On January 18, 2011, Federal District Court Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in two related RMBS cases. Plaintiffs had sought certification of a class of all purchasers of various RMBS in connection with their claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act which alleged that the offering documents for the RMBS contained material misrepresentations. Judge Baer concluded that class certification was not justified because individual issues – including differences in the timing of purchases and sophistication among the investors – predominated over common ones. Judge Baer also found that the proposed class consisted of sophisticated investors with sufficient resources and incentives to pursue independent litigation should they choose to do so. Decision.