Overview
In the years following the financial crisis of 2008, we have seen a rapid increase in the amount of litigation surrounding structured financial products and derivatives, particularly residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized debt obligations. Bates White has been involved in many of these litigations, working with government agencies, insurers, and other private sector clients, including hedge fund managers and RMBS Trusts.
Throughout our work on these cases, our experts have applied their extensive experience in areas such as drawing samples of loans for analysis, analyzing the underlying risk of the pools and securities, examining loss causation issues, and estimating current damages and future losses. Our breadth of experience allows us to give our clients a tailored approach to the analysis they need.
Selected Work
- RMBS put-back cases
- Testified on behalf of the Department of Justice to assist in assessing civil penalties relating to UBS AG allegedly making false and misleading statements to buyers of 40 residential mortgage-backed securities relating to the characteristics of the underlying mortgage loans.
- Karl Snow testified on behalf of plaintiffs in Mastr Adjustable Rate Mortgages Trust 2006-OA2 v. UBS Real Estate Securities, an RMBS matter.
- Karl Snow served as a testifying expert on behalf of Residential Funding Company, LLC and the ResCap Liquidating Trust in a number of lawsuits consolidated in Minnesota and New York courts.
- Testified on issues involving sampling, damages, and materiality in a put-back RMBS matter.
- RMBS insurer cases
- In Ambac v. EMC, testified on behalf of Ambac Assurance Corporation (Ambac) in a dispute with JPMorgan Chase over RMBS. Ambac alleged that 11 RMBSs sponsored by EMC Mortgage LLC, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, were knowingly securitized with defective mortgage loans.
- In Syncora Guarantee Inc. v. EMC Mortgage Corp., a case involving mortgage-backed securities, testified regarding the economics of the securitization process, and estimated damages resulting from the alleged failure of the securitization sponsor to repurchase underlying loans that breached various representations and warranties.
- Collateralized Debt Obligations and other structured finance
- Karl Snow provided expert testimony in a breach of contract dispute regarding the assets purchased by the asset manager and trustee of a European Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO).
- Testified regarding the impact of alleged fraud and misrepresentation in the formation of a CDO.