Saxena White P.A. filed an original action for securities fraud on November 18, 2010 and was appointed Co-Lead Counsel on behalf of a group of institutional investors on March 7, 2011. This complex securities class action alleges that Wilmington Trust, its senior executives and directors, as well as its outside auditor and the underwriters of its secondary public offering of common stock, violated the federal securities laws. The operative Complaint generally alleges that Wilmington Trust, its senior executives, board members, independent auditor and underwriters misrepresented the Bank’s loan loss reserve, credit risk, and underwriting practices to investors.
On March 20, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware denied the various Defendants’ motions to dismiss. In denying the motions, the Court explained that while Wilmington Trust told investors “that it mitigated credit risk,” in reality “investors were not receiving all of the available information as [Wilmington Trust] was concealing its true financial position.” On September 3, 2015, the Court certified a class on behalf of all investors who either purchased Wilmington Trust common stock between January 18, 2008 and November 1, 2010, or who purchased in the February 23, 2010 secondary public offering.
On May 25, 2018, after nearly eight years of hard-fought litigation, the Court-appointed Lead Plaintiffs and Class Representatives filed a motion for the preliminary approval of two proposed settlements, which together constitute a $210,000,000 recovery. The Court preliminarily approved the settlements on July 10, 2018. On November 19, 2018, the Court approved the settlement. The settlement represents a recovery of nearly 40% of maximum recoverable damages and ranks among the top-10 securities fraud settlements in the Third Circuit.
