Cartica Management, LLC v. CorpBanca, S.A.

50 F. Supp. 3d 477, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136354, 2014 WL 4804491
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 25, 2014
DocketNo. 14-CV-2258 PKC
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 50 F. Supp. 3d 477 (Cartica Management, LLC v. CorpBanca, S.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cartica Management, LLC v. CorpBanca, S.A., 50 F. Supp. 3d 477, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136354, 2014 WL 4804491 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CASTEL, District Judge.

Plaintiffs (collectively, “Cartiea”) bring this action, alleging that defendants committed securities fraud in connection with, a forthcoming merger of CorpBanca and Banco Itaú Chile. Cartiea asserts claims pursuant to Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “'34 Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b), Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5, Section 13(d) of the '34 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78m, and Rules 13d-l and 13d-5 promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.13d-l and 17 C.F.R. § 240.13d-5, and Section 20(a) of the '34 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78t. Cartiea also asserts a claim for common law fraud. It requests injunctive relief on its federal securities claims, but seeks damages on its [481]*481common law fraud claim. The defendants move to dismiss.

In Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 44 L.Ed.2d 539 (1975), the Supreme Court examined the text of section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 and concluded that a claim could not be asserted by a shareholder who was neither a “purchaser” nor “seller” in relation to the alleged fraud. Blue Chip was decided in the context of a money damages claim and, since then, neither the Supreme Court nor the Second Circuit has decided whether a claim for injunctive relief is subject to the same rule. This Court accepts the District of Columbia Circuit’s reasoning that “[w]hile it may be possible to discern differences between an action for damages and a suit for an injunction, most of the Supreme Court’s argument in Blue Chip applies quite as much to the latter as to the former.” Cowin v. Bresler, 741 F.2d 410, 424 (D.C.Cir.1984). As will be explained, this Court applies the purchaser or seller rule to Cartica’s section 10(b) claim and dismisses that claim.

With respect to Cartica’s section 13(d) claim, there is no purchaser or seller requirement and thus Cartica may assert such a claim. However, on a motion to dismiss, this Court may properly consider the text of the disclosures alleged to be false. Corrective disclosures made by certain defendants foreclose Cartica’s claim for injunctive relief and that claim will be dismissed as well. Because the complaint fails to plead a primary violation, Cartica’s section 20(a) claims are also dismissed. With all federal claims dismissed, the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the common law fraud claims.

I. Background

For the purposes of defendants’ motions, all non-conclusory factual allegations are accepted as true, see Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), and all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the plaintiff as non-movant. See In re Elevator Antitrust Litig., 502 F.3d 47, 50 (2d Cir.2007).

a. Parties

Defendant CorpBanca, S.A. is a publicly-traded company based in Santiago, Chile, organized under the laws of Chile and licensed by the Chilean Superintendency of Banks and Financial Institutions to operate as a commercial bank. (Am. Compl. ¶ 38.) It is subject to the reporting requirements of the Chilean Superintendency of Securities and Insurance and files periodic reports, known as “material fact notices,” with the Superintendency. (Am. Compl. ¶ 39.) CorpBanca shares are traded on the Santiago Stock Exchange and Chilean Electronic Exchange. (Am. Compl. ¶ 39.) CorpBanca’s ADRs are traded on the NYSE under the symbol “BCA.” (Am. Compl. ¶ 40.)

Plaintiff Cartica first purchased Corp-Banca shares in October 2012, apparently extraterritorially. On January 18, 2013, it purchased 1.2 million American Depository Receipts (“ADRs”) in United States transactions during CorpBanca’s public offering.1 (Am. Compl. ¶ 33.) The Cartica funds own approximately 11 billion shares, including common shares and shares rep[482]*482resented by ADRs, representing approximately 3.22% of CorpBanca’s outstanding common stock. (Am. Compl. ¶ 36.)

Defendant Alvaro Saieh Bendeck (“Saieh”) is the Chairman and controlling shareholder of privately-held Corp Group and the controlling shareholder of Corp-Banca through Corp Group and other investments. (Am. Compl. ¶ 43.) As of December 31, 2013, Saieh controlled approximately 50.44% of CorpBanca’s outstanding shares through holding companies, including defendants Corp Group Banking S.A., which holds approximately 45.26% of CorpBanca’s common shares, and Compañía Inmobiliaria y de Inver-siones Saga Limitada (“Saga”), which holds approximately 5.18% of CorpBan-ca’s common shares. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 44, 46-47.) According to CorpBanca’s 2012 20-F form, Saieh held shares with sufficient voting power to approve all forms of corporate action subject to decision by shareholders’ meetings. (Am. Compl. ¶ 45.) Corp Group also has a controlling interest in SMU (Chile’s third-largest supermarket operator), Copesa (a media conglomerate), and real estate and insurance operations. (Am. Compl. ¶ 43.) The Court refers to these defendants collectively as “Corp Group” or the “Corp Group defendants.” Defendants also include directors and officers of CorpBanca. (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 48, 56, 59-60.)

Defendant Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is a publicly-held corporation organized under the laws of Brazil. Itaú’s preferred shares have traded in the form of ADRs on the NYSE, under the symbol “ITUB” since February 2002. Itaú files Form 20-Fs and Form 6-Ks with the SEC. (Am. Compl. ¶ 61.) Defendant Banco Itaú Chile is a subsidiary of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. and is a corporation organized under the laws of Chile. (Am. Compl. ¶ 62.)

b. The Transaction at Issue

CorpBanca and Itaú announced in January 2014 that they entered into a proposed merger agreement (the “Transaction Agreement”). (Am. Compl. ¶ 91.) If the merger is approved, 172 billion new shares of CorpBanca stock will be issued to the shareholders of Banco Itaú Chile. The current shareholders of CorpBanca will retain 66.42% of the shares of the merged bank. After closing, the aggregate number of shares of the merged bank will increase from 340 billion to 512 billion duly subscribed and fully paid shares. (Slocum Decl. Ex. 4.)

Saieh gained a majority interest in CorpBanca in 1996. (Am. Compl. ¶ 63.) He does not have sufficient voting power to approve the proposed merger, which requires a vote of two-thirds or more shareholders. (Am. Compl. ¶ 138.)

SMU, the supermarket operator controlled by Corp Group, lost $720 million in the first nine months of 2013. SMU disclosed accounting errors and increased its stated liabilities in a restatement. (Am. Compl. ¶ 70.) Saieh fired 7,000 SMU employees, returned as chairman of SMU’s board, and injected $300 million into the chain, 60% of which were from his personal funds. (Am. Compl. ¶ 71.)

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50 F. Supp. 3d 477, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136354, 2014 WL 4804491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cartica-management-llc-v-corpbanca-sa-nysd-2014.