Similar to In re: Lehman Mortgage-Backed Securities Litigation (a discussion of the decision can be found here), the complaints in both Tsereteli and Indymac alleged that the Ratings Agencies were “underwriters” within the meaning of Section 11(a)(5) of the Securities Act and “sellers” within the meaning of Section 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Given the similarities in the legal theories alleged by the plaintiffs in all three cases, Judge Kaplan granted the motions to dismiss in both Tsereteli and Indymac for the reasons stated in his written opinion for In re: Lehman Mortgage-Backed Securities Litigation.
Two More Dismissals of Securities Act Lawsuits Against Rating Agencies
Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted McGraw Hill and Moody’s (together, the “Ratings Agencies”) motions to dismiss in both Tsereteli v. Residential Asset Securitization Trust 2006-A8 et al. and In re: IndyMac Securities Litigation — but without issuing detailed written opinions.