Class of Goldman Sachs RMBS Purchasers Certified

On February 3, 2012, Judge Baer of the Southern District of New York certified a class of over 150 RMBS investors in a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, and designated the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi class representative. The class action complaint alleges material misstatements and omissions in the offering documents for a single March 2006 offering of $698 million of RMBS certificates. In opposing class certification, Goldman Sachs argued that the claims were too individualized to be susceptible to class treatment – the securities at issue were sold through individually negotiated deals and the plaintiffs had differing information about the underlying loans. Judge Baer rejected this argument, holding that common issues predominated for reasons including that the common claims depend on the same allegedly misleading offering documents, and that all other requirements for class certification were also met. Complaint.