U NITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT : SYSTEM OF MISSISSIPPI, Individually and : On Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, : : Plaintiff, : : v. : No. 09-CV-1110 (HB) : (Dispositive Motion) GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC., : GOLDMAN SACHS MORTGAGE : COMPANY, GS MORTGAGE SECURITIES : CORP., GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO., INC., : MCGRAW-HILL COMPANIES, INC., : MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC., : FITCH INC., DANIEL L. SPARKS, MARK : WEISS, JONATHAN S. SOBEL, GSAA : HOME EQUITY TRUST 2006-2, GSAA : HOME EQUITY TRUST 2006-3 and : GSAMP TRUST 2006-S2, : : Defendants. : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF THE GOLDMAN SACHS DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS THE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT Richard H. Klapper Michael T. Tomaino, Jr. Patrice A. Rouse Harsh N. Trivedi SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP 125 Broad Street New York, New York 10004 Telephone: (212) 558-4000 Facsimile: (212) 558-3588 Counsel for Defendants The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company, GS Mortgage Securities Corp., Jonathan S. Sobel, Daniel L. Sparks and Mark Weiss November 2, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PRELIMINARY STATEMENT ..................................................................................................... 1 ALLEGATIONS OF THE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT ................................................ 4 A. The Parties and Claims ........................................................................................... 4 B. The Certificates Plaintiff Purchased ....................................................................... 5 C. Alleged Misrepresentations in the Offering Documents ........................................ 6 STANDARD ON THIS MOTION ................................................................................................. 7 ARGUMENT .................................................................................................................................. 7 I. PLAINTIFF LACKS STANDING TO SUE ......................................................... 7 A. Plaintiff Lacks Standing to Assert Section 11 Claims as to Securities Offered by GSAA Home Equity Trusts 2006-2 and 2006-3 .................................... 7 B. Plaintiff Lacks Standing to Assert Section 12(a)(2) Claims Even as to the GSAMP 2006-S2 Certificates that It Purchased ....................................... 10 II. PLAINTIFF DOES NOT PLEAD ANY COGNIZABLE ECONOMIC LOSS .......................................................... 11 III. THE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT DOES NOT PLEAD ANY ACTIONABLE MISREPRESENTATIONS ................................ 13 A. The Offering Documents Disclosed All the Information that Plaintiff Alleges Was Required ............................... 15 1. The Offering Documents Disclosed the Originators’ Lending Practices ............................................... 15 2. The Offering Documents Disclosed the Involvement of Independent Mortgage Brokers and Appraisers ................................................ 16 3. The Offering Documents Disclosed the Calculation of Loan-to-Value Ratios ..................................... 16 4. The Offering Documents Disclosed the Calculation of Debt-to-Income Ratios ................................... 17 -i- 5. The Offering Documents Disclosed Credit Enhancement Features ....................................................... 18 6. The Offering Documents Disclosed the Certificates’ Ratings ............................................................... 18 B. Plaintiff Does Not Adequately Allege Materiality or Violation of Any Duty to Disclose .................................... 19 IV. PLAINTIFF’S CLAIMS ARE TIME-BARRED ................................................. 22 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 25 -ii- TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) CASES Ashcroft v. Iqbal, No. 07-1015, 2009 WL 1361536 (U.S. May 18, 2009) ........................................................... 7 Basic Inc. v. Levinson, 485 U.S. 224 (1988) ............................................................................................................... 13 Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) ........................................................................................................... 7, 18 Conopco, Inc. v. Roll Int’l, 231 F.3d 82 (2d Cir. 2000) ....................................................................................................... 7 DeBenedictis v. Merrill Lynch & Co., 492 F.3d 209 (3d Cir. 2007) ................................................................................................... 25 DeMaria v. Andersen, 318 F.3d 170 (2d Cir. 2003) ............................................................................................... 9, 13 Dodds v. Cigna Sec., Inc., 12 F.3d 346 (2d Cir. 1993) ..................................................................................................... 22 ECA & Local 134 IBEW Joint Pension Trust of Chicago v. JP Morgan Chase Co., 553 F.3d 187 (2d Cir. 2009) ................................................................................................... 20 First Nationwide Bank v. Gelt Funding Corp., 27 F.3d 763 (2d Cir. 2002) ................................................................................................ 11-12 Garber v. Legg Mason, Inc., 537 F. Supp. 2d 597 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) .............................................................................. 20, 22 Gustafson v. Alloyd Co., 513 U.S. 561 (1995) ............................................................................................................... 10 GVA Market Neutral Master, Ltd. v. Veras Capital Partners Offshore Fund, Ltd., 580 F. Supp. 2d 321 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) .................................................................................... 25 Hoffman v. UBS-AG, 591 F. Supp. 2d 522 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) ...................................................................................... 8 -iii- Ingrassia v. County of Sullivan, 262 F. Supp. 2d 116 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) ................................................................................ 2, 24 In re Alstom SA Sec. Litig., 406 F. Supp. 2d 402 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) ............................................................................... 22-23 In re AOL Time Warner, Inc. Sec. & “ERISA” Litig., 381 F. Supp. 2d 192 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) ................................................................................ 7, 13 In re Broderbund/Learning Co. Sec. Litig., 294 F.3d 1201 (9th Cir. 2002) ................................................................................................ 13 In re Countrywide Fin. Corp. Sec. Litig., 588 F.3d 1132 (C.D. Cal. 2008) ............................................................................................... 9 In re Dynex Capital, Inc. Sec. Litig.(“Dynex I”), No. 05-CV-1897, 2006 WL 314524 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 10, 2006) ............................................... 9 In re Dynex Capital, Inc. Sec. Litig. (“Dynex II”), No. 05-CV-1897, 2009 WL 3380621 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 19, 2009) ....................................... 9, 14 In re First Union Corp. Sec. Litig., 128 F. Supp. 2d 871 (W.D.N.C. 2001) ................................................................................... 12 In re Flag Telecom Hldgs., Ltd. Sec. Litig., 352 F. Supp. 2d 429 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) .................................................................................... 20 In re Flag Telecom Hldgs., Ltd. Sec. Litig., 308 F. Supp. 2d 249 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) ........................................................................ 13, 15, 21 In re Fuwei Films Sec. Litig., 634 F. Supp. 2d 419 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) ....................................................................................... 9 In re Initial Pub. Offering Sec. Litig., 544 F. Supp. 2d 277 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) .............................................................................. 11, 13 In re Livent, Inc. Noteholders Sec. Litig., 151 F. Supp. 2d 371 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) .................................................................................... 11 In re Merrill Lynch & Co. Research Reports Sec. Litig., 272 F. Supp. 2d 243 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) .................................................................................... 11 In re Morgan Stanley Tech. Fund Sec. Litig., Nos. 02-CV-6153, 2009 WL 256005 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 2, 2009) ............................................. 21 In re N2K Inc. Sec. Litig., 82 F. Supp. 2d 204 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) ...................................................................................... 21 -iv- In re Natural Gas Commodity Litig., 358 F. Supp. 2d 336 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) .................................................................................... 22 In re Openwave Sys. Sec. Litig., 528 F. Supp. 2d 236 (S.D.N.Y. 2007) .................................................................................... 22 In re Salomon Smith Barney Mut. Fund Fees Litig., 441 F. Supp. 2d 579 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) ...................................................................................... 8 In re Ultrafem Inc. Sec. Litig., 91 F. Supp. 2d 678 (S.D.N.Y. 2000) ...................................................................................... 11 Korwek v. Hunt, 646 F. Supp. 953 (S.D.N.Y. 1986) ......................................................................................... 25 NECA-IBEW Health