Cellular South, Inc. v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.

886 F. Supp. 2d 340
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided August 13, 2012·No. No. 10 Civ. 2653(LAP); No. 09 MD 2030 (LAP)·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LORETTA A. PRESKA, Chief Judge:

Plaintiff, Cellular South, Inc. (“Cellular South” or “Plaintiff’), brings this action alleging federal and state causes of action against Defendant Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“Merrill”). The action alleges that Defendant’s activities related to certain auction rate securities (“ARS”) purchased by Plaintiff ran afoul of the law. Merrill served as the underwriter, placement agent, and auction dealer of the relevant ARS at issue in this case. Merrill moves to dismiss the First Amended Complaint (“Compl.”) under Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b) and 12(b)(6) as well as Section 21D(b) of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b) (the “PSLRA”).

Taking as true the factual allegations in the complaint and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiff, Goldstein v. [343] Pataki 516 F.3d 50, 56 (2d Cir.2008), the Court concludes that the complaint fails to state a claim. For the reasons stated below, Merrill’s motion to dismiss is therefore granted in its entirety and with prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff alleges that between August 13, 2007 and January 25, 2008, it purchased from Merrill some $26 million worth of various ARS. (See Compl. ¶¶ 1, 42.) These purchases included an August 2007 purchase of some $20 million in ARS connected to preferred stock issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), an October 2007 purchase of approximately $2.6 million in ARS issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), and January 2008 purchases of some $2.4 million in additional Fannie Mae ARS and approximately $1 million in Bank of America ARS. (See Compl. Ex. 1.) Although these ARS contained their own particularities, (see, e.g., Declaration of Carl S. Burkhalter in Support of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint (“Burkhlater Deck”) Ex. C (attaching excerpts of the Freddie Mac ARS Private Placement Memorandum (“Freddie Mac Offering Memorandum”)), the details and operation of the ARS here are not materially different from the ARS described in other opinions in this Multidistrict Litigation. The Court thus presumes familiarity with the ARS structure, the May 2006 Securities & Exchange Commission Order as to Merrill (the “SEC Order”), and Merrill’s subsequent widely available public website disclosure regarding its ARS practices (the “Website Disclosure”), as previously discussed. See generally In re Merrill Lynch ARS Litig. (Merrill IV), 851 F.Supp.2d 512 (S.D.N.Y.2012); In re Merrill Lynch ARS Litig. (Merrill III), No. 09 MD 2030; 09 Civ. 9888, 2011 WL 536437 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 9, 2011); In re Merrill Lynch ARS Litig. (Merrill II), 758 F.Supp.2d 264 (S.D.N.Y.2010); In re Merrill Lynch ARS Litig. (Merrill I), 704 F.Supp.2d 378 (S.D.N.Y.2010), aff'd, 671 F.3d 120 (2d Cir.2011).

II. DISCUSSION

Cellular South asserts claims against Merrill for market manipulation and material misstatements and omissions under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. See 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b); 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5. Plaintiff also asserts independent violations of the North Carolina Securities Act, N.C. GemStat. §§ 78A-8, 78A-56(a)(2), and Mississippi Securities Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 75-71-717(a)(2). Finally, Plaintiff asserts common law claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, for negligent and/or fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions, and for promissory estoppel. Merrill moves to dismiss all of these claims. The Court addresses them in turn.

A. Legal Standard

In assessing a motion to dismiss, the Court must accept all non-conclusory factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the Plaintiffs favor. Goldstein v. Pataki 516 F.3d 50, 56 (2d Cir.2008). To survive such a motion, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). A pleading that offers “labels and conclusions” or “a formalistic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. [344]*3441955. “Where a complaint pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’ ” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955). For federal securities law violation claims, the complaint must also meet the heightened pleading requirements under Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b) and, for federal claims, the PSLRA, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b). ATSI Commc’ns, Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd. (ATSI I), 493 F.3d 87, 99 (2d Cir.2007).

B. Cellular South’s Section 10(b) and Rule 10b5 Claims

1. Plaintiff Fails to State a Claim

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Cellular South, Inc. v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., 886 F. Supp. 2d 340 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

886 F. Supp. 2d 340 (Cellular South, Inc. v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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