sign in sign up
<<
Home , Charles Prince, Gary Crittenden

{ USDC SDI'% 1

.i:., -.T"I.LY FILED

Y _ _ nli1M11^I^VY.`1.l^ _.__ nltrYM^Y L+i_r_ r I .^M+4ra"rl.rt.a r^.^ .,. DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF

Louisiana Sheriffs' Pension and Relief Fund and Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System, On Behalf of Itself and All Others Similarly Situated,

Plaintiffs, Case No: 08-cv-9522-UA ECF Case V.

Citigroup, Inc., , Sallie L. Krawcheck, STIPULATION AND John C. Gerspach, Sanford I. Weill, C. Michael ORDER Armstrong, Alan J.P. Belda, George David, Kenneth T. Derr, John M. Deutcb, Roberto Hernandez Ramirez, Ann Dibble Jordan, , Andrew N. Livens, Dudley C, Mecum, Ann M. Mulcahy, Richard D. Parsons, , Robert E. Rubin, Franklin A. Thomas, Global Markets Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman, Sachs & Co., UBS Securities LLC, Banc of America Securities LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., SBK-Brooks Investment Corp., Utendahl Capital Partners, L. P., Loop Capital Markets LLC, Toussaint Capital Markets, LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., Jackson Securities LLC, The Williams Capital Group, L.P., CastleOak Securities, L.P., Guzman & Co., Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC, Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Inc., Muriel Siebert & Co., ING Belgium, SA , Danske Bank A,S, Fortis Bank NV-SA, and KPMG LLF,

Defendants.

Minneapolis Firefighters, Relief Association and Louisiana Sheriffs' Pension and Relief Fund, On Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly Situated,

Plaintiffs, Case No: 08-cv-10353 UA ECF Casa V,

Saul Rosen, James Garnett, Scott Freidenrich, Michael Conway, David Winkler, Eric L. Wentzel, Robert L. Ryan, Franklin A. Thomas, Robert B. Rubin, Judith Rodin, Richard D. Parsons, Ann M. Mulcahy, Dudley C. Mecurn. Andrew N. Livens, Klaus Kleinfeld, Ann Dibble Jordan, Roberto Hernandez Ramircz, John M. Deutch, Kenneth Derr, George David, Alan J.P. Bclda, C. Michael Armstrong, Sanford I. Weill, John C. Gerspach, , Sallie L. Krawcheck, , Sir Winfried F.W. Bischoff, Charles Prince, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bear, Steams & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., UBS Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co., Banc of America Securities LLC, H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Wachovia Capital Securities, LLC, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., Barclays Capital Inc., ABN AMRO Inc., Charles Schwab & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Comerica Securities, Inc., KeyBanc Capital Markets, Oppenheimer .& Co. Inc., Piper Jaffray & Co., Raymond James & Associates, Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc., TD Securities (USA) LLC, Wells Fargo Investments, LLC, SBK- Brooks Investment Corp., Apex Pryor Securities, Utendahl- Capital Partners, L.P., Loop Capital Markets LLC, Toussaint Capital Markets, LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., Jackson Securities LLC; The Williams Capital Group, L.P., CastleOak Securities, L,P., Guzman & Co., Cabrera Capital Markets, Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Muriel Siebert & Co., Danske A/S, Fortis Bank NV-SA, Dain Rauscher Inc. , RBC Capital Markets Corporation, B.C. Ziegler and Company, BB&T Capital Markets, Blaylock & Co., Inc., Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, BNP Paribas Securities Corp., C.L. King & Assoc., Inc., Crowell, Wcedon & Co., D. A, Davidson & Co,, Davenport & Company LLC, Doley Securities, LLC, Ferris, Baker, Watts, Inc., J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L, Lyons, Inc., Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, Fidelity Capital Markets, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., Melvin Securities, Mesirow Financial, Inc., Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., Pershing LLC, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., Ryan Beck & Co. Inc., Sandler, O'Neill & Partners, LP., Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc., Stone & Youngberg LLC., SunTrust Capital Markets, Inc., Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc., William Blair & Company L.L.C., Jeffries & Company, Inc., nabCapital Securities, LLC, Fixed Income Securities, LP,

Defendants.

David Whitcomb, Henrietta Whitcomb, David Diamond and Jonathan Butler ("Lead

Plaintiffs"), the lead plaintiffs in In re Ciligroup Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 07-Civ-9901

(SHS) (the "Consolidated Action"); Louisiana Sheriffs' Pension and Relief Fund, and the

Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System, the plaintiffs in Louisiana Sherfffs'

Pension and Relief Fund, et al. v. Citigroup Inc., et al., Case No. 08 Civ. 9522 (the "Louisiana

Sheriffs' Action"); Minneapolis Firefighters' Relief Association, a plaintiff in Minneapolis

Firefighters' ReliefAssoclation, et at. v. Rosen, et al., Case No. 08 Civ. 10353 (the "Minneapolis

Firefighters' Action," and together with the Louisiana Sheriffs' Action, the "Bond Actions"); and

Defendants in each of the above actions, by and through their respective undersigned counsel,

hereby stipulate, subject to Court approval, as follows:

3 RECITALS

WHEREAS, 'on August 19, 2008, the Court consolidated several securities class actions on behalf of investors in Citigroup Inc. ("Citigroup"), appointed Lead Plaintiffs in the

Consolidated Action and approved Lead Plaintiffs' selection of Kirby Mclnerncy LLP as interim lead counsel ("Lead Counsel");

WHEREAS, on September 24, 2008, the Court entered Case Order No. 1, which provides, inter alia, that Lead Counsel, in consultation with Lead Plaintiffs, shall have

authority over prosecuting the Consolidated Action;

WHEREAS, on September 30, 2008 , plaintiffs represented by Bernstein Litowitz Berger

& Grossmann LLP filed the Louisiana Sheriffs' Action in New York State Supreme Court,

asserting claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 on behalf of

investors in certain debt securities issued by Citigroup;

WHEREAS, 'on October 28, 2008, plaintiffs represented by Bernstein Litowitz Berger &

Grossmann LLP filed the Minneapolis Firefighters' Action in New York State Supreme Court,

asserting claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 on behalf of

investors in certain debt securities, certain series of preferred stock and certain series of

depository shares representing interests in preferred stock issued by Citigroup or its affiliates;

WHEREAS, plaintiffs in the Bond Actions started effectuating service an the Defendants

in the Louisiana Sheriffs' Action beginning on November 5, 2008 and in the Minneapolis

Firefighters' Action beginning on November 10, 2008;

WHEREAS, also on November 5, 2008, Defendants in the Bond Actions removed the

Louisiana Sheriffs' Action from New York State Supreme Court to this Court, alleging that

4 removal was proper pursuant to, among other things, the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards

Act of 1998 ("SLUSA");

WHEREAS, on November 26, 2008, Defendants removed the Minneapolis Firefighters'

Action from New York State Supreme Court to this Court, alleging that removal was proper pursuant to, among other things, SLUSA;

WHEREAS, as a condition of this Stipulation but without agreeing that removal was proper under SLUSA or otherwise, the plaintiffs in the Bond Actions have agreed not to seek remand of the Bond Actions to New York State Supreme Court;

WHEREAS, on November 5, 2008, the Court entered an Order in the Consolidated

Action setting deadlines of (a) December 1, 2008 for Lead Plaintiffs to file their Amended

Complaint in the Consolidated Action (the "Consolidated Complaint"), (b) January 16, 2009 for

Defendants in the Consolidated Action to answer, move or otherwise respond to the

Consolidated Complaint, (c) March 2, 2009 for Lead Plaintiffs to respond to any motion; and (d)

March 23, 2009 for Defendants to reply;

WHEREAS, plaintiffs in the Bond Actions intend to file a consolidated complaint in the

Bond Actions, as set forth below;

WHEREAS, there is sufficient overlap between the facts at issue in the Bond Actions and

the facts at issue in the Consolidated Action, such that coordination of these Actions for all pre-

trial purposes will result in increased efficiencies for the parties and the Court;

THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by Lead Plaintiffs, the

plaintiffs in the Bond Actions and Defendants, through their respective counsel of record, subject

to the approval of the Court, as follows:

5 1. The Louisiana Firefighters' Action and the Minneapolis Firefighters' Action shall

be identified as related to the Consolidated Action and, subject to the supervision

and authority of Lead Plaintiffs and Lead Counsel, shall be coordinated with the

Consolidated Action for all pre-trial purposes, pursuant to Case Management

Order No. 1.

2. The Bond Actions shall be consolidated and the docket number of the Louisiana

Firefighters' Action, Case No. 08 Civ. 9522, shall constitute the Master File

number for the Bond Actions and any similar actions filed subsequently th

"Consolidated Bond Action") ^

OXTheahoonty o ntr and d Coup n a Consolidated Action 4ftAtZ shall include the Consolidated Bond Action. Notwithstanding the provisions of

Paragraph 6 in Case Management Order No. 1, Bond Plaintiffs and their counsel,

the law firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP (`Bond Counsel"),

shall, subject to the supervision and authority. of Lead Plaintiffs and Lead

Counsel, be responsible for prosecuting all claims on behalf of investors in

Citigroup Notes or other debt securities (collectively, "Citigroup Bonds") and

preferred stock or depository shales representing interests in preferred stock

issued by Citigroup or its affiliates (collectively, "Citigroup Preferred Stock").

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraphs 6 and 9 in Case Management Order

No. 1, Bond Counsel shall, subject to the supervision and authority of Lead

Plaintiffs and Lead Counsel, file a consolidated complaint in the Bond Action (the

"Consolidated Bond Action Complaint"), which shall be the operative complaint

6 on behalf of Citigroup Bonds and Citigrovp Preferred Stock class members on or

before December 15, 2008.

5, Defendants in the Consolidated Bond Action shall file their response(s) to the

Consolidated Bond Action Complaint on or before February 6, 2009.

6, If Defendants in the Consolidated Bond Action move to dismiss the Consolidated

Bond Action Complaint, Plaintiffs shall respond on or before March 23, 2009 and

Defendants shall reply on or before April 13, 2009.

7. No Defendants shall be required to answer, move or otherwise respond to, and all

Defendants are hereby expressly relieved from answering, moving or otherwise

responding to, the complaints in the Louisiana Sheriffs' Action and the

Minneapolis Firefighters' Action.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: 1^ 2aq(

7 Dated: December 1, 2008 New York, New York

Respectfully submitted,

BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER PAUL, WEISS, RIFIQND, WRARTON & & GROSSMANN LLP GARRISON LLP

John P, Coffey Brad S. Karp (bkarp paulweiss.com) Gerald H. Silk Richard A. Rosen ([email protected]) Mark Lebovitch 1285 Avenue of the Americas Kurt Hunciker New York, NY 10019 1285 Avenue of the Americas, 38th Floor Telephone: (212) 373-3000 New York, New York 10019 Fax: (212) 757-3980 Telephone: (212) 554-1400 Fax: (212) 554-1444 Attorneys for Defendants Saul Rosen, fames Garnett, Scott Freidenrich, Michael Conway, Attorneys for Bond Plain1(s and David Winkler, Eric L. Wen=el, Robert L. Bond Counselfor the Class Ryan, Franklin A. Thomas, Robert E. Rubin, Judith Rodin, Richard D. Parsons, Ann M. Mulcahy, Dudley C. Mecum, Andrew N. Liveris, Klaus Kleinfeld, Ann Dibble Jordan, Roberto Hernandez Ramirez, John M. Deutch, Kenneth% T. Derr, George David, Alain J.P. Belda, C. Michael Armstrong, Sanford I. Weill, John C. Gerspach, Gary Crittenden, Sallie L. Krawcheck, Vikram Pandit, Sir Winfried F. W. Bischoff, Charles Prince, Citigroup Inc., Citigroup Funding Inc., Citigroup Capital XIY, Citigroup Capital XY, Citigroup Capital XYI, Citigroup Capital XVlI,, Citigroup Capital XDC, Cltigroup Capital XX and Citigroup XU

8 KIRB MCINERNEY LL FOLEY LARDNER LLP

Peter S . Linden (plinden©kmllp.com) R bert A. Scher (rscher®foley.com) 825 Third Avenue 90 Park Avenue 13th Floor New York, NY 10016 New York, NY 10022 212-338-3405 Telephone: (212) 371-6600 Fax: 212-687-2329 Tax; (212) 751-2540 Email : rscher(foley.com

Interim Lead Counsel_far Lead Platnrifs and Attorneys for Defendant KP+LfG LL1' the Class to the Consolidated Litigation