Dismissal of Double Derivative Delaware Securities Lawsuits Over The Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Merger is Affirmed by the Second Circuit

美国第二巡回上诉法院已确认Lambrecht v. O’Neal和Sollins v. O’Neal，两项双重派生行动，是根据特拉华州法律提出的美国银行公司（BAC）和its subsidiary美林林奇公司The cases were brought by Merrill shareholders contending wrongdoing. (Because Bank of America acquired Merrill, following the stock-for-stock swap, these shareholders are now BofA shareholders.)

这些行动是试图使美国银行董事会要求Merrill提起诉讼的一些官员，以涉嫌进行鲁ck的投资。发现这些行动是美林经历了前所未有的损失的结果bob200体育根据特拉华州法律。法院在索尔林斯说，原告的前任利益提交了该诉讼，而没有对董事会提出要求，但并不要求徒劳。至于兰布雷希特的行动，尽管该诉讼对美国银行董事会提出了三项要求，但并未证明该银行错误地否认了对前美林官员提出索赔的要求。

The Second Circuit, in its unpublished summary order, said that it sees no error in the rulings made by the district court. The appeals court noted that while Sollins suggested that Bank of America was “complicit” in Merrill’s alleged pre-merger wrongdoing involving the subprime market by letting the latter issue bonuses at 2007 levels, consenting to indemnify Merrill directors over pre-merger wrongdoing, approving the merger without figuring out Merrill’s growing losses, sealing the deal despite serious misgivings about the firm’s financial state, and not doing a good enough job of notifying investors about losses, his arguments are not properly placed. The district court was therefore correct in stating that the plaintiff cannot “boostrap” his claims against Merrill related to the subprime market onto the merger-related allegations against Bank of America to get around the demand request.

上诉法院还指出，美国银行公司公司的文章中的一项规定保护其董事。它还拒绝了索尔林斯的需求徒劳论点，与美林在2008年的雇员奖金约为34亿美元。

至于兰布雷希特案，上诉法院说，根据《商业判断规则》审查了决定不对股东需求采取行动的董事会，该规则确定了公司的董事在做出决策时以食品信仰的行为行为。第二巡回法院说，克服这一推定将要求原告完成表明不提起案件的任务是出于恶意的决定，或者是由于不合理的调查做出的决定，而Lambrecht的案件未能做到这一点。

“This case demonstrates some of the difficulties in pursuing claims against corporations, their management and their directors under Delaware law,” saidShepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP founder and stockbroker fraud lawyer William Shepherd.

Lambrecht v. O’Neal（PDF）

Dismissal of Del. Law. Suits Over Merger of BofA, Merrill Affirmed, New York Law Journal, December 5, 2012

更多的博客文章:
SEC Intends to Examine 25% of Investment Advisers That Had To Register, Per Dodd-Frank Act, by End of 2014，股票经纪人欺诈博客，2012年12月26日

SEC Clawback Lawsuit Against Two Former Arthrocare Corp. Executives Over Fraud Scheme Can Proceed, Says District Court in Texas, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 24, 2012
McGraw Hills, Moody’s, & Standard & Poor’s Can’t Be Held Liable by Ohio Pension Funds for Allegedly Flawed MBS Ratings, Affirms Sixth Circuit, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, December 20, 2012