Securities Claims Against Goldman Sachs Over Mortgage-Backed Certificates are Partially Dismissed by Court Due to Lack of Injury

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled that without an injury, a mortgage-backed certificates holder cannot maintain a securities claim against MBS underwriter Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS) and related entities for allegedly misstating the risks involved in the certificates in their registration statement. Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum says that plaintiff NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund knew that the investment it made could be illiquid and, therefore, cannot allege injury based on the certificates hypothetical price on the secondary market at the time of the complaint. The court, however, did deny Goldman’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims brought under the 1933 Securities Act’s Section 12(a)(2) and Section 15.

The Fund had purchased from Goldman a series of MBS certificates with a face value of $390,000 in the initial public offering on Oct. 15, 2007. The fund then bought another series of MBS certificates with a $49,827.56 face value from Goldman, which served as underwriter, creator of the mortgage loan pools, sponsor of the offerings, and issuer of the certificates after securitizing the loans and placing them in trusts.

Per the 1933 Act’s Section 11, the Fund alleged that in the resale market the certificates were valued at somewhere between “‘between 35 and 45 cents on the dollar.” However, instead of alleging that it did not get the distributions it was entitled to, the plaintiff contended that it was exposed to a significantly higher risk than what the Offering Documents represented. The court said that NECA failed to state any allegation of an injury in fact. The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Following the court’s decision, Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Founder and Securities Fraud Attorney William Shepherd said, “It is sad that large and small investors have little clout in the processes of selecting judges. Thus, Wall Street continues to gain advantages in court—especially federal court.”

Related Web Resources:

NECA-IBEW

We represent institutional investors in arbitration and in civil court. Contact our securities fraud law firm to request your free consultation.