New York Court Dismisses Royal Park’s RMBS Cases for Lack of Standing

 

On April 12, 2017, Judge Charles E. Ramos of the New York State Supreme Court for New York County dismissed Royal Park’s RMBS lawsuits alleging fraud and other tort causes of action against Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and UBS due to lack of standing. Royal Park had acquired the RMBS certificates from another entity via a portfolio transfer agreement (“PTA“), which transferred the “right, title and interest in and to” the certificates. The defendants argued that New York procedural law governed the issue of standing and that under New York law, the right to bring tort claims would not automatically transfer with the certificates absent an outward expression of an intent to do so. Royal Park argued that the court should apply Belgium procedural law to the standing issue because Belgium law governed the PTA. The court held that New York law governed the issue of standing and that since the PTA unambiguously only transferred the “right, title and interest in and to” the certificates, it did not expressly assign the right to bring tort claims, and Royal Park thus lacked standing to bring its claims. Order.