the absence of any payments from the individual defendants render the settlement unfair to class members who still hold the Citigroup stock they purchased during the class period?" he asked both sides to address.
Stein also asked for more information, including how much a reasonable client would pay to justify fees for lead counsel and other lawyers equal to 16.5 percent of the settlement amount, or about $97.4 million, plus $2.8 million for expenses.
The judge asked both sides to address questions about how settlement funds would be allocated.
Lead plaintiffs included several former employees and directors of Automated Trading Desk Inc, which Citigroup bought in October 2007 for about $680 million.
The case is In re: Citigroup Inc Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 07-09901.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
I am sending paper copies of this email by US mail to the Court and to the counsel for the parties in this case as specified in the Notice, as well as sending this email electronically to such counsel per the above email addresses.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Shattuck
3812 Spring Valley Circle
Birmingham, AL 25223
(205) 967-5586


From: RDShatt@aol.com
To: jbernstein@labaton.com, rcs@cabaniss.com, pfruin@maynardcooper.com, blatham@bassberry.com, larry.polk@sutherland.com, kevinlogue@paulhastings.com
Sent: 4/4/2013 8:55:31 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: In re Regions Morgan Keegan Closed-End Fund Litigation, No. 07-cv-02830 SHM dkvVIA US MAIL
Clerk of the Court
United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Clifford Davis/Odell Horton Federal Building
167 North Main Street, Room 242
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
Re: In re Regions Morgan Keegan Closed-End Fund Litigation, No. 07-cv-02830 SHM dkv
Suggestion of Judicial Notice
To the Honorable United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee:
I am an amicus objector in this case and have previously sent to the Court by U.S. mail my amicus objection, which I have supplemented with a letter to the Court dated March 29, 2013.
I urge that the Court take judicial notice of the below Reuters news report to the effect that Judge Stein "questions [the] fairness" and will not "rubber-stamp" the settlement in In re Citigroup Securities Litigation Master File No. 07 MDL CIV 9901 (SHS), which is pending in the Southern District of New York and has a fairness hearing scheduled for Monday, April 8, 2013.

Judge questions fairness of Citigroup $590 million settlement
By Jonathan Stempel
Mon Apr 1, 2013 7:28pm EDT

(Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge on Monday signaled he will not rubber-stamp Citigroup Inc's proposed $590 million settlement of a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein asked lawyers for the bank and its shareholders to address several issues at an April 8 fairness hearing, including requested legal fees and expenses of roughly $100 million, and the absence of payments by former Citigroup executives.

Citigroup spokesman Mark Costiglio declined to comment. Peter Linden, a partner at the law firm Kirby McInerney who represents the shareholders, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Stein joined other judges in recent years to question the fairness of large legal settlements in the financial industry.

Citigroup awaits a decision from the federal appeals court in New York on whether Stein's colleague Jed Rakoff properly rejected a $285 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the alleged defrauding of investors.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan cited that case in delaying a decision to approve the SEC's $602 million insider trading settlement with a unit of Steven Cohen's hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors LP.

The $590 million settlement resolved claims by Citigroup shareholders from February 26, 2007 to April 18, 2008 that the bank failed in those years to properly write down risky debt, often backed by subprime mortgages, and concealed the risks.

Citigroup lost $27.68 billion in 2008, and by March 2009 its market value had sunk roughly $250 billion from the start of the class period. The shareholder settlement is separate from a $730 million accord with bondholders last month.

According to court papers, the shareholder settlement also resolved claims against several former top Citigroup officials, including Chief Executive Charles Prince and senior adviser Robert Rubin. Stein asked whether this was proper.
"Does the absence of any payments from the individual defendants render the settlement unfair to class members who still hold the Citigroup stock they purchased during the class period?" he asked both sides to address.
Stein also asked for more information, including how much a reasonable client would pay to justify fees for lead counsel and other lawyers equal to 16.5 percent of the settlement amount, or about $97.4 million, plus $2.8 million for expenses.
The judge asked both sides to address questions about how settlement funds would be allocated.
Lead plaintiffs included several former employees and directors of Automated Trading Desk Inc, which Citigroup bought in October 2007 for about $680 million.
The case is In re: Citigroup Inc Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 07-09901.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
I am sending paper copies of this email by US mail to the Court and to the counsel for the parties in this case as specified in the Notice, as well as sending this email electronically to such counsel per the above email addresses.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Shattuck
3812 Spring Valley Circle
Birmingham, AL 25223
(205) 967-5586
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