The firm obtained a substantial victory on behalf of Paul, Weiss client The Bank of New York Mellon, when the New York Appellate Division, First Department, dismissed all of the remaining claims asserted against BNYM in its capacity as indenture trustee for certain notes issued by the predecessor to LyondellBasell, the world's third largest chemical company. The noteholders, who sought approximately $1 billion in purported damages, claimed that BNYM had violated its duties as indenture trustee by allowing LyondellBasell to issue, in connection with Basell's acquisition of Lyondell, an additional $20 billion in debt senior to the notes. 

Paul, Weiss client Bank of America Corporation (BofA) and several of its directors and officers achieved a victory in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York. Judge P. Kevin Castel granted the defendants' motions to dismiss two derivative actions alleging, among other things, that BofA's directors and officers breached their fiduciary duties and were unjustly enriched in connection with BofA's 2008 acquisitions of Countrywide Financial Corporation and Merrill Lynch & Co.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich issued a decision dismissing, with prejudice, common law fraud and other claims brought against Paul, Weiss client UBS Limited and other UBS entities. Plaintiffs, investors in several CDOs issued by UBS in 2007, alleged that UBS and other defendants designed the CDOs, comprised of residential mortgage-backed securities, for their own benefit in order to profit from the impending collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Plaintiffs further alleged that UBS, along with the collateral manager for one of the CDOs, failed to disclose the improper role of a CDO short investor in selecting assets for the CDO. 

Judge Thomas P. Griesa of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order granting our motion to dismiss a shareholder derivative complaint filed against certain current and former members of Citigroup's Board. In the complaint, plaintiff alleged that Citigroup's directors breached their fiduciary duties in connection with Citigroup's processing of mortgage foreclosures, and that Citigroup suffered liability and reputational harm as a result.  Judge Griesa dismissed the complaint without prejudice.

Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted our motion to dismiss a complaint filed against Citigroup by Woori Bank asserting claims arising out of its purchase of $95 million of collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs") backed by subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. In its complaint, Woori Bank alleged that Citigroup fraudulently and negligently misrepresented the quality of assets underlying the CDOs and the process of vetting and selecting assets. Judge Swain dismissed the complaint for failure to plead an actionable misrepresentation or omission under Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). 

Paul, Weiss achieved a major victory for Citigroup against seven Norwegian municipalities. In 2009, the Municipalities, along with their broker and financial advisor, Terra Securities, filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI) and Citigroup Alternative Investments LLC (CAI), claiming that CGMI and CAI had misrepresented some of the risks associated with fund-linked notes linked to a hedge fund managed by CAI. In 2007, Terra purchased the Notes from a Citigroup company in London and agreed to distribute them only to sophisticated investors.

As reported by The American Lawyer, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously affirmed a grant of summary judgment entered by Justice O. Peter Sherwood of the New York Supreme Court in favor of our client, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Plaintiff Amaranth LLC, a hedge fund that spectacularly imploded in September 2006 after losing billions of dollars within a matter of weeks, alleged that JPMorgan tortiously interfered with a potential natural gas futures transaction between Amaranth and Citadel Investment Group when JPMorgan purportedly made a defamatory statement to Citadel that impugned Amaranth's creditworthiness.

In an opinion written by Judge John Walker, Jr., a panel of the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of a suit brought by employees of Citigroup over losses they incurred by investing their retirement funds in Citigroup stock. The Second Circuit became the sixth appellate court to hold that ERISA fiduciaries are entitled to a presumption of prudence regarding their decisions to continue to allow plan investments in employer stock. The Second Circuit also held that plan fiduciaries do not have an affirmative duty to disclose to plan participants non-public information regarding the expected performance of company stock.

Justice O. Peter Sherwood of the New York Supreme Court granted summary judgment to our client, JPMorgan Chase & Co., dismissing the sole remaining claim asserted by Amaranth LLC, a hedge fund that spectacularly imploded in September 2006 after losing billions of dollars within a matter of weeks.

Paul, Weiss achieved a victory in the Appellate Division, Second Department for our client OneWest Bank, FSB, successfully obtaining a reversal of a decision issued by Justice Jeffrey A. Spinner of the New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County. In a widely-publicized decision last year, Justice Spinner took the unprecedented step of voiding and cancelling a borrower's mortgage and note, as well as vacating a previously entered judgment of foreclosure and sale. Paul, Weiss successfully argued that no such basis existed for the unprecedented relief awarded, and that reversal was warranted based on multiple legal grounds.