Excerpt Of Interview With Stephen Weiss On Auction Rate Securities Class Actions

Seeger Weiss’ founding partner Stephen Weiss was interviewed by a Bloomberg news staff writer to asses the current state of the Auction-Rate security class actions, pending in various courts. An excerpt of the article follows: “…We do not bring cases unless we think there is a very good basis,” said Jerome Congress, a partner with […]

March 17, 2008

Seeger Weiss’ founding partner Stephen Weiss was interviewed by a Bloomberg news staff writer to asses the current state of the Auction-Rate security class actions, pending in various courts. An excerpt of the article follows:

“…We do not bring cases unless we think there is a very good basis,” said Jerome Congress, a partner with Milberg LLP, a New York firm that filed a class action against Citigroup. Milberg was Lerach’s firm when he filed the Enron suit.

Lawyers who have decided to take cases include Stephen A. Weiss of New York-based Seeger Weiss, who estimated damages are “in the many billions of dollars.” Weiss represents clients in 12 of the class actions.

Lower Return

Weiss said the investors received a lower return on their investment than they would have from fixed-rate bonds for the easier ability to sell them. Given the auctions’ failures, the bonds should have paid a higher rate, he said.

Faced with the high penalty-rate interest, some issuers are buying back auction-rate securities. Municipal borrowers have refinanced, converted or indicated they will redeem at least $68 billion of auction bonds by July 7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Some investors such as Bristol-Myers Squib Co. have written down auction-rate investments as required by U.S. accounting rules that could also enable them to reset the value higher if market conditions improve. Companies such as Google Inc. have written down more than $1.8 billion since the market collapse.
The Citigroup cases include LHB Insurance v. Citigroup, 08- cv-3095, and Swanson v. Citigroup, 08-cv-3139, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)…

Read the whole article

Source: Bloomberg.com

Related News

October 3, 2023
Seeger Weiss Announces $425 Million Settlement with AstraZeneca in Proton-Pump Inhibitor Litigation

Seeger Weiss is pleased to announce a landmark $425 million settlement with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in the Proton-Pump Inhibitor Products Liability Litigation. This significant achievement comes on behalf of thousands of consumers who suffered kidney injuries while using proton-pump inhibitor (“PPI”) medications. Founding partner Chris Seeger serves as co-lead counsel with Stephanie O’Connor of Douglas & […]

Read More
October 2, 2023
Seeger Weiss Founder Chris Seeger Awarded Law360 MVP for Product Liability

Seeger Weiss is pleased to announce that founding partner Chris Seeger was honored with a Law360 2023 MVP award for his product liability practice. This prestigious accolade serves as a testament to Chris’ unyielding commitment to holding corporations accountable and pursuing justice for consumers harmed by defective products. Over the course of the past year, […]

Read More
September 22, 2023
Seeger Weiss Represents City of Chicago in New PCB Lawsuit Against Monsanto

Earlier this week, the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Monsanto and other chemical companies seeking damages for widespread contamination of its waterways caused by Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), highly toxic and dangerous chemical compounds known to accumulate in the human body and cause serious health effects. Plaintiffs allege that Monsanto intentionally misled the public […]

Read More