On November 7, 2017, Judge David C. Godbey of the Northern District of Texas denied a motion for class certification in a litigation against Simpson Thacher’s client, The Toronto-Dominion Bank (“TD Bank”), seeking recovery of $4.5 billion in damages in connection with the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Allen Stanford. Class plaintiffs sought certification of a class of over 17,000 investors in certificates of deposit issued by Stanford International Bank, Ltd. and alleged that TD Bank and four other banks aided and abetted Mr. Stanford by provided banking services to his companies.
Judge Godbey denied class certification, ruling that class plaintiffs had failed to show that common issues of fact would predominate because potential class members received varying sales presentations.
The decision has received prominent media coverage in The Am Law Litigation Daily. To read The Am Law Litigation Daily article, click here (subscription required).
The Simpson Thacher team included Lynn Neuner, Peter Kazanoff, Kassie Helm, Courtney Welshimer, Kavitha Sivashanker, Joshua Polster, Francis Acott, Matthew Bricker, Nathaniel Bronstein and Christopher Lee.